Chapter 1The Price of a Heartbeat

Twenty-eight-year-old Liam held me tight in his arms, his voice a low, coaxing whisper.

"Hazel, let's have a baby. Please?"

Thirty-five-year-old Liam, while I was fighting for my life in the hospital, was caught by paparazzi hooking up with his young secretary in the hospital's underground parking garage.

Afterward, Liam sat in silence for a long time. He lit a cigarette, and through the swirling smoke, his voice was chillingly calm.

"Hazel, don't go making trouble for her. She's young. She doesn't know any better."

"I'll compensate you."

I looked at the miscarriage report on my phone, a numb, broken smile forming on my lips.

"That won't be necessary, Liam."

"We're getting a divorce."

The hand holding his cigarette paused.

"Hazel, you're not a child anymore."

"You need to think very clearly about the consequences of everything you do."

Consequences?

I had already thought about them. Very, very clearly.

Chapter 1

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I slapped the divorce papers down on the coffee table. I didn't want to waste another breath on Liam. I turned to leave.

Liam crushed his cigarette out in the ashtray and grabbed my wrist.

"Hazel, it was just a baby."

"If you want one, we can just have another one later."

"Don't throw the word 'divorce' around over every little thing."

My nose stung. I blinked hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Liam, he was eight months old! He was fully formed!"

Liam let out an exasperated sigh.

"If it hasn't been born yet, it's just an embryo. Can you please stop being so emotional?"

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat, forcing down the tidal wave of grief.

"So, is that what you thought when you cheated on me with Chloe? Liam?"

His grip on my wrist tightened like a vice. His brow darkened.

"What man doesn't slip up?"

"It was one time. It means absolutely nothing. I promise you, Chloe will never appear in front of you again."

"Hazel, there is absolutely no reason for us to take this to a divorce."

Staring at Liam's self-righteous, entitled face, I closed my eyes. A bitter, suffocating pain twisted in my chest.

One time?

Liam thought he had hidden it so well.

The truth is, I had known for a long time.

When Liam told me he was going on a "business trip," he was actually taking Chloe to see the sunset in Hawaii—a trip she had always dreamed of.

The girl was young, bold, and reckless. She sent me a photo directly to taunt me.

She wrote:

“Mrs. Vance, the sunset is gorgeous. But Mr. Vance is a little too fierce.”

In that photo, under a blazing, passionate sunset, Liam was kissing her deeply, the golden hour light spilling over them like a blessing.

The pain was so intense I couldn't breathe.

I called Liam. He answered almost immediately.

His voice was husky, thick with lust.

"What's wrong, Hazel?"

I fought to keep my voice steady.

"What are you doing?"

Liam let out a muffled, suppressed groan, followed immediately by the faint, unmistakable, wet sound of flesh slapping together.

My hand gripping the phone shook violently.

I was silently begging Liam to tell me Chloe was lying.

"I'm working out."

"Be a good girl. I'm busy. I'll call you back when I'm done."

The call ended abruptly.

My heart turned to absolute ice. Liam's actions proved it. He really was cheating on me with Chloe.

I started hyperventilating. My hands cramped together, my entire body going numb.

I was rushed to the ER.

At the hospital, the doctor told me I was pregnant.

I clutched the ultrasound printout and cried for hours.

When Liam finally came home, I didn't even have the courage to confront him.

A tear slipped from the corner of my eye.

Liam used his thumb to wipe it away.

"Hazel, just turn a blind eye to this. Can you do that for me?"

I was trembling with rage.

"Besides divorce, there is zero other possibility for us!"

Liam's chest heaved. He took a few deep breaths, visibly suppressing his own temper.

"I am not divorcing you, Hazel."

"You better drop that idea right now."

"Take some time and calm down."

Liam threw the divorce papers into the trash can and slammed the study door so hard the walls shook.