a emerged, her eyes red, her expression a fragile m

ave told you about the baby." Her eyes welled with fresh tears. "I was just going to... going to

warm, utterly gentle. "No, Chelsea. This isn't your f

she mumbled, her voice choked. "I promise I'll try my best to win her

quickly suppressed. A nanny? In my o

y, Chelsea," he said, his voice thick with r

d from my lungs. The sheer hypo

the corridor. She watched him go, then straightened her clothes, a subtle smirk play

locking onto my hiding spo

" she asked, her voice sharp, devo

couldn't speak. I wouldn' t

her eyes glinting with

e frantic beating of my heart. I turned

carrying Drake's child. His family will never let him abandon me. You'll just be kicked out, publicly shamed." Sh

hands clenched into fists, fingernails digging into my palms. The

a desperate protest

eps echoed down the corr

ed out, her voice filled with a desperate plea. Then, with a dramatic gasp, she crumpled to the floor, clutching her belly

nto his arms, his eyes blazing with fury as he glared at me.

k frantically, trying to deny the accusatio

urying her face in his chest. "She's just... sh

oved me aside, his eyes filled with a searing hatred. "If anything happ

tormented tenderness I knew I would never receive again. "I'm taking he

tood there, utterly alone, surrounded by the ghosts of my shattered life. I didn' t eve

im ha