"If you know all that, then why are you still being so heartless?"
"Get some rest. And when you're feeling better, apologize to Grace. She's a simple, kind-hearted person. She won't hold it against you."
He stood and walked out without a shred of hesitation.
I stared at the closed door, a suffocating ache pressing against my chest.
I curled up on the hospital bed and broke down crying.
I didn't know how long it lasted before my phone alarm went off.
I'd promised Jeanette I would come to the children's hospital tonight to stay with her.
I had barely sat up when the door swung open.
Grace walked in wearing a loose maternity dress, her steps slow and deliberate.
"Miss Harding, where are you rushing off to? Why not rest a little longer?"
There was a smile on her face, but her eyes were ice cold.
"I hope you understand—Julian is my husband now. You can stop with the desperate little stunts."
She paused, then lowered her voice.
"After all, children are innocent. Aren't they?"
Every nerve in my body seized. My head snapped up, and I glared at her with bloodshot eyes.
"Grace, what are you trying to do?"
"I'm warning you—if you lay a single finger on my daughter, I will make you pay with your life."
She steadied herself against the edge of the bed and settled into the chair, her gaze dropping to her swollen belly, her expression melting into tenderness.
"Miss Harding, please, calm down. We're both mothers. I don't want to make things difficult for you."
She reached into her bag, pulled out a bank card, and set it on the bed.
"There's a million dollars on this card. More than enough to cover Jeanette's surgery."
"My only condition is that Julian never finds out she exists."
A million dollars. Enough for the surgery and the medication.
The refusal climbed to the tip of my tongue, but I forced it back down.
Between a life without a father and a life at all, I would always choose her life.
So I swallowed the bitterness burning in my throat.
"Fine. I agree."
A smug smile spread across Grace's face. She rose slowly to her feet.
She took two steps, then frowned and turned back to me with a helpless look.
"Miss Harding, would you mind tying my shoelace for me? I really can't bend down."
I hesitated, suspicion flickering through me. But in the end, I knelt down.
That was when Julian's voice cut through the room, sharp and urgent.
"Grace, what are you doing in here?"
Before I could react, Grace let out a cry and her body pitched backward.
Julian rushed in and caught her just before she hit the ground. His pupils contracted to pinpoints.
"Gertrude, you've gone too far!"
"I didn't—"
His hand cracked across my face before I could finish, the force so brutal it whipped my head to the side.
Grace sagged against Julian's chest, her face drained of color, her voice choked with tears.
"Julian, don't blame Miss Harding. She just wanted a million dollars for her child."
"I told her that's our joint marital assets, and I don't have the authority to give it away. That's why she got upset and pushed me."
"She didn't mean it..."
Julian stared at me, disbelief flooding his eyes.
"A child? When did you have a child?"
"I actually thought you were sincere. Turns out this whole time, I was nothing but an ATM to you."
I opened my mouth to explain, but Grace beat me to it.
"Julian, let it go."
"We wronged Miss Harding first, after all. We can't take away her right to find happiness."
Julian's face went dark as iron, his eyes filled with nothing but disgust.
"Gertrude, you're really something else."
He pulled out his phone.
