Chapter 4The Price of a Heartbeat

Chloe came to find me because Liam tried to cut her off.

He told her.

"Chloe, I'll give you a lump sum. After that, leave New York and don't ever come back."

Chloe refused.

She cried and asked him if he had ever actually loved her.

Liam kissed away her tears.

"Chloe, if I had met you first, I would have loved you. But I already have Hazel."

"Chloe, please don't cry. It breaks my heart."

After that, Liam refused to see her again.

Pushed to the brink, Chloe somehow found out where I lived.

The moment she barged in, she pointed straight at my swollen stomach.

"Do you think having a baby means you can trap Liam?!"

"Let me tell you something! You're dreaming!"

"The person Liam loves is ME! ME!"

I backed away, shielding my stomach, trying to get her to calm down.

But Chloe, blinded by rage, was incapable of calming down.

I called for the housekeeper, asking her to escort Chloe out.

Chloe violently shoved the older woman to the floor and lunged at me.

"Hazel Evans! Why don't you just die?!"

"If you're dead, Liam will be all mine!"

I couldn't dodge in time. Chloe tackled me to the hardwood floor, and my stomach slammed brutally against the sharp corner of the marble coffee table.

A cold sweat broke out over my entire body from the agonizing pain.

Like a woman possessed, Chloe used her stiletto heels to kick my stomach, over and over again.

She screamed at me to die.

I felt warm blood pooling down my thighs. Absolute, primal terror consumed me. The housekeeper scrambled up, shoved Chloe away, called 911, and then the police.

As my consciousness faded, I dreamt of a little boy waving at me.

No matter how hard I reached, I couldn't catch his hand.

When I woke up, the doctor looked at me, hesitating to speak.

I opened my mouth, clinging to a final, desperate thread of hope.

"Doctor, my baby..."

The doctor sighed heavily.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Vance. We couldn't save the baby."

I knew it was coming.

But hearing the words out loud still shattered me completely.

My tears soaked the hospital pillow.

The doctor told me to stay strong.

The very next day, paparazzi released the video of Liam and Chloe hooking up in the hospital's underground parking garage.