"The man in those photos is my brother. I'm only going to ask you once—do you believe me or not?"

There were plenty of ways to prove it. A paternity test on the baby. Getting in touch with my brother. If anyone actually wanted the truth, it could be laid bare in minutes.

Kieran pressed his lips into a thin line and said nothing. Paula snatched the phone from my hand.

"Kieran has azoospermia—he can't possibly have children! And you're claiming that man is your brother? Kieran doesn't even know what your brother looks like!"

"Harper, if you're going to lie, at least make it make sense!"

When Kieran and I got married, the Whitfield Group had been in the middle of aggressive overseas expansion. My brother couldn't get away. He hadn't attended the wedding. In all the years since, Dominic had been holding up the entire company on his own. He and I had barely seen each other, let alone Kieran.

But none of that mattered to me as much as one question: Why did Paula know about Kieran's azoospermia?

I lifted my head and stared straight at Kieran.

"Why does she know about your diagnosis?"

"Why have you never told me?"

Kieran glanced at me, his face saturated with disgust.

"Tell you? And then what?"

"What would you have done? Gotten rid of the baby behind my back so you could keep cheating on me?"

Things had spiraled too far. Kieran was blinded by rage. Nothing I said now would get through to him.

I took a deep breath, stood, and moved toward the door.

Kieran seized my wrist.

"What—run out of excuses so now you're running? Going to find your lover to come rescue you?" His grip tightened. "This baby is getting aborted. My wife is not carrying another man's child."

"As for this marriage, we'll talk about that after you get rid of it."

The moment those words left his mouth, Paula cut in.

"What do you mean talk about it? You're not actually thinking of staying married to her, are you? Kieran, how can you be this soft on her?" Her voice pitched higher. "She's already pregnant! God knows how many filthy things she's done with that man—"

Kieran whipped around and snarled at her.

"This is between us. It has nothing to do with you."

Paula pressed her lips together. She looked like she wanted to say more, but the fury on his face shut her mouth.

And all I could hear, echoing through my skull, was what Kieran had just said.

He wanted to kill our baby.

I wrenched my wrist free and stumbled two steps back.

"Kieran, this is my child! We've been married three years before I finally got pregnant—what gives you the right to take that away?"

"As long as I'm alive, no one is going to hurt this baby!"

Something in him snapped. The rage he'd been barely holding back erupted, and his open palm cracked across my face.

I didn't see it coming. The force sent me to the floor, and for a moment I couldn't get up.

Kieran grabbed the front of my collar and hauled me toward him. When he spoke, his voice was cold enough to freeze blood.

"Harper, I'm not negotiating with you. You are my wife, and you're carrying some bastard's child."

"You should be grateful that murder is illegal. Because right now, I want nothing more than to kill you."

I didn't know if it was the fall or the panic, but a sharp, cramping pain twisted through my lower abdomen.

Kieran had lost all reason. Going head-to-head with him now would only make things worse.

I wrapped my fingers around his hand, trying to loosen his grip on my collar.

"Kieran, I'm begging you. Don't hurt this baby."

"Please. Please. Please."

He froze. His eyes went wide, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

"You're begging me, Harper?"

"You're actually begging me for the sake of that bastard in your belly?"

He shot to his feet, turning to Paula, who stood off to the side.

"Call your mother's hospital. Tell them to send an ambulance."

"Today, that bastard dies."

Paula's lips curled into a faint smile. She turned and walked out to the balcony to make the call.

I scrambled up from the floor, crawling on my hands and knees to Kieran's side, clutching the hem of his pants with everything I had.

"Kieran, I'm begging you. Don't hurt this child. You're angry right now. Once you've calmed down, we can talk about this properly."

"My brother. I'll call my brother right now. I'll have him come explain everything to you—"

Before I could finish, Kieran snapped. His foot slammed into my shoulder with full force.

"Harper! Either the bastard in your belly dies today."

"Or you die with it."

He hadn't held back at all. The kick sent me flying, and my temple cracked against the corner of the coffee table.

Blinding pain ripped through my skull. My vision went black, and I lost consciousness.

I didn't know how long I was out. Voices dragged me back.

"Mom, did something go wrong with the pills you've been giving Kieran? How else could that tramp have gotten pregnant?"

"Good thing I got those photos of her at the hotel the other day. Otherwise, everything we've done would've been exposed."

"But it looks like Kieran still trusts us, so that's something."

I cracked my eyes open the tiniest sliver. I was inside an ambulance. Paula had her back to me, whispering to someone in a doctor's coat.

From the way Paula addressed her, it had to be her mother.

In a flash, everything clicked into place.

Kieran had said he'd booked his physical at the biggest hospital in Ridgeport. The examining physician had been the deputy director.

That was Marilyn James's hospital. Marilyn James was the deputy director.

The realization hit like ice water. I squeezed my eyes shut, terrified they'd notice I was awake.

Marilyn let out a cold scoff, seemingly unbothered by her daughter's fretting.

"I've been slipping it to him as vitamins. He's probably too busy with work to notice the occasional missed dose."

"It doesn't matter. After this, Kieran will definitely divorce that little tramp. Once you two are married, he won't need the pills anymore."

"You should be grateful for those pills. Three years without a pregnancy. If it weren't for them, Kieran would've been so wrapped up in that woman he'd never have spared you a single glance."

I couldn't see Paula's face, but her voice took on a wheedling, almost coy tone.

"It's my own fault, Mom. I just had to go study abroad. By the time I came back, he was already with that tramp."

"But I have the best mom in the whole world. I owe it all to you."

After that, the two of them huddled together, murmuring back and forth. The gist was simple enough: move fast, wheel me straight into the operating room the moment we arrived.

My blood ran cold. But we hadn't reached the hospital yet. All I could do was keep pretending to be unconscious while my mind raced.

By the time the ambulance pulled up to the hospital, Kieran had already driven there himself and was waiting at the entrance.

The second the gurney rolled out, I forced my eyes open and grabbed the edge of his sleeve.

"Kieran. I need to talk to you."

Marilyn's gaze sharpened. She strode forward, cutting in before he could respond.

"Kieran, the operating room is all prepped. Don't worry. I've arranged for the head of obstetrics to perform the procedure personally. Everything will be fine."

"Everyone's waiting. Let's get her inside."

Before Kieran could respond, Marilyn waved the nurses forward, and they wheeled me into the hospital.

The operating room was approaching fast. I couldn't find a single opening to speak with Kieran alone.

My hand drifted to my stomach. Then I sat up on the gurney and screamed.

"Kieran, this is our child! You can't do this to him! Give me five minutes. Just five minutes alone with you."

"Kieran!"

My voice rang through the corridor. The nurses flinched at my sudden movement, and the gurney ground to a halt just outside the operating room doors.

Kieran's face was ashen as he strode to the bedside.

"Whatever you have to say, say it here. The doctors and nurses are all waiting. Don't waste everyone's time."

"And if you're going to spew the same nonsense about the baby being mine, save your breath."

"Harper, if you had even a shred of feeling left for me, you wouldn't still be standing here humiliating me like this."

I grabbed his sleeve with one hand and pointed at Paula and her mother with the other.

"It was them! All of it was them! Kieran, we can go to another hospital. Get tested again. You never had azoospermia. They lied to you."

"This baby is yours. Kieran, please believe me. Please."

His brows knotted. He hadn't even opened his mouth before Paula cut in.

"Harper, what are you talking about? Your marriage problems have nothing to do with me or my mother. What would we even gain from something like that?"

"Besides, you two went three whole years without a child, and the second some other man comes along, you're suddenly pregnant? You really think anyone's going to buy that?"

Marilyn stepped forward, her gaze unwavering.

"I am the deputy director of this hospital. Thirty years I've served this profession with integrity. What you're doing right now is calling my entire career into question."

"If Mr. Sanchez chooses to believe his wife over me, then by all means, find another doctor. I won't be performing this procedure today."

The moment those words left Marilyn's mouth, Kieran stopped hesitating.

He pried my fingers off his sleeve. One by one.

I begged him. I pleaded with him to believe me. Tears streamed down my face, and Kieran turned his back.

I reached for him again, but the second before my fingers could graze his coat, I heard his voice.

He sentenced our child to death.

"Take her in."