Chapter 2
889 Words
Gabe stared at Clara, tears glistening in her eyes, and his face dropped into a dark scowl instantly.
He snapped his head around and snarled at the bodyguards behind him, "Escort the madam back to her room."
The next second, a sharp pain exploded at the back of Clara's neck. Her vision blurred to black, every muscle in her body went limp, and she crumpled to the ground, powerless to move an inch.
When she finally forced her eyes open again, she was locked in a cramped guest room. The wound on her lower body throbbed so viciously that every vein on her body stood taut with agony.
Clara forced her aching body upright, stretched a shaking hand toward the man who was standing with his back turned to her, and roared out in a raw, broken voice, "Where is my baby? Where did you take him?"
Gabe turned at the sound of her voice. One look at her hysterical, unraveling frame had him furrowing his brows.
"Quit throwing a fit. The baby's already been taken for matching."
The words hit Clara like a ton of bricks. She thudded hard to the floor and practically groveled at the feet of the man who had shared her bed for five long years.
"He's just a tiny baby! He can't go through a bone marrow transplant! Please, if you need a transplant, take mine instead! I'm begging you!" She tipped her head back and clutched desperately at the hem of his trousers.
"Enough!" Gabe snapped. "I swore I would never let anything happen to my brother's bloodline."
Every word tore from Clara's throat, raw and bleeding.
"Did you do this because he's your brother's child, or because he's your first love's child?!"
A flicker of guilt flashed through the man's eyes, but he refused to look at her again.
He turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door shut and twisting the lock behind him with a heavy click.
Clara stared at the locked door, and all the suppressed panic and grief inside her finally shattered free. She bit down so hard on her lower lip that she tasted blood, because she knew the man had made up his mind and nothing would change it.
But she refused to just sit back and wait for disaster to strike.
Gritting her teeth against the searing, tearing pain in her abdomen, she hauled herself up and scrambled out through the window, stumbling into the hallway. She had not even made it a dozen steps before she ran straight into Rose.
The woman looked as fragile as a dandelion swaying in the wind, standing in the hallway with the perfect picture of gentle helplessness painted across her face. But the gaze she fixed on Clara burned bright with unmasked triumph.
Blind rage ripped through Clara. She lunged forward and grabbed Rose's arm hard in her grip. "Where is my baby? Give me back my baby!"
No sooner had her hand made contact than Rose reacted as if she had been shoved with brutal force. She let out a shrill shriek and collapsed backward like a rag doll.
"Clara! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Gabe came running at the shriek, and he roared out the words before shoving Clara away with brutal force.
Clara never saw it coming. The back of her head cracked against the hard wall with a sickening thud, and warm blood immediately soaked through her slender neck, leaving a shocking, vivid crimson stain spreading down her skin.
Agony seared through her, stealing every breath. When she forced her head up, what did she see?
Gabe was holding Rose in his arms, gently checking her over like she was the most fragile thing in the world.
The raw worry and tenderness in his eyes as he looked at the woman in his arms could not be hidden, yet he did not even spare a single glance in Clara’s direction.
That was right.
Whenever Rose was around, she did not deserve even a crumb of his attention anymore.
Gritting her teeth through the searing pain, she stumbled out of that sickening place, her whole body a shaking, disheveled mess.
Only one thought screamed through Clara’s head, to get a divorce.
Dragging her battered, heavy body back to the Hart family home, she stopped in front of the safe and began fumbling with the combination over and over again.
Years ago, she had rebelled against every social expectation to marry Gabe. Her parents had worried that once her honeymoon high wore off, she would rush into a divorce on impulse, and they would lose their chance to ride the Sterling family’s coattails forever. So they had locked her marriage license away in this safe to cut off any escape route she might try to take.
But right now, what was locked up in the safe was not just that thin little marriage license.
It was her entire life, locked away and strangled tight.
On the fifth wrong entry, the blare of the alarm split the air. Clara’s parents came hurrying over at the sound.
Her father stared down at his daughter, crumpled on the floor, and his brow drew into a deep, angry frown.
"What are you doing back here, anyway? Sneaking around trying to c***k open the safe?"
- Writer
