THE HEIR I WAS MEANT TO HATE

000: PROLOGUE

"Make them pay, Fabiola.”

The words bubbled up through the blood coating my husband’s lips, a wet, dreadful sound that would haunt me for the rest of my life, if only I’d known the depth of it.

"Don't speak," my hands slipped on the slick warmth of his chest. I was trying to hold him together, to keep his soul inside his body by sheer force of will. "Alex, please! Look at me! Baby, listen, this is not goodbye.”.

But Alex wasn’t looking at me. His brown eyes, usually so full of warmth and mischief, were fixed on the dark sky above our driveway, glazing over with a terrifying emptiness.

"The Alfreds," he rasped, grip leaving my wrist to rest on my bulging belly. "Promise me. Promise… promise…”

“I promise!”

“Burn them down."

"I promise," I sobbed, though I didn't know how.

I didn't care about the billionaires or their empire. I didn't care about the corruption case Alex had been too stubborn to drop. I just wanted the sirens wailing in the distance to get here now.

To save the love of my life.

The paramedics swarmed us, a blur of neon vests and urgent shouting.

“We’re losing him! Get the paddles — clear!”


“No pulse! Starting compressions!”

“Don’t you dare stop! He’s strong! He has to make it!” I screamed, thrashing against the iron-grip dragging me back.

“Let me hold him! Please!”

"Ma'am, you need to step back—"

"That is my husband!" I fought, my fingernails digging into the arm restraining me.

"I’m not leaving h—"

A sharp, blinding agony ripped through my midsection, cutting off my scream. It wasn't the grief. It was a physical tearing sensation, deep inside my womb.

I looked down.

Blood.

Not Alex’s dark, crimson blood. This was brighter. And it was soaking through the fabric of my white nightdress, gushing down my legs in a horrifying stream.

"The baby," I whispered, though my voice sounded faraway. Knees drained of strength.

The paramedic holding me froze, eyes widening. "We need another stretcher! Now! She’s hemorrhaging!"

“Hold on, little one,” was all i could manage even as the pain tore deeper. “Mama’s got you okay?…Mama’s got you.”

As my vision tunneled into darkness, the last thing I saw was the ambulance doors slamming shut on Alex’s lifeless face. And the last thing I felt was the life inside me, our seven-month miracle slipping away to join him.

Make. them. pay.

The thought crystallized in the cold darkness before the void took me completely.