eclipsing even the freezing cold that had seeped into her bones. She was no longer in the water. She was on a rough

nd salt spray. Her best friend. The one person she had always trusted. "I've bee

cracked whisper. But then another wa

Summer Hayes went into premature labor. The triplets she had been carrying-the babies she had dreamed of holding in a

e tiny, fragile babies

uish tint, and his breaths were shallow, ragged gasps. Chloe, her hands shaking,

ps. She had chosen the names months ago, in the quiet

d and furious. They were small-barely four pounds each-but their lungs work

Leo was

seized Summer. She looked at her two healthy children, then at Leo, his tiny c

l resources in the country. The Astor Medical Center had a world-renowned pediatric cardiology unit. She would sen

ld be found, anonymously. The Astors would not be able to ignore a dying infa

gued fiercely against it. "Summer, you

nd times in her fevered mind. Julian's cold words. But also the guard's moving lips. Scarlett's smile. "I don't know what re

f her broken vows. She tucked it into the folds of Leo's threadbare blanket. It was p

reer-was summoned. Leo was swaddled in the cleanest blanket they had, a

then turned back to Summer. "I've arranged transport. We'r

ef. Each mile that would separate her from Leo was a fresh wound. "Summer Hayes died in t

truly ordered her death, or if Scarlett had orchestrated it alo

Astor stormed into his grandson's study at the Astor mansion. The

nch. "That girl is carrying your children. My great-grandchildren. Triplets, Julian. She was carrying triplets, and you didn't

that his memories of the hours after waking from the coma might be fragmented. He remembered the hospital. He remembered the yacht. He remembered

iage he'd been pushed into, angry at the accident that had stolen three

ulian said, his voice carefully measured. "A

n near the window, her eyes wide with feigned concern. "Everyone knew

ot even looking at her. "

head and glided from the room. Julian watched h

mistake was letting her family get their hooks into ours. Don't repeat it." He fixed Julian with

an sat alone in t

assinet at the massive front gate. A security guard brou

side was an infant-tiny, impossibly fragile, with a bluish tinge to his lips. For a

t a ring. Her ring. The one he had placed on Summer's finger on their wedding day, in a ceremon

t his lungs

cked number. A man's gravelly voice

haging after a difficult birth. She didn't make it. Her dying wish was for t

g in his palm, didn't question it. Summer was dead. Their other children-triplets, his grandfather had said, and h

ho was stirring weakly, his b

rked at his assistant. "And contact the pe

d. He didn't know what to believe. Bu

ched Caleb and Olivia to her chest. Each mile that separated her fro

hat woman had died in the Atlantic. A new person wa

back. She would learn the truth about what happened on that yacht. She would take back her son. And if Ju

d orchestrated this... then the re

d prepare. And she would keep her re