The next morning, Haleigh walked to the top of the grand staircase.
A horrible, desperate scream echoed up from the foyer.
Haleigh looked down. Fabian sat in a wheelchair at the base of the stairs. Two massive bodyguards had Cleon pinned face-down on the marble floor.
Fabian's assistant was reading from a tablet. "Embezzlement of corporate funds. Attempted bribery of board members during Mr. Blackburn's coma."
Fabian's face was carved from ice. "Freeze his trust accounts. Cancel all his credit lines."
Cleon thrashed on the floor, crying hysterically. "Uncle Fabian, please! I'm sorry! Don't cut me off!"
Fabian looked down at him with absolute disgust. "Break his leg. Throw him out the front gates."
One of the bodyguards raised a heavy steel baton and brought it down hard on Cleon's right calf.
The loud, wet snap of bone breaking echoed through the massive hall. Cleon shrieked in agony.
Haleigh's stomach lurched. She gripped the wooden banister to keep from falling. She hated Cleon, but watching Fabian dispense brutal, lawless violence terrified her to her core.
Fabian slowly turned his head. His dark eyes locked onto Haleigh standing on the stairs.
The corner of his mouth twitched up into a cruel, warning smirk. He was showing her exactly what happened to people who crossed him.
Haleigh looked away, her whole body trembling. She hurried down the back stairs and slipped out the side door of the estate.
She took a taxi straight to the boutique clinic in Manhattan. She sat in the VIP waiting room, aggressively flipping the pages of an old Vogue magazine just to give her shaking hands something to do.
Dr. Payne walked in. He closed the door and locked it. His face was grave.
He pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose. "Your HCG levels have doubled beautifully. The IVF was a complete success. You are pregnant."
The word "success" hit Haleigh like a bolt of lightning. Her brain short-circuited.
She took the thin sheet of paper from him. The positive result glared up at her.
Fabian's voice echoed in her head: I will personally drag you to a clinic and have that bastard scraped out of you.
Haleigh shot up from the chair. The legs scraped harshly against the floor. "You have to terminate it. Right now. Schedule the abortion."
Dr. Payne looked shocked. "Mrs. Blackburn, I cannot do that. This embryo is incredibly valuable. Mrs. Berneice gave strict orders-"
"If I have this baby, that man will kill me!" Haleigh hissed, her voice cracking with panic.
Dr. Payne looked at her with deep pity. "Haleigh, look at your chart. Your uterine lining is dangerously thin. If we perform a surgical abortion right now, the scarring will be severe. You will likely be infertile for the rest of your life."
The medical truth acted like a bucket of ice water over Haleigh's head. The frantic need to destroy the evidence vanished.
She fell back into the chair. She buried her face in her hands. Hot tears leaked through her fingers and dripped onto her lap.
Taking away her right to ever be a mother was a punishment worse than death. She realized, with a sickening drop in her stomach, that she couldn't kill the life inside her.
Haleigh aggressively wiped her tears away. Her eyes hardened. She looked up at the doctor. "You cannot tell anyone about this."
"The system automatically updates the family portal," Dr. Payne said nervously.
"Under HIPAA law, I am your patient. You work for me, not Berneice," Haleigh demanded, her voice turning lethal. "Change the system status to 'Pending' or I will have your medical license revoked."
Dr. Payne sighed and nodded. "I can hide it for now. But your stomach will grow. You can't hide it forever."
Haleigh folded the real lab report and shoved it deep into the hidden zipper of her purse. It felt like she was carrying a live bomb.
She walked out of the clinic. The cold Manhattan wind hit her face. She needed a plan. She needed cash. She had to run.
