Chapter 1

"You went to the hospital today?" Emmanuel leaned lazily against the couch, cigarette dangling between his fingers, eyes cold as ice locked on Elena Wakefield. Elena instinctively stiffened. Just one look from him was enough to make her nerves jump. Her hand, hidden in her sleeve, trembled slightly, but she forced herself to stay calm. "Yeah." "What for?" His voice was calm, but the way his eyes pierced through the smoke like a knife made it hard to breathe. "My period came... stomach was killing me, so I went to get it checked out." Elena's heart was pounding like crazy. She was pregnant. But she didn't dare tell Emmanuel Mitchell. Because she knew exactly how that would end—with him forcing her to get rid of it. In the three years they'd been together, she'd lost three babies. The doctor had warned her—her uterus had become dangerously thin. Another abortion, and she might never be able to have a child again. But Elena wanted a baby so badly. Her own baby. A baby with Emmanuel. Too bad she knew he'd never allow that to happen. Emmanuel hated her—had made that pretty clear a long time ago. Like he'd ever let her carry his child to term. She always had terrible cramps during her period, like writhing in pain kind of bad. Maybe Emmanuel bought it this time, because he didn't push further. Just smoked in silence. Elena let out a quiet breath and forced a smile. "You hungry? I can make you something." He didn't respond, just kept smoking like she didn't exist. The air reeked of cigarettes. Elena backed up a step, cautiously suggesting, "Maybe I'll make your favorite—Meatloaf?" Just as the words left her mouth, Emmanuel let out a dry chuckle. He flicked the cigarette to the floor and exhaled slowly, saying, "Go to the hospital tomorrow and take care of it." Elena froze. Her eyes locked onto his face, stunned. Her lips moved, but nothing came out. Emmanuel stood up slowly. "Lilith's health isn't great. I don't want this to make it worse." Was this his version of an explanation? Something snapped inside Elena. Her voice shook as she glared up at him for the first time. "You care so much about her—then what am I to you?" She regretted it the second it came out. She knew better. Asking Emmanuel that was just asking to get hurt. Sure enough, he didn't miss a beat. "You've never been anything to me." Elena's eyes stung. Yeah, that was the truth. She meant nothing to him—why was she still holding on? She blinked back the tears. "Emmanuel, even if I'm nothing to you, you can't deny her. She's your child." His face was blank. "There's only one woman in this world who deserves to have my baby." So basically, she wasn't even good enough to carry his child? Elena tried not to cry, she really did. But the tears came anyway. Her voice was rough as she begged, "Emmanuel, please... don't take her away from me. Please…" "No." "The doctor said... if I do this again, I might never have kids ever again." "That's your problem, not mine," he said, tone flat and distant, like they were talking about someone else's life. "That's it. Go to the hospital tomorrow."