Chapter 3

The door opens. A nurse walks in with a lab report.

"Family of Iris Sinclair? Her numbers are dropping again. She needs someone with her for the next twenty-four hours."

Alaric checks his watch.

"I told Willa I'd have dinner with her at eight. I can't be late."

I look at him. One last time. My voice shakes.

"So she matters more than me."

"It's not what you think."

The last of his patience is gone. His voice drops flat.

"Willa's on time. She has manners. She knows how to think about other people. If her father hadn't died saving me, she wouldn't be alone in this world."

"When are you going to learn to be like her?"

He steps past the nurse and walks out.

I've heard this speech before.

Willa's father was Alaric's pilot. Ten years ago, engine failure. He shielded Alaric and didn't make it out.

Alaric has been paying that debt ever since.

She wants the passenger seat, I get out.

She wants the ticket, he leaves me at the airport.

She wants my place, and he calls it making things right.

I used to understand.

But understanding doesn't mean I have to be the doormat.

Half an hour later, the nurse comes in to move me.

They wheel me out of the private room and into a six-bed ward. On the TV mounted to the wall, Vance Group's press launch is streaming live.

Willa is wearing my dress. Standing in front of the model of the cabin I designed.

The host smiles. "Miss Grant, I hear this is a gift for your baby on the way?"

Willa touches her stomach. Shy little smile.

"Something like that. Ric helped me revise it so many times. He said our baby deserves the safest sky in the world."

The room goes loud. Someone shouts a congratulations.

Someone else asks if there's a wedding coming.

Alaric doesn't correct anyone.

He just adjusts her mic and says, easy, "The fact that she's up here says everything."

Applause.

The women in the beds around me look over.

"Isn't that your husband?"

"No, that's his wife, isn't it? She's pregnant."

I reach for the remote. My hand is shaking too hard to hit the button.

The woman next to me switches it off. "Honey. Don't watch."

My phone buzzes.

Alaric.

[Launch went great. If you'd cooperated, none of this would look so ugly.]

An electronic authorization form is attached.

My name is already on it.

I call him.

"Who signed for me? That's forgery."

"The launch can't stop for you. Willa signed on your behalf. When you calm down, legal will clean it up."

My stomach knots. "Stop the launch. Put out a correction."

"Do you have any idea how much Vance Group loses if we pull it now?"

"It was my mother's work."

"That's why I turned it into something worth more."

He pauses. His tone softens on cue.

"Stop this. I'll come see you tonight. Text my assistant what you want to eat."

Something inside me curls up small.

He always does this. A crumb of kindness. And I'm supposed to forget everything.

Then Willa's voice comes through, sharp and thrilled.

"Ric! I think I just felt the baby move!"

Alaric snaps to attention. "You're only eight weeks. It's too early to feel anything. Are you in pain? I'll take you to the hospital right now."

He doesn't even hang up.

I hear his footsteps hurrying away. Car door. Willa laughing softly. Him telling her to breathe.

The line finally cuts.

The nurse rushes in with a chart.

"Iris? The contractions are getting worse. We need family consent, now."

I look at the black screen of my phone.

I set it face down on the blanket.

The bleeding won't stop. The pain is climbing.

I already know what she's going to say next.

The doctor comes in behind her, quiet.

"Iris. The bleeding isn't slowing. If we wait, we're going to lose you too."

"You need to make a decision. Now."

Every choice already made. Every door already closed. Every minute he wouldn't wait.

There isn't a heartbeat left to save.

I look at the doctor. My voice is steady.

"End the pregnancy. Save me."

She hesitates. "You're sure? Once we start."

"I'm sure."

"He doesn't get to be a father. Not to my child."