Chapter 2

Kiera POV:

A blinding, white-hot pain shot through my entire body as I landed in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the staircase. My head slammed against the marble floor, and for a second, the world went black.

When my vision cleared, the first thing I saw was Ethan, standing at the top of the stairs, Chanel still cradled in his arms.

"Ethan," I gasped, my voice a broken whisper. "Help me."

My leg was twisted at an unnatural angle. But that wasn' t the pain that terrified me. A deep, cramping agony was seizing my lower abdomen, a vicious, clawing sensation that stole my breath.

The baby.

He stared down at me, his face a cold, unreadable mask. There was no concern, no panic. Only irritation.

"Stop the melodrama, Kiera," he said, his voice echoing in the suddenly silent lobby. "You' ll do anything for attention, won' t you?"

He adjusted his hold on Chanel, who was peering over his shoulder, a small, triumphant smirk on her face.

"I' m taking Chanel to the hospital," he announced to the horrified onlookers who had gathered at the top of the stairs. "My wife will be fine. She' s just trying to ruin my night."

And with that, he turned his back on me and walked away.

He didn' t look back. Not once.

I watched his retreating form until it disappeared through the revolving doors, leaving me alone on the cold, hard floor. A profound, bottomless despair washed over me, and I closed my eyes, letting the darkness claim me.

But the pain wouldn't let me go. It ripped through me again, sharper this time, a brutal, undeniable tearing sensation deep inside.

My eyes snapped open. "Help," I croaked, reaching out a trembling hand to no one. "Please, someone help me."

My white dress, the one I had chosen so carefully for our anniversary, was no longer pristine. A dark, crimson stain was spreading rapidly across the fabric between my legs.

Blood. So much blood.

"Oh, God," I sobbed, the full weight of the horror crashing down on me. "My baby. No, no, no..."

The realization was a guillotine, severing the last thread of hope. It was over. He was gone. The tiny life I had cherished and protected for three months was slipping away from me on the cold floor of a hotel lobby.

"Someone call an ambulance!" a woman' s voice shrieked from above.

Footsteps pounded down the stairs. Faces swam in and out of focus. But none of them were his.

The ride in the ambulance was a blur of excruciating pain and desperate prayers. I clutched the paramedic' s hand, my knuckles white.

"Please," I begged, tears streaming down my face. "Please, you have to save my baby. Please."

"We' re doing everything we can, ma' am," a kind-faced doctor said, his voice gentle. "We need to contact your husband. What' s his number?"

I rattled off Ethan' s number through chattering teeth. Hope, treacherous and stupid, flickered in my chest. He would come. When he knew how serious it was, he would come. He had to.

The doctor dialed the number and put the phone on speaker. It rang once, twice, then was answered.

"Hello?" It wasn't Ethan's voice. It was Chanel's.

"Hello, this is Dr. Evans from Mount Sinai Hospital. I' m calling for Mr. Ethan Carlson regarding his wife, Kiera Barlow. She' s been in a serious accident."

There was a pause. I could hear Chanel' s saccharine voice in the background, muffled. "Ethan, darling, it' s the hospital. It' s for you."

Then, she spoke directly into the phone, her tone dripping with fake concern. "Oh, dear. Is Kiera okay? Ethan is just so worried about me, the burn is much worse than we thought."

"Ma' am, Mrs. Barlow is hemorrhaging. She' s losing the baby. We need her husband here immediately."

"Let me talk to her," I whispered, my voice barely a thread of sound. The doctor held the phone to my ear.

"Chanel," I rasped. "Please. Tell Ethan... tell him I' m losing our baby. He needs to come. Please."

"Did you hear that, Ethan?" Chanel' s voice was a cruel purr. "Kiera says she' s losing the baby. She' s always been so dramatic, hasn' t she? Trying to get your attention."

I could hear Ethan' s voice now, distant and impatient. "Tell her to stop it. I' m with you. The doctor is about to see you. I don' t have time for her games."

The words slammed into me with the force of a physical blow. No. It couldn' t be.

"He said he doesn' t have time for your games," Chanel repeated, savoring each word. "He' s with me now, Kiera. Where he belongs."

"Tell him..." I choked on a sob, the cramping in my belly intensifying into an unbearable wave of agony. "Tell him I need him."

There was a rustle, and then Ethan' s cold, furious voice filled the small space. "Kiera, I swear to God, if you don' t stop this pathetic act, I will file for divorce tomorrow. I am done with you. Do you understand? Done."

The line went dead.

Silence. The only sound was the wail of the siren and the frantic beeping of the heart monitor.

The doctor, a man I' d never met, looked at me with more compassion than my own husband had shown me in three years.

"His phone is off now," he said, his voice gentle. "He turned it off."

He took my hand. "Ma' am, I' m so sorry. The man is a bastard."

Another wave of pain, sharper and more final than all the rest, ripped through me. I felt a profound, devastating sense of release, of emptiness.

I knew. In the deepest, most broken part of my soul, I knew.

"It' s too late," I whispered, staring at the ceiling of the ambulance, the flashing lights washing over my face. "He' s gone."