Chapter 2Bleeding Out At My Own Wedding

I immediately marched back into the clinic and booked Mia for a termination the very next morning.

She cried like the world was ending.

To keep her from going completely off the rails, Harrison turned to me and murmured, "Be good, okay? Don't overthink this. I just need to go calm her down."

As he spoke, he reached out and affectionately patted the top of my head. Like one might soothe a golden retriever.

My expression remained entirely neutral. I felt nothing.

Harrison left that afternoon and didn't come home all night.

The next morning, just as I was putting on my coat for work, Harrison’s mother, Victoria, appeared at my front door with Mia in tow.

Mia had her arm looped tightly through Victoria's. They stood close, leaning into one another, giving off the distinct impression of a mother and daughter—or a deeply bonded mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Harrison trailed a few steps behind them.

The grim set of his jaw gave it all away. I already knew, with absolute certainty, that today's surgery was off the table.

Right on cue, Victoria stepped forward, taking on the imperious tone of the family matriarch.

"Natalie, I'm not going to beat around the bush." She shot a protective look at the girl beside her, silently communicating to Mia that she was her absolute shield.

Then she looked back at me. "Mia is three months along. It’s a boy. The eldest grandson of the Prescott family."

"This child is of paramount importance to our legacy."

"Both you and Mia are Harrison's women now. If she can be gracious enough to make room for you, you should have the decency to show her the same grace."

Victoria paused, letting the silence stretch before delivering her final blow. "As an older woman, let me give you a piece of advice. In a marriage, a smart woman learns to keep one eye shut. Stop being so petty."

Immediately, Mia dropped to her knees in front of me again, tears spilling perfectly down her cheeks.

"You're a healer, Natalie. Please don't make me kill my baby. I swear, when he's born, my son can serve yours. We'll do anything you want."

She wept with absolutely zero dignity, like a Victorian maid begging for scraps.

Harrison and Victoria immediately flanked her, hauling her back to her feet.

"Mia, do not kneel to her. Don't you be afraid. I am backing you. She won't dare lay a finger on you," Victoria snapped, shooting me a glacial glare.

Harrison looked at me, his voice tight. "She’s practically begging you. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

Make it harder for her?

I almost laughed out loud.

Wasn't it you, Harrison, who told me the decision was entirely mine?

I forced a gentle, glowing smile onto my face and stepped toward Mia. "You poor thing. You must be terrified." I reached out and warmly enveloped her hands in mine.

Mia was so stunned she forgot how to speak.

"Harrison left the choice to me," I lied smoothly. "So I assumed he was the one who didn't want the baby, and he was just using me to do his dirty work."

"I see now that I was completely mistaken. Bringing a life into this world is a beautiful thing. No one has the right to strip you of your right to be a mother."

Mia stared at me, dumbfounded by my warmth.

But Harrison was even more shocked.

After his mother and Mia finally left, he lingered behind, staring at me as if I were a puzzle he couldn't solve.

"You've changed, Natalie."

"How so?" I asked casually, adjusting my watch.

"The old you was territorial. You kept me on such a tight leash. If I even looked at another woman, you'd give me the silent treatment for days."

So he knew.

He knew exactly how fiercely I had loved him. He knew my love was so all-consuming it made me jealous and insecure.

And yet, knowing all of that, he still got Mia pregnant. And he still brought her straight to my doorstep to break my heart.

Reborn into this life, looking at him now, my heart was a flatline. Total, absolute stillness.

Because the love was dead, I had infinite emotional bandwidth to be the "bigger person."

I sighed, putting on a face of helpless devotion. "What else am I supposed to do? I love you too much. And now I’m carrying your child, too."

I paused, tilting my head. "If I had thrown a massive tantrum and forced you to cut her off entirely... would you have actually done it?"

He didn't answer the question. Instead, he pulled me into a tight embrace.

"You are the most important person in my life. You know that. As for Mia... even if I wanted to cut ties right this second, my mother would never allow it."

"You know how hard it was to get my mom to finally agree to our wedding. Let's just keep the peace and play along with her for now, okay?"