Chapter 3

When I woke again, all I saw was white.

The smell of disinfectant filled my nose.

The moment the nurse saw I was awake, she called the doctor.

My throat was dry.

"What happened to me?"

The doctor spoke carefully, his voice gentle.

"Miss Evelyn, you were pregnant."

I froze.

For a moment, I could not even understand the words.

He paused.

"But the baby didn't survive."

Everything went quiet.

I stared at him, rigid.

"What baby?"

Pity flickered in the doctor's eyes.

"An early miscarriage."

"The main trigger was a hard impact to the abdomen, followed by fever from being caught in the rain and severe emotional distress."

"By the time you were brought in, it was already too late."

I looked down at my stomach.

It was flat.

Empty.

But the doctor was telling me there had once been a child there.

I had not even known.

And it was already gone.

The moment on the staircase came back with terrible clarity.

Selene's fingers clamping around my wrist before she fell.

The pain when my abdomen struck the landing.

Damon lifting Selene into his arms without turning back.

And his words.

Evelyn, are you done making a scene?

My fingers slowly tightened around the bedsheet.

It felt as if a dull knife had opened my chest.

But I could not cry.

The tears would not come.

They only lodged somewhere deep inside me and hurt.

The doctor asked quietly,

"Would you like us to notify your family?"

"If this involved an assault, you can also report it."

I was silent for such a long time that the nurse seemed to think I had not heard.

Then I asked hoarsely,

"Does Damon know?"

The doctor shook his head.

"The servants who brought you in only said you fell down the stairs."

"We haven't notified him yet."

I closed my eyes.

My thoughts were a mess. I was still reeling from the loss of the baby.

I had no idea how to face Damon, much less tell him we had ever had a child.

"Don't tell him."

My voice came out soft and cold.

"For the official record, just say I fainted from a fever after falling in the rain."

The doctor hesitated.

I looked at him.

"Please."

In the end, he sighed and nodded before leaving.

When the room became quiet again, I laid my hand over my lower abdomen.

Nothing answered.

I suddenly remembered a night long ago when Damon was drunk and held me in his arms.

He said that once he secured his seat as Don, we would have our own child.

He would teach the child to ride.

He would teach the child to shoot.

For seven years, I had imagined what it would be like to carry his child.

I imagined Damon resting a hand over my stomach, waiting awkwardly for the first kick.

I imagined him overseeing the nursery himself, checking even the cradle twice.

I imagined our child cherished in our arms, the most precious thing in the entire Voss family.

But now the baby was gone before I had even been given the chance to love it.

I buried my face in the pillow and finally broke down.

The pillow muffled my sobs until I could barely breathe.

I pressed both hands over my empty abdomen, but there was nothing left for me to hold on to.

My phone lit up beside my pillow.

It was a message from my father.

[The plane is arranged for noon the day after tomorrow.]

[Evelyn, come home.]

[The man I've chosen for the alliance is already waiting for you.]

[He is steady and responsible. I think you'll like him.]

[Once you come home, don't keep hurting yourself over an outsider.]

I stared at the words for a long time.

Then I typed slowly.

[All right.]

[I'll be there on time.]

It was evening by the time Damon arrived at the hospital.

"Evelyn."

He came quickly to the bedside. For once, he looked panicked.

"My assistant said you were brought to the hospital."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

I looked at him and said nothing.

He reached out to touch my forehead.

I turned my head away.

Damon's fingers stiffened.

Selene followed him in soon after.

Her wrist was bandaged, her face pale.

"Evelyn, are you all right?"

"I really didn't know you'd fall that badly."

She paused, and her eyes reddened again.

"If I'd known you would shove me away, I never would have followed you onto the stairs."

Damon's brow tightened slightly.

"Selene sprained her wrist. The doctor said she shouldn't be upset again."

I looked down at the IV needle in my hand and almost laughed.

Even now.

Even here.

He was still explaining for her.

Damon softened his voice.

"When you're discharged, we'll have the real wedding."

"The day after tomorrow, all right?"

I did not answer.

As if he was afraid to hear me refuse, he tucked the blanket around me and left with Selene.

The moment the door closed, I slowly tightened my grip on the blanket.

Damon did not know that we had just lost our child.

It did not matter.

Once I was gone, he would know everything.