Nichol

They were fixed on me, but they were empty, void of

cracking. "Baby, you're awake

ing her cheek, wiping away a tear I

tive, something to help her sleep, to calm her down after the scene at the cafe. Kaliyah had been so insistent, so distraught. Sh

ody shaking with manufactured sobs. "I had a last-minute emergency at work. I had to go. I locked the studio door without t

n't lose her. Not now. Not ever. She was the perfect wife, the perfect m

steady. The silence stretched, thick with unspoken accusation

orite poetry, and recounted stories of our happiest moments. I was the perfect, pen

ndon office. A crisis that re

g her forehead. "Just for a few hour

nodded, her

to meet Kaliyah. She was waiting for

dre," she whisper

umphant pride shot through me. I, Andre Nichols, was powerful enough,

oice filled with a genuine wonder that surprised even me. "Our baby." I would have it all. The per

shadow in the hallway. I didn't see Haven standing there, her

Shelto

had when I told him I was pregnant. The same tender awe, the same possessive pride. It wasn't unique. I

een shattered into irreparable pieces,

zed. A text

dern structure of glass and steel. My design. A private art g

ce to display my art. And soon, a place for our

I hailed a cab, my voice a m

They were gathered around Kaliyah, laughing, congratulating her, touching her stomach. They

lapping him on the back. "Must be a boy. You'll have

roared wit

l see," he said, his voice smug. "I have to keep my wife happy during the

did to her. The sounds she made. Intimate details of their

It was a custom piece I had sourced from Italy. I knew its flaws. I

ound the maintenance winch hidden behind a vel

n a sickening snap. The massive crystal

ding strai

t across the crowded room. Panic flared in his face. He start

rieked. A high, pier

ltered. He stop

hose

e, consumed me. The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Andre, shie

led roar. I was on a stretcher. Andre was holdi

paramedics, his voice frantic.

d to wheel

g in front of the stretcher.

lly injured," a paramedic said, tr

stretcher, my body hitting the cold marble floor with a jarring imp

unconscious Kaliyah into his arms. "Take

oken body lying in a pool of my own blo

ears. The man I had loved, the man I had married, the father of my child, had just left me

dre I loved was truly gone. An