PART 3 — THE MAN DOMINIC NEVER EXPECTED
The woman sitting across from me was probably in her late forties. She wore a charcoal suit, no jewelry except a simple watch, and carried herself with the kind of calm that made me instinctively believe she had dealt with difficult people before.
“My name is Evelyn Hart,” she said. “Your father asked me to make sure you and Leo get somewhere safe.”
I looked down at my son.
“Does my father know where Dominic is?”
Evelyn’s expression barely changed.
“Your father knows exactly where Dominic is.”
Something about the way she said it made me look up.
“What does that mean?”
“It means General Brooks has spent his entire adult life preparing for situations more complicated than this one.”
Despite everything, a weak laugh escaped me.
“That sounds like Dad.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Apparently he said you would say that.”
For the first time that day, my shoulders relaxed.
Only slightly.
Because my phone was still vibrating beside me.
Dominic again.
Where are you?
Then another.
Audrey, answer me.
Then:
Mom says she left her sunglasses at the apartment. Find them before we get back.
I stared at the messages.
Five days after giving birth to his son, I had somehow become less important to Dominic than Victoria’s sunglasses.
Evelyn noticed my expression.
“You don’t have to answer him.”
“I know.”
But knowing that and feeling it were two different things.
For four years, answering Dominic immediately had become almost automatic.
If I didn’t respond, he would send another message.
Then another.
Then he would call.
Then he would accuse me of ignoring him.
Eventually, avoiding the argument became easier than standing my ground.
I hadn’t realized how much of myself I had surrendered one tiny compromise at a time.
“Can I ask you something?” Evelyn said.
I nodded.
“When did he start treating you like this?”
The question hit harder than I expected.
I looked out the window.
“I don’t know.”
But that wasn’t true.
I did know.
I just hadn’t wanted to admit it.
Dominic hadn’t transformed overnight.
There had been signs.
Small ones at first.
The first time he mocked my job because his salary was higher.
The first time he told me one of my dresses embarrassed him.
The first time Victoria criticized my cooking and Dominic laughed instead of defending me.
The first time he borrowed my SUV without asking.
The first time he told friends that the apartment was “his place,” even though my name was on the deed.
The first time he suggested I stop seeing a college friend because she was “a bad influence.”
Each moment had seemed too small to destroy a marriage over.
Together, they had destroyed one anyway.
“He wasn’t always like this,” I whispered.
Evelyn looked at me gently.
“Maybe not.”
Then she added, “Or maybe he was waiting until he thought you couldn’t leave.”
My eyes dropped to Leo.
Pregnancy.
Marriage.
A newborn.
Dependence.
Suddenly the timing of Dominic’s worsening behavior didn’t seem accidental.
My phone rang.
DOMINIC.
I declined it.
It rang again.
I declined it again.
The third time, I turned the phone facedown.
Evelyn didn’t congratulate me.
I appreciated that.
It wasn’t bravery.
Not yet.
It was simply the first decision I had made without considering Dominic’s reaction.
Across Manhattan, Dominic was apparently having a very different afternoon.
I learned exactly what happened later because the restaurant’s security cameras captured almost everything.
Dominic had chosen Bellini House, one of those expensive restaurants where the waiters knew which customers wanted to be recognized and which ones paid to disappear.
Victoria loved it.
She loved anywhere that made her feel important.
Dominic handed my SUV keys to the valet and walked inside with Victoria, his father Richard, and his younger sister Cassandra.
According to the receipt my attorney later obtained, Victoria ordered champagne before anyone ordered food.
They were halfway through appetizers when a restaurant manager approached the table.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Dominic looked up.
“Yes?”
“There are two gentlemen outside asking to speak with you regarding the vehicle you arrived in.”
Dominic frowned.
“What gentlemen?”
“I believe they represent the registered owner.”
Victoria reportedly laughed.
“My son owns that vehicle.”
The manager hesitated.
“No, ma’am.”
That was when Dominic stood.
He walked outside irritated, not worried.
Not yet.
Beside the SUV stood two men.
One was Daniel Reeves, an attorney who had represented my family for nearly fifteen years.
The other was a licensed vehicle recovery specialist.
Daniel held a leather folder.
Dominic approached them.
“What is this about?”
Daniel extended his hand.
“Dominic Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Daniel Reeves. I represent Audrey Brooks.”
Dominic stared at him.
“My wife?”
“Yes.”
“What does Audrey need a lawyer for?”
Daniel opened the folder.
“For today? Primarily this vehicle.”
Dominic actually laughed.
“This is ridiculous.”
Daniel removed a document.
“The vehicle is registered solely to Audrey Brooks. There is no lien, no shared ownership, and no written authorization permitting you continued possession.”
“She’s my wife.”
“That does not make you the owner.”
“I have permission.”
“Your permission has been revoked.”
Dominic’s smile disappeared.
“What?”
“The keys, please.”
Dominic stared at Daniel.
“You’re not taking my car.”
Daniel remained perfectly calm.
“It is not your car.”
Victoria had followed him outside by then.
“What’s happening?”
Dominic ignored her.
He pulled out his phone and called me.
That was the first call I declined.
He called again.
Declined.
His jaw tightened.
Victoria looked from him to Daniel.
“Who is this man?”
“Audrey’s lawyer.”
Victoria’s face changed.
Not much.
But enough.
Because people like Victoria understood lawyers.
Lawyers meant paperwork.
Paperwork meant consequences.
Daniel held out his hand again.
“The keys, Mr. Mercer.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You can tell Audrey to stop throwing a tantrum.”
Daniel’s expression didn’t move.
“I’ll be happy to tell my client exactly what you said.”
That word stopped Dominic.
Client.
Not wife.
Not Audrey.
Client.
Suddenly, this wasn’t a marital argument.
It was a legal boundary.
Victoria stepped forward.
“You don’t understand the situation. Audrey is emotional. She just had a baby.”
Daniel looked directly at her.
“I’m aware.”
“She’s probably exhausted.”
“I’m aware.”
“She doesn’t understand what she’s doing.”
Daniel closed the folder.
“I assure you, Mrs. Mercer, my client understands perfectly.”
Victoria’s cheeks reddened.
Dominic finally surrendered the keys.
But he wasn’t finished.
“You tell Audrey when I get home, we’re going to have a serious conversation.”
Daniel looked at him for a long moment.
Then he said something Dominic would remember for the rest of his life.
“Mr. Mercer, I wouldn’t assume you’re going home.”
Dominic froze.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
The recovery specialist climbed into the SUV.
The engine started.
And for the first time since my father had given me that vehicle, Dominic stood on a sidewalk watching someone else drive it away.
He didn’t know that losing the SUV was the smallest thing about to happen to him.
Back in the sedan, I knew none of this yet.
Evelyn’s phone buzzed.
She read something.
Then she looked at me.
“The vehicle has been recovered.”
My stomach tightened.
“Was there trouble?”
“Nothing that couldn’t be handled.”
“Dominic?”
“Angry.”
I almost smiled.
Of course he was angry.
Dominic had always confused inconvenience with injustice whenever it happened to him.
Then my phone lit up again.
This time it wasn’t a call.
It was a message.
WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?
Another appeared immediately.
CALL ME NOW.
Then:
YOU EMBARRASSED ME IN FRONT OF MY FAMILY.
I stared at those words.
Not:
Are you okay?
Not:
Is Leo okay?
Not:
Where are you?
Not:
I’m sorry.
His humiliation was still the emergency.
I typed a response.
Deleted it.
Typed another.
Deleted that too.
Finally, I wrote:
Leo and I are safe. Please communicate through my attorney from now on.
My thumb hovered above Send.
My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it against my incision.
I pressed it.
Delivered.
Three dots appeared immediately.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
My phone rang.
I declined it.
Again.
Declined.
Then Victoria called.
I stared at her name.
Declined.
Then Cassandra.
Declined.
Then Richard.
Declined.
Suddenly the whole family cared where I was.
Funny how quickly concern appeared when access disappeared.
“Turn it off,” Evelyn suggested.
I held the power button.
The screen went black.
Silence.
Actual silence.
I closed my eyes.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere you can recover.”
“That sounds mysterious.”
“It isn’t.”
She glanced through the window.
“Your father has an apartment in Manhattan.”
I opened my eyes.
“My father has what?”
Evelyn smiled.
“You apparently don’t know everything about General Brooks either.”
Twenty minutes later, the sedan entered an underground garage beneath a limestone building overlooking Central Park.
I stared through the window.
“No.”
Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
“No?”
“My father does not own an apartment here.”
“He does.”
“Since when?”
“Long enough.”
The elevator required a keycard.
Evelyn scanned hers.
We went directly to the twenty-seventh floor.
When the doors opened, I expected another hallway.
Instead, they opened directly into the apartment.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Manhattan.
The place wasn’t flashy.
It was quiet.
Warm.
Secure.
And waiting beside the entrance was a bassinet.
Next to it were diapers.
Formula.
Baby clothes.
A nursing pillow.
Medication.
Fresh towels.
Even the exact crackers I had been eating since surgery because they were one of the few things my stomach tolerated.
I stared at everything.
“How did Dad—”
“He asked the hospital what you might need.”
That broke me.
Not the SUV.
Not Dominic.
Not even the bus.
The crackers.
Because my father, hundreds of miles away, had thought to ask what food wouldn’t make me nauseous.
And my husband, standing beside me outside the hospital, hadn’t even thought to ask how I would carry a diaper bag onto a bus.
I covered my mouth.
Evelyn quietly took Leo from my arms before my knees gave out.
I sat on the sofa and cried.
Not loudly.
I didn’t have enough energy for that.
I just cried until my face hurt.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn sat Leo carefully in the bassinet.
“You don’t have to apologize here.”
Those six words made me cry harder.
A doctor arrived thirty minutes later.
My father had arranged that too.
She checked my incision, blood pressure, swelling, and medication.
Then she asked how I had traveled from the hospital.
I told her.
Her face tightened.
“You took a city bus five days after a C-section?”
“I didn’t have much choice.”
She looked at me.
“You always have a choice about what happens next.”
Everyone kept saying versions of that.
Maybe because I had forgotten.
By early evening, Leo was asleep.
I had showered.
I had eaten.
And for the first time since giving birth, I was lying in a bed without worrying that Dominic would complain Leo’s crying was keeping him awake.
Then the apartment intercom buzzed.
My entire body stiffened.
Evelyn answered.
She listened.
Then looked at me.
“It’s your father.”
I sat upright too quickly.
Pain shot across my abdomen.
“What?”
“He’s downstairs.”
“He’s supposed to be in Virginia.”
“Apparently plans changed.”
Five minutes later, the elevator doors opened.
My father stepped out.
General Charles Brooks did not look like the man Dominic had met twice.
That man had worn khakis, old loafers, and a faded Navy football cap because Dad found it amusing when people underestimated him.
Tonight he wore a dark military uniform.
Four silver stars rested on each shoulder.
Rows of ribbons covered his chest.
His posture was straight.
His expression was controlled.
But the second he saw me, none of that mattered.
He was just Dad.
He crossed the room and wrapped his arms carefully around me.
“My girl.”
I buried my face against his chest.
“I’m sorry.”
His hand rested against the back of my head.
“No.”
“I should have told you sooner.”
“No.”
“I kept defending him.”
“Audrey.”
He leaned back and looked into my eyes.
“You called when you were ready.”
I started crying again.
Dad wiped my cheek with his thumb.
“Where’s my grandson?”
That was when his entire face changed.
I led him to the bassinet.
He stared at Leo for several seconds.
This man had commanded tens of thousands of soldiers.
He had testified before Congress.
He had sat in rooms where decisions affected entire countries.
Yet when Leo opened one tiny hand, my father looked terrified to touch him.
“Can I?”
I laughed through my tears.
“He’s your grandson.”
Dad lifted him with astonishing gentleness.
Leo immediately settled against his chest.
Dad looked down.
“Hello, soldier.”
“Dad.”
“Too early?”
“About eighteen years.”
“Fine.”
He kissed Leo’s forehead.
“Hello, civilian.”
I laughed.
It was the first real laugh I had managed all day.
Then Dad became serious.
“We need to talk.”
We sat in the living room.
Evelyn left us alone.
Dad placed a folder on the table.
“What’s that?”
“Information.”
“About Dominic?”
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“What information?”
Dad leaned back.
“When you married him, you asked me not to investigate his family.”
“I remember.”
“I respected that.”
I nodded.
“Until today?”
“Until today.”
Something in his expression frightened me.
“What did you find?”
“Enough to know your husband has been lying to you about more than how he treats you.”
I felt cold.
“About what?”
“His finances.”
I frowned.
Dominic constantly talked about money.
Investments.
Deals.
Funds.
Clients.
He wore expensive suits and spent hours talking about how close he was to “the next level.”
“What about them?”
“His investment business is failing.”
“How badly?”
“Badly enough that he has been borrowing money to maintain the appearance of success.”
I stared at Dad.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will.”
He opened the folder.
“Do you know why Dominic wanted your SUV tomorrow?”
“Victoria wanted it.”
Dad shook his head.
“No.”
I swallowed.
“Then why?”
“He had a meeting.”
“With investors?”
“With a lender.”
My mouth went dry.
Dad slid a photograph across the table.
It showed Dominic outside a private financial office.
The date was from three weeks earlier.
“When was this taken?”
“This afternoon’s review pulled it from publicly accessible security footage related to a separate financial inquiry.”
I looked at him.
“Financial inquiry?”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Dominic has been trying to secure a substantial loan.”
“How substantial?”
“Two million dollars.”
I nearly laughed.
“Against what?”
Dad didn’t answer immediately.
That was when I knew.
“Dad.”
He slid another document toward me.
I read the first page.
Then the second.
My hands began trembling.
“No.”
“Audrey—”
“No.”
The application listed assets.
The apartment.
My investment account.
The SUV.
And beneath them was something worse.
My signature.
Except I had never signed it.
“He forged this?”
“We believe so.”
I stared at the signature.
It looked almost perfect.
Dominic had watched me sign documents hundreds of times.
Anniversary cards.
Checks.
Mortgage papers.
Hospital forms.
I suddenly remembered him bringing paperwork into the hospital two days after Leo was born.
“Just insurance documents,” he had said.
I had been exhausted and medicated.
“Did I sign something?”
Dad leaned forward.
“That’s what we need to determine.”
My stomach twisted.
“Could he take the apartment?”
“Not easily. And not now.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Daniel filed emergency notices this afternoon. Nothing involving your property moves without scrutiny.”
I closed my eyes.
The cruelty outside the hospital had been enough.
But this?
This was different.
This was planned.
“Why?”
I whispered.
Dad’s answer was quiet.
“Because Dominic doesn’t think you’ll ever leave.”
My eyes opened.
Then Dad said, “There’s something else.”
Of course there was.
“What?”
“His mother.”
“Victoria?”
“She knew about the loan.”
I felt as though someone had punched me.
“How do you know?”
“Her name appears in correspondence with the lender.”
I remembered Victoria laughing as Dominic handed me twelve dollars.
I remembered her wearing sunglasses while I stood there barely able to walk.
I remembered every comment she had made during my pregnancy.
Dominic needs a wife who supports his ambitions.
You should be grateful he works so hard.
A good wife doesn’t question her husband’s finances.
Suddenly those comments sounded different.
Not arrogance.
Preparation.
They had been conditioning me.
Teaching me not to ask questions.
Dad watched my face.
“You don’t have to decide everything tonight.”
“I already decided the important part.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not going back.”
He nodded once.
“Good.”
Then the intercom buzzed again.
Evelyn entered the room immediately.
Her expression had changed.
“General.”
Dad stood.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“Dominic found the building.”
My heart stopped.
“How?”
“We’re determining that.”
“Is he downstairs?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“No.”
Dad’s eyes narrowed.
“Who is with him?”
“His mother.”
Of course she was.
I stood too quickly.
Dad reached for me.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Audrey.”
“No, Dad.”
My legs were shaking, but I stayed upright.
“I’ve spent four years sitting down whenever Dominic told me to.”
Dad studied me.
Then slowly removed his hand.
“What do you want to do?”
I looked toward the elevator.
“I want him to hear it from me.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You don’t owe him that.”
“I know.”
That was exactly why I wanted to do it.
Not because Dominic deserved closure.
Because I deserved a voice.
“Let them upstairs,” I said.
Dad’s expression became unreadable.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn spoke quietly into her phone.
Two minutes later, the elevator began moving.
Twenty-seven.
Twenty-six.
Twenty-five.
I could see the floor indicator counting upward.
My palms became damp.
Dad stood several feet behind me.
Not beside me.
Behind me.
I understood why.
This was my confrontation.
But I wasn’t alone anymore.
The elevator reached twenty-seven.
The doors opened.
Dominic stepped out first.
Victoria followed.
Dominic’s face was red.
“Audrey, what the hell is going on?”
He took two steps into the apartment.
Then stopped.
Because he saw my father.
At first, there was no recognition.
Dominic had only met Dad in casual clothes.
He looked at the uniform.
Then the ribbons.
Then the four stars.
Then my father’s face.
I watched confusion turn into recognition.
Then disbelief.
Then fear.
Victoria stepped out behind him.
“What is this place?”
She saw Dad too.
Her mouth opened slightly.
Dominic looked at me.
Then back at my father.
“Charles?”
Dad said nothing.
Dominic stared at the stars again.
I had never seen him speechless.
Not once.
Finally he whispered, “You’re…”
Dad finished the sentence.
“General Charles Brooks.”
Victoria’s face drained of color.
Dominic looked at me.
“You told me your father was retired.”
“I told you he worked for the government.”
“You said—”
“No, Dominic. You assumed.”
His mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
Then he did exactly what I should have expected.
He smiled.
Just like that.
His entire personality changed.
“General Brooks.”
He stepped forward, extending his hand.
Dad looked at it.
He did not take it.
Dominic slowly lowered his arm.
“This is clearly a misunderstanding.”
I almost laughed.
“A misunderstanding?”
Dominic looked at me.
“You’re exhausted. You just gave birth. We had an argument.”
“You left me outside a hospital.”
“I had an important lunch.”
Victoria jumped in.
“The reservation had already been made.”
Dad’s eyes moved toward her.
Victoria immediately stopped talking.
Dominic continued.
“I gave Audrey money for transportation.”
“Twelve dollars,” I said.
“It was enough.”
“For your wife and five-day-old son after abdominal surgery?” Dad asked.
Dominic’s face tightened.
“I didn’t realize Audrey was going to call her father over a marital disagreement.”
Dad took one step forward.
And suddenly the room felt smaller.
“You misunderstand why I’m here.”
Dominic swallowed.
Dad continued.
“I’m not here because my daughter called me about a marital disagreement.”
His eyes hardened.
“I’m here because my daughter asked for help leaving a man who abandoned her and my grandson outside a hospital.”
Silence.
Victoria crossed her arms.
“Well, perhaps if Audrey had behaved more reasonably—”
I turned toward her.
“No.”
She blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t get to speak for me anymore.”
Victoria looked genuinely shocked.
I continued.
“You don’t get to tell me how wives behave. You don’t get to decide when I’m tired, when I’m dramatic, when I’m unreasonable, or when my pain is inconvenient.”
“Audrey—”
“And you will never use my car again.”
Her face hardened.
“That SUV has practically become part of this family.”
“No.”
I looked directly at her.
“It was part of me. You simply became comfortable taking things that belonged to me.”
Dominic stepped between us.
“Enough.”
That word.
The old command.
The word that usually ended every argument.
Except this time, it didn’t.
“No,” I said.
Dominic stared at me.
I had never spoken to him like that before.
“You need to come home.”
“I am home.”
His eyes moved around the apartment.
“This isn’t your home.”
“It is tonight.”
“What about our apartment?”
“My attorney will contact you.”
His expression changed.
“Your attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Audrey, stop being ridiculous.”
“I’m filing for divorce.”
The words entered the room like a gunshot.
Victoria gasped.
Dominic stared at me.
Then laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because he didn’t believe me.
“You’re not divorcing me.”
“I am.”
“You have a five-day-old baby.”
“I know.”
“You need me.”
“No.”
That single word hurt him more than anything else I could have said.
His eyes darkened.
Then his voice dropped.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
I looked toward the folder on the table.
“Actually, I’m beginning to understand exactly what you’ve been doing.”
Dominic followed my eyes.
And everything changed.
He saw the papers.
He saw the loan application.
He saw the photocopied signature.
The anger disappeared from his face.
Dad noticed.
So did I.
I picked up the document.
“Two million dollars?”
Victoria whispered something under her breath.
Dominic ignored her.
“Audrey, I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
“It was temporary financing.”
“With my forged signature?”
“I didn’t forge anything.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
“I’m not afraid.”
“You should be.”
Dominic looked at Dad.
That was his mistake.
Because for the first time, I saw the truth clearly.
He wasn’t afraid he had hurt me.
He was afraid of who my father was.
And somehow that made leaving even easier.
Dad spoke.
“This conversation is over.”
Dominic pointed at me.
“She’s my wife.”
Dad’s expression became ice.
“She is my daughter.”
“I have rights.”
“So does she.”
Victoria grabbed Dominic’s arm.
“We should leave.”
“No.”
He pulled away.
“This is insane.”
Then Dominic looked at me.
“Give me Leo.”
Every instinct in my body ignited.
“No.”
“He’s my son.”
“And he’s sleeping.”
“I said give me my son.”
He stepped toward the bassinet.
Dad moved.
Only one step.
That was enough.
Dominic stopped.
Dad didn’t raise his voice.
“Do not approach the child.”
Dominic stared at him.
“You can’t threaten me.”
“I didn’t.”
Dad’s voice remained calm.
“I gave you an instruction.”
Evelyn appeared near the elevator with two security officers.
Dominic finally understood.
He wasn’t controlling this room.
He wasn’t controlling me.
He wasn’t controlling anything.
“You’ll regret this,” he said.
I looked at the man I had once believed I would grow old beside.
“No, Dominic.”
My voice didn’t shake anymore.
“I regret staying long enough for you to think this was normal.”
The elevator doors opened.
Security escorted Dominic and Victoria inside.
Victoria kept talking.
“This family can still work this out.”
Dad looked at her.
“No, ma’am.”
The doors began closing.
Dominic stared at me through the narrowing gap.
And just before they shut, he said something that made my blood run cold.
“You think that paperwork is the worst thing I’ve hidden from you?”
The doors closed.
Silence.
I turned toward Dad.
“What did he mean?”
Dad didn’t answer.
“Dad.”
He looked at Evelyn.
She looked back at him.
And suddenly I realized they knew something.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
Dad slowly walked toward the table.
He opened the folder again.
But this time, he reached beneath the loan documents and removed a second file.
This one was thinner.
On top was a photograph.
I picked it up.
Dominic was standing outside a hotel.
Beside him was a woman.
Young.
Blonde.
Pregnant.
Very pregnant.
My fingers went numb.
“Who is she?”
Dad’s voice was quieter than I had ever heard it.
“Her name is Claire Bennett.”
I stared at the photograph.
“How pregnant is she?”
Evelyn answered.
“Approximately eight months.”
My mind refused to understand.
Eight months.
I had been pregnant with Leo for nine.
“No.”
I flipped to the next photograph.
Dominic and Claire entering the hotel together.
Another.
Dominic touching her stomach.
Another.
Dominic kissing her forehead.
The dates covered months.
My entire pregnancy.
Then I reached the final document.
It wasn’t a photograph.
It was a hospital registration form.
Claire Bennett.
Emergency contact:
Dominic Mercer.
Relationship:
Husband.
I stopped breathing.
“Husband?”
Dad moved closer.
“Audrey—”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“How can he be listed as her husband?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Is he married to her?”
“We’re investigating.”
My hands shook violently.
Then Evelyn’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her face changed.
“What?” Dad asked.
Evelyn looked directly at me.
“Claire Bennett has been located.”
My throat tightened.
“Where?”
“At St. Vincent’s Hospital.”
The same hospital I had left that afternoon.
“Why is she there?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Then answered.
“She went into premature labor less than an hour ago.”
I stared at her.
But she wasn’t finished.
“There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“Hospital staff contacted the emergency number Claire provided.”
My stomach sank before she said the name.
“Dominic.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
Evelyn continued.
“He’s on his way there now.”
I looked toward Leo sleeping peacefully in the bassinet.
Then at the photograph of Dominic touching another pregnant woman’s stomach while I had been carrying his son.
Hours earlier, I had believed the worst thing my husband had done was leave me outside a hospital with twelve dollars.
Now I understood something terrifying.
That had only been the door opening.
And somewhere across Manhattan, another woman was about to give birth to a child whose father might also be my husband.
But none of us knew yet that Claire Bennett was carrying a secret far bigger than an affair.
Because when the hospital checked her identification, they discovered the name “Claire Bennett” didn’t legally belong to her at all.
And the woman Dominic had been secretly visiting for eight months was connected to my family in a way that would make even my father go completely silent.
TO BE CONTINUED…
