All those arguments, all those cold wars, and none of it had ever driven us apart.
Now he was saving himself for someone else.
I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted copper, and I walked out of that bedroom step by agonizing step, each one like treading on nails. That bedroom that had held the full weight of everything we'd been to each other.
That night, tears soaked through my pillow.
I had lost the last person in this world who loved me.
The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed with a pounding head and took the divorce papers to Victoria Ashford's house.
She had never liked me. In her eyes, I was dead weight shackled to her son's ankle.
The moment she heard Joanna was carrying the Ashford heir, she couldn't wait for me to disappear.
She drew up a new divorce agreement with barely concealed delight.
Out of what she called my "self-awareness," she offered me ten percent of the assets.
Every other word was a warning, spoken and unspoken: take the money and never come near Damien again.
I didn't refuse.
After all, two weeks ago, doctors had found the tumor had come back.
They still weren't sure whether it was benign or malignant.
She had no interest in small talk, but for once, she softened her tone.
"I'll find a way to make him sign. You just focus on planning your next chapter."
The housekeeper escorted me out of the Ashford residence with polite efficiency.
I walked home in a daze.
But before I even made it through the door, Damien's men grabbed me and hauled me to the hospital.
Outside the operating room, he stood with bloodshot eyes. His hand cracked across my face.
"Who told you to go running to my mother about Joanna's pregnancy? You know she despises illegitimate children! If I'd gotten there a minute later, she would've dragged Joanna to get an abortion!"
"Yesterday you sat there acting so calm and above it all. Turns out you were playing hard to get the whole time! If anything happens to her, what could you possibly do to make up for it?"
The sting blazed across my cheek, then faded into numbness.
Years ago, he had stepped in front of my father's hand and taken a slap meant for me.
He'd promised me that day that he would never let another person hurt me for as long as he lived.
And now he was the one who struck me without a shred of mercy.
I swallowed my tears and opened my mouth to speak, but the operating room doors swung open.
The panic on his face was worse than when I'd had my miscarriage a year ago.
The surgeon's expression was grim.
"The patient is showing signs of hemorrhaging. She's still in critical care. Family members need to arrange a blood source immediately."
Damien's eyes locked onto me, fury spilling over.
"Are you satisfied now? If anything happens to her or the baby, don't think for a second you'll walk away unscathed!"
He dragged me to the blood donation room.
"She's the same blood type as the patient. Draw hers and have it on standby."
I stared at him in disbelief.
A year ago, we'd had a child of our own.
But my health had been poor, the anemia severe.
Shortly after it was discovered, the bleeding started, and I lost the baby.
Dr. Dickerson frowned.
"Mr. Ashford, your wife's health isn't great either. After her last hemorrhage... why don't you use mine instead?"
A flicker of hesitation crossed Damien's eyes, but the surgeon was pressing, and his voice turned cold.
"Use hers. The blood type's a match."
The needle twisted inside my vein, and I couldn't stop myself from trembling.
He never once looked at me. His gaze stayed fixed on the operating room doors.
The surgery light finally went dark. Voices murmured nearby.
My consciousness had blurred too far to make out the words.
After what felt like forever, I thought it was finally over. I thought I could leave. Then hands pressed my arms down.
A second needle pierced my other arm.
Damien's urgent voice cut through the haze beside me.
Not because I was losing consciousness.
Because—
"Don't switch donors! Joanna's constitution is fragile. It's better if one person provides all the blood to avoid complications. However much it takes, I need her and the baby safe!"
As the world dimmed around me, I almost wished I would just die right there.
Give this life back to him. Call us even.
But I didn't die.
When I opened my eyes again, the sky outside was stained with the amber light of dusk.
