Chapter 3

By the time I left the Sterling estate, it was deep into the night.

Wren curled against me, her eyes swollen, silent.

I stroked her hair, thinking she'd just cried herself out, and hurried to find a place to stay.

By the time I was standing in the hotel lobby, I was a wreck.

"Hi. I'd like a suite, please."

I slid the supplementary card across the counter.

The receptionist ran it, then looked up at me.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Whitmore. This card has been frozen."

My stomach dropped. I dug out my own bank card.

Only to find that even the savings in my personal account had been transferred out.

A cold weight settled in my fingertips. A wave of nausea washed through me.

Marcus was really willing to go this far.

He didn't just want me to bend. He wanted every path behind me sealed off.

The receptionist's voice was flat.

"Ma'am, would you still like to check in?"

My throat tightened. I quickly called my best friend for help.

"Can you lend me some money? Or book me a room? I just need somewhere to sleep with Wren tonight."

Two seconds of silence on the line. Then her voice, lowered.

"Claire, it's not that I don't want to help."

"It's just — my family is in the middle of negotiations with Whitmore Capital. With everything blowing up right now, if I get involved, it could hurt the company."

She didn't finish. She didn't need to.

I hung up and stared at my reflection in the polished marble floor. Suddenly, it was almost funny.

Twenty-something years of living, and I had nothing.

Nothing but the daughter in my arms, who would stand by me without a moment's hesitation.

The next second, she swayed against me and went limp.

I reached for her forehead and felt my blood run cold.

She was burning up.

I scrolled through my contacts, my finger stopping on the last name in the world I wanted to bother.

A few minutes later.

Money finally borrowed, I gathered Wren in my arms and went back to the front desk.

"I need a room. My daughter has a fever."

The receptionist rolled her eyes.

"No wonder the card was frozen. It's the fake Sterling princess who cheated on her husband."

I stiffened.

She looked me up and down, her voice curdling with contempt.

"Cheap to the bone, and still had the nerve to pop out some bastard for the world to see."

"This is a respectable establishment. Kindly take yourself elsewhere. Don't dirty our floors."

Guests around the lobby turned to stare.

I tried to explain, but there was nothing left to explain.

I could do nothing but carry Wren out of the hotel in disgrace.

The Manhattan streets at that hour were freezing, the wind cutting like a blade.

Wren, feverish and delirious, buried her face in my shoulder, murmuring:

"Daddy… don't leave me…"

That one sentence tore my heart to pieces.

I clenched my jaw, and in the end, I took out my phone and dialed Marcus.

Ten calls in a row. No answer.

My fingers shaking, I typed out a text.

【Wren has a fever. Can you come?】

A long while later, he replied.

"The kid isn't mine. I don't have time to watch you play the tragic mother."

I stared at those cold words on the screen.

Around me the street noise roared on, but I couldn't even find the voice to cry.

In the end, I took Wren to the hospital alone.

The ER hallway was crowded. I'd just finished registration when I heard a familiar voice.

Marcus, supporting Vivian, walked into the emergency room.

A nurse handed him her chart, her tone edged with reproach.

"Early pregnancy bleeding. Signs of threatened miscarriage."

"The first few months are critical. As her husband, you need to be more careful. Don't put a pregnant woman through this kind of stress."

Marcus took the chart, and instinctively drew Vivian closer.

"Still hurting?"

Vivian gave a small shake of her head, eyes red-rimmed.

Marcus frowned.

"Don't go home tonight. Stay at my place. I'll take care of you."

Vivian bit her lip, murmured something, and leaned into his chest.

I stood frozen where I was, feeling the blood freeze inch by inch in my veins.

Years ago, when I was pregnant with Wren, he had held me the same way.

The morning sickness had been so bad I couldn't keep water down.

He'd dropped every meeting on his calendar and spent the entire ten months by my side.

He said, "Claire, you and our daughter — you're my whole life."

And now, the man crushing his "whole life" into a bastard was him.

The one who pushed Wren and me into this pit — was him.

I almost wanted to laugh.

The truer a man's love, the more terrifying his cruelty when he stops loving you.

Wren was still burning up in my arms.

My phone buzzed.

I looked down. A message from Marcus.

【Claire, stop wasting time. Three days from now. Harrison & Klein. Sign the papers.】