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Lahat ng Kabanata ng A Debt Called Love: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

10 Kabanata

Chapter 1

At 11:47 p.m., the line on the fetal monitor went flat. The doctor removed the probe. "There's no heartbeat. We need to deliver the baby right away."When the anesthesiologist asked for my consent for the third time, I looked down at my phone. Emmett Shaw's message from two hours earlier was still on the screen.[I owe her one fireworks show. Once it's over, we're even.]I turned my phone facedown. "Don't wait for him. Go ahead."Even after the anesthesia kicked in, I felt a deep, heavy ache low in my belly. Cold sweat trickled from my forehead into my ears, and I bit my lip to keep from crying out.By the time it was over, someone outside was shouting, "Happy Valentine's Day!" Yet the man who once carefully wrote our baby's nickname on the back of my appointment slip never showed up.At 1 a.m., they wheeled me into a private room. My abdomen hurt so badly that I couldn't fall asleep.Then my phone lit up. Melissa Doyle posted photos from a rooftop restaurant, fireworks bu

Chapter 2

"May God watch over you and our baby. I'll always be here for both of you."I picked up one of the tiny socks and sat there for a long time. Then, I went back to bed and logged into the International Aid Organization portal.Meridian Military District. Highest risk of casualties. Two-year assignment.Under marital status, I selected "Divorced." As I submitted the application, daylight crept through the window.At 7 a.m., Emmett finally texted.[IOU number 24. I promised to take her to a doctor's appointment. I need to stay with her.[Did you take your medication? I'll find time to stop by the hospital today.[Once I've paid off the last IOU, that's it. I'm done with her.]I didn't reply. There was no pregnancy left to save, no baby left to bring home, not even ashes. Nothing he did for me could ever make up for that.I silenced my phone, set it facedown, and closed my eyes.Emmett finally showed up three days after the procedure. He put a gift basket on the bedside table,

Chapter 3

The morning I left the hospital, I joined a video call with the International Aid Organization from my room."Ms. Ross, our records say you're married," the coordinator said. "Married volunteers need their spouse to sign a waiver acknowledging that we may not be able to recover their remains if they die during deployment. Would your husband sign that?"I pulled the paperwork from my bag and held it up to the camera. "I'm filing for divorce today. This is my decision."I pressed a hand against my still-tender abdomen. "I have no family. No one's waiting for me."A chime sounded, and my application status changed to "Approved."At noon, I finished the discharge paperwork and walked out alone. Emmett stood beside his car with a large bouquet. His eyes lingered on my loose coat. "I've paid off the last of Melissa's IOUs."He held out the flowers, looking relieved, as if that settled everything. "I don't owe her anything now. I was in the area, so I figured I'd pick you up.

Chapter 4

By evening, rain pounded the city. My phone kept buzzing on the table, Emmett's name lighting up the screen, until I silenced it and turned it facedown.My former mentor and colleagues from the department joined me for a quiet farewell dinner. No one felt like celebrating, and no one pushed me to have a drink.The department chair slid an official notice across the table, the Shaw Enterprises logo at the top. Her eyes were red. "Katie, the Shaw Enterprises Medical Foundation sent this to every hospital in the network. They've shut down the war-zone medical aid program you spent three years putting together. "All the medication and equipment you spent months staying up all night to secure is going to Melissa's new cosmetic clinic. They're calling it 'strategic resource allocation.'"The room fell silent. One of my colleagues clenched his jaw."Emmett overruled the decision to let you return to work. He put a note in your file saying you're emotionally unstable and should be susp

Chapter 5

Emmett snatched up the papers at his feet. His eyes stopped at the time."One in the morning? So you weren't throwing a tantrum that night. You were..."I met his eyes. "You're so proud of always paying your debts. It makes me sick."He stumbled toward me, his gaze dropping from the form to the hand I held over my abdomen. Panic spread across his face."Is that why you applied to Meridian? You're not going there to work. You're going there to die?"I couldn't be bothered to explain. "That's my business."He lost what little composure he had left. "You just lost our baby. You can barely stand. I'm not letting you go."He used to look at me that way whenever I hurt, as if he could somehow take the pain away just by watching me. He stripped off his suit jacket and tried to wrap it around my shoulders.I stepped aside. The jacket caught on the back of a chair, then slipped to the carpet. His hand hung in the air."Pick any major project in the country," he said. "I'll get you on i

Chapter 6

The next morning, I wheeled my suitcase into the airport. I was weaker than I expected.At bag check, I felt a sudden gush of blood. I gripped the counter as the color drained from my face.An airline employee offered to call an ambulance, but I shook my head and took medication to control the bleeding out of my travel kit. Before, I would've called Emmett first. I even opened our chat. His messages filled the screen.[The hospital confirmed everything. Those weren't normal contractions. You were showing signs of placental abruption.[I've given up my authority to reallocate supplies. I'm cooperating with the hospital's investigation.[Katie, at least let me take you there.]My finger hovered over the message box. Each wave of pain felt worse than the last, and I wanted to ask him which medication I could take on an empty stomach.He had taken care of me so many times. He could always tell when I was in pain and what kind it was.In the end, I closed the chat and called our t

Chapter 7

During my third week in Meridian Military District, a local pregnant woman came into the temporary aid station with a high fever from an infection. She clutched my wrist and kept asking if her baby still had a heartbeat.When the monitor picked up a faint but steady heartbeat, she burst into tears. I stood beside her bed, my hands shaking. The sound took me back to the silence in the operating room. I stumbled out of the tent and doubled over, bracing my hands on my knees as I dry-heaved.Before, I would've pushed through just to prove I wasn't afraid to die. This time, I finally admitted that saving lives wasn't my only reason for coming here.Part of me wanted to punish Emmett. Another part wanted to punish the woman who spent seven years loving him.But choosing to live didn't mean forgiving anyone.The documents from my lawyer arrived that same day. The divorce was nearly final, and the attachments included an old ledger Emmett submitted voluntarily.Since college, he kep

Chapter 8

Two months later, Emmett showed up at the border logistics base.He looked much thinner than the last time I saw him. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he wasn't even wearing his watch.The base director told me Shaw Enterprises donated a shipment of equipment for safely transporting infectious patients. Emmett insisted that the aid organization handle all approvals and that the company receive no publicity or credit.He waited for me in the reception area and asked for ten minutes."Is the equipment supposed to make up for what you did?" I asked as I sat across from him."No." He slid the donation paperwork toward me. "I still owe you for that. This donation is separate."For once, he wasn't treating something he did as a credit against what he owed me."The hospital investigation is over," he continued. "I lost my seat on the special-services board, and I'm barred from decisions about medical donations for three years."They also corrected the records for the dive

Chapter 9

Four months later, I came home to finalize the divorce.Emmett arrived half an hour early. He sat outside the hearing room with two neatly organized folders on his lap.When he saw me, he stood and started toward me, then stopped a few feet away. "Have you recovered?""Yes."He nodded and left it at that.When the judge asked us to confirm that we wanted to end the marriage, Emmett agreed. He raised no objections and didn't use my health, my work in a conflict zone, or the property settlement to ask for more time.The judge signed the decree, and we each received a copy. After seven years of marriage, we walked away with a few sheets of paper.A light rain fell as we left the courthouse. Emmett opened his umbrella and instinctively held it over me.When I didn't move under it, he lowered it."Katie, can I have five minutes?"I checked the time. "You can say what you need to say here."He handed me the hospital's investigation report. Shaw Enterprises lost long-term partner

Chapter 10

A year later, I finished the first phase of my aid assignment.Emily gave me two options. I could stay home and return to my old job, or move to a neighboring country to help build a lasting emergency response program for infectious diseases affecting mothers and children.The second job would keep me out of the conflict zone, but I would be abroad for at least three years. I didn't decide right away.While I was home for a checkup, I went back to the familiar hospital. The lobby screens were showing a news report about the city's biggest medical scandal.Melissa's cosmetic clinic administered illegally high doses of controlled anesthetics, sending three clients into shock and leaving them brain-dead. At trial, Emmett enforced his version of fairness as ruthlessly as ever. He hired top attorneys to protect the foundation from liability, then filed his own lawsuit against Melissa. The woman he once rushed to comfort over a minor scrape received a ten-year prison sentence and f

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