Chapter 2

Sadie's POV

The private investigator sent over more information. When I saw the baby's name, my knuckles went white around my phone.

It was Riley, the name I'd chosen for my own baby, the one who never made it into this world. I'd gone through every book I could find, pouring every wish I had for her into that single word.

Brock had pressed his cheek to my belly back then, smiling softly. "Riley is more than enough. I love it."

I thought that name had been buried with my child forever. I never imagined it would be stolen and given to Wendy's baby instead.

It was the middle of summer, but I was freezing, the cold boring straight through to my bones.

"Send me the address of the birthday party."

Brock had been thorough. He'd picked a villa in the suburbs, gated and tucked away, impossible to get into without a visitor pass. I paid through the nose for one and slipped in with the crowd, drifting among all that laughter like a ghost who didn't belong.

Wendy stood at the center of it all, looking radiant, every inch the hostess as she showed off the nursery. The nursery had cream-colored walls, a rounded wooden crib, and a picture-book shelf along the wall.

Even the custom figurine on the windowsill was the one I'd spent two weeks agonizing over, the gift I'd been saving for my own child. The nursery I'd designed with my own hands had been copied down to the last detail and handed to Wendy.

The admiration from the guests came at me like a wall.

"I heard Dr. Emerson designed all of this himself. He treats you so well. Three years in and he's still just as devoted."

"Well, Wendy deserves it. She's already a chief physician at her age. The sky's the limit for her."

Wendy beamed, not bothering to deny it. "Brock says this is his first child, so of course he wants to give him the very best."

Brock pulled her close, his arm draped around her. He glanced up casually, and his eyes swept across the room until they landed on me. The moment he saw my face, his smile froze.

The shift in the air was instant. One by one, every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me. Wendy flinched, and Brock stepped in front of her without thinking.

"This is a celebration. Don't start anything here. Whatever you want to say, we'll talk about it at home."

My nails dug into my palms as I fought to hold myself together. "You've been lying to me all this time, Brock. Don't I at least deserve an explanation?"

Before he could answer, my best friend, Courtney Briggs, rushed over. She frowned down at me like I was a child throwing a tantrum.

"Brock only lied because he was afraid you'd do something reckless again. He was trying to protect you. Why do you always have to blow everything out of proportion? Even if you're upset, showing up at a baby's first birthday to cause a scene is embarrassing."

My brother, Seth Hutton, chimed in, his voice flat and cold. "It's been years. You need to move on. Just because you're miserable doesn't mean the rest of us have to be miserable with you."

My own parents stared at me with nothing but disappointment. When they spoke, every word dripped with blame.

"Sadie, you have no idea how much you've let us down. It's been three years, and you're still this petty. Back then, you made such a spectacle of the whole thing that Wendy could never show her face again. Wasn't that punishment enough?

"She's not even asking to be his wife. She just wanted to give Brock an heir. What's so wrong about that? You can't just ruin someone's life over it."

Brock let out a tired sigh. "Well, now you know. At least I can stop paying people to put on an act behind your back. That was honestly exhausting.

"My parents have been on my case about it. You can't have children, and I can't just spend the rest of my life with nothing to show for it. You have to understand where I'm coming from.

"From now on, just stay in your lane as Mrs. Emerson. We'll each live our own lives, and no one gets in anyone's way."

They closed ranks around Wendy, shielding her from every angle. I stood there among the people closest to me in the world, and every one of them treated me like a threat that needed to be contained.

I let out a hollow laugh, burying the deadness behind my eyes.

"Brock, what if I told you I'm pregnant too?"