Harper POV
I sat on the edge of the hospital bed, my hand resting tentatively on my stomach.
It felt foreign.
This wasn't a blessing. It was a complication. A biological tether to a man I now despised.
I signed the discharge papers against medical advice. I couldn't stay there. The sharp, chemical tang of antiseptic reminded me too much of the day Leo died.
I needed to see it for myself.
I took a taxi to the financial district. To Eli's office building.
I started out in a coffee shop across the street, but the distance felt like a blindfold. I needed to be closer. I crossed the avenue and found a spot near the building's entrance, tucking myself behind a large, decorative planter on the patio.
It didn't take long.
Eli walked out. He looked immaculate in his charcoal suit.
Kasey was beside him. She was beautiful; I couldn't deny that. Sharp, blonde, polished.
She was laughing at something he said. He smiled-a genuine, warm smile that I hadn't seen directed at me in years.
They didn't look like a boss and an assistant. They looked like partners.
They stopped near the curb, waiting for his driver. I was close enough now, hidden by the foliage, to catch every word.
"Eli, Cody misses you," Kasey said. Her voice was low, sultry. "He kept asking when Daddy is coming home."
"I know," Eli said, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just need to deal with Harper first. She knows about the birth certificate."
Kasey pouted. "So? Just divorce her. You said you would."
"I can't just cut her loose yet," Eli said, his voice dropping. "Not with the company merger pending. Her family's connections are still useful. Besides, I need to pay her off to keep her quiet."
The air left my lungs.
"Just give her money," Kasey scoffed. "That's all she's good for anyway. A trophy wife with a dead kid."
I waited for Eli to defend me. I waited for him to tell her not to speak about Leo like that.
"I'll give her the shares," Eli said. "That should shut her up. But you know you and Cody are my priority. You're my real family."
My real family.
The words echoed in my skull.
I had been living in a delusion. A carefully constructed hologram of a marriage.
Eli didn't just cheat. He replaced us. He erased us.
I watched them get into the car together.
I didn't cry. I was done crying.
The tears had dried up, leaving behind a scorched, barren landscape of rage.
I pulled out my phone.
I called the clinic.
"I need to schedule an appointment," I said, my voice steady. "For a termination."
"The earliest we have is Thursday," the receptionist said.
"Fine," I said. "Thursday."
I hung up.
Then I called a lawyer. Not the family lawyer. A shark I found online who specialized in high-asset divorces.
"I want to file," I told him. "And I want to scorch the earth."
As soon as I hung up, my phone rang.
It was Eli.
I stared at the screen. The name "Hubby" flashed mockingly.
I answered.
"Harper?" His voice was dripping with fake concern. "Where are you? I came home and you weren't there. I was worried sick."
Liar. He was just in the car with Kasey.
"I'm out," I said.
"Listen, about yesterday," he started. "I've been thinking. I want to make it up to you. I'm transferring those shares. And maybe... maybe we can take a trip? Just the two of us. Reconnect."
It was almost impressive how easily he lied.
"A trip?" I asked. "Like the one you took when Leo was in the ICU?"
Silence on the other end.
"That was work, Harper," he said, his tone hardening slightly.
"Right," I said. "Work."
"I'm trying here," he said. "We can get past this. We have a history."
"Yes," I said. "We do."
I looked down at my stomach.
"I'm not feeling well, Eli. I have to go."
"Wait-"
I hung up.
I blocked his number.
Then my phone rang again. It was Florence, Eli's mother.
"Harper," she barked. No greeting. "Eli tells me you're throwing a tantrum over some paperwork."
"A tantrum?" I asked. "He has a secret child, Florence."
"Men have needs," she sniffed. "Eli is a powerful man. He needs an heir. You failed to give him one that survived."
The cruelty took my breath away.
"Leo died because-"
"Leo died because you weren't watching him," she snapped. "Stop being dramatic. Eli is willing to keep you around. You should be grateful. You aren't exactly a prize anymore, are you?"
I lowered the phone.
They were all monsters. The whole family. Rotten to the core.
I thought about the life growing inside me.
If I kept this baby, I would be tied to these people forever. This child would be Cody's sibling. Florence's grandchild.
I couldn't do it.
I stood up, leaving my cold coffee on the table.
I wasn't a victim anymore. I was a survivor. And survivors have to make hard choices to stay alive.
I touched my stomach one last time.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "But you cannot be the chain that binds me to hell."
