Chapter 4

Liv Hayes POV

"What are you doing here?"

I sat in the plush leather chair of the law firm's waiting room, my hands resting protectively over my stomach.

Michael stood before me, breathless. He was wearing a suit that cost more than most people's cars, but the knot of his silk tie was skewed to the left-a crack in his perfect armor.

"I had a meeting with Thorne about the shipping contracts," he lied. Smoothly. Without blinking.

He didn't know I had already filed the divorce papers; Thorne was doing an excellent job of stalling him.

"I see," I said. My voice was calm. Too calm.

"Why are *you* here, Liv?" He stepped closer, looming over me with an oppressive presence. "You should be resting."

"I needed to update my will," I said. Another lie.

The elevator doors pinged open.

Selena walked out. She was wearing a white dress that looked suspiciously like something a bride would wear to a rehearsal dinner-lace, silk, and entirely inappropriate for a Tuesday morning.

She stopped dead when she saw us.

"Michael," she said, her voice dripping with performative concern. "I told you I'd handle the... paperwork."

She looked at me, her eyes widening in mock surprise. "Oh. Liv. I didn't know you were coming."

"Clearly," I said, my gaze drifting to the window. Below, the granite memorial in the square stood silent-a monument to soldiers who died in a war they didn't understand. I felt a hollow kinship with them.

"Since we're all here," Selena said, hooking her arm through Michael's with practiced familiarity, "we should grab lunch. I'm starving."

Michael looked at me. "Liv needs to eat. It's good for the baby."

He didn't ask if I wanted to go. He just decided.

We went to *Le Bernardin*.

The car ride was suffocating. Rain lashed against the windows, sealing us in a grey tomb of leather and silence.

Selena chattered about Italy, about the art, about the lovers she left behind. Michael listened to her with a rapt attention he had never shown me.

"Remember that little café in Florence?" she asked, her hand drifting to rest possessively on his knee. "Where we hid from your father's guards?"

"I remember," Michael said softly. His eyes met hers in the rearview mirror-a silent conversation of shared history that erased me completely.

I was the third wheel in my own marriage.

At the restaurant, the waiter handed Michael the wine list.

He immediately passed it to Selena.

"You choose," he said. "You always have the best taste."

"And for the lady?" the waiter asked, gesturing to me.

"She'll have water," Michael said, not looking at me. "Room temperature."

He ordered for the table. Oysters. Tartare. Spicy tuna.

"Michael," I said quietly, staring at the menu. "I can't eat raw shellfish. Or high-mercury fish."

He waved a dismissive hand. "You're being paranoid again. One meal won't hurt the heir."

*The heir.* Not the baby. Not our child. The heir.

Selena smirked. She picked up the menu and shoved it toward me.

"Here, Liv. Order a salad. We wouldn't want you to get fat."

She glanced at my stomach with a predatory gleam. "You're getting quite big, aren't you? Are you sure it's just one in there?"

I didn't answer. I just ordered a cooked salmon, well done.

The food arrived on a rolling cart.

The waiter was young, nervous. He hit a bump in the plush carpet.

The tureen of boiling hot lobster bisque wobbled.

It tipped.

Time slowed down.

The hot orange liquid cascaded toward the table, threatening us both.

Michael moved instantly.

He lunged.

But not for me.

He threw his body over Selena, shielding her white dress, his arms wrapping around her in a protective cocoon.

The soup splashed across the table and poured directly onto my lap.

"Ah!" I screamed as the scalding liquid soaked through my thin maternity dress, searing the tender skin of my thighs and stomach.

The pain was blinding, white-hot and immediate.

"Michael!" I cried out.

He didn't hear me. He was busy cupping Selena's face.

"Are you okay?" he demanded, his voice frantic. "Did it touch you? Selena, answer me!"

"I'm fine, Michael," she said, looking over his shoulder at me. Her eyes were wide, but her mouth twitched with a suppressed smile. "But Liv..."

Michael finally turned.

He saw me clutching my stomach, tears streaming down my face, the angry red burn spreading across my skin.

He blinked, as if surprised I was still there.

"I... I thought it was falling on her," he stammered.

"You chose," I whispered through the agony, my voice trembling. "You chose her."

"Don't be dramatic, Liv," he snapped, embarrassed now as other diners stared. "It's just soup. Selena is wearing silk; it would have ruined the dress."

*Ruined the dress.*

My skin was blistering. My baby was in danger. And he was worried about her dress.

"I need a doctor," I gasped, attempting to rise, but my legs betrayed me.

Michael stood there, frozen, his hand still gripping Selena's arm.

"She's more important to me, Liv!" he shouted, the stress breaking his mask. "She always has been! Stop making a scene!"

The silence in the restaurant was deafening.

Selena looked at me, her eyes flashing with triumph and a hint of fear.

"Michael," she hissed. "Shut up."

But it was too late.

The truth wasn't just in a diary anymore. It was screamed in a crowded room.

I looked at my husband. The father of my child.

And I realized I was looking at a stranger.

Darkness edged my vision. The pain in my stomach shifted. It wasn't the burn anymore.

It was a deep, cramping twist inside my womb-a contraction that felt like death.

"My baby," I whispered.

And then the world went black.