The phone rang from an unknown number as I slipped on my coat. I almost let it go to voicemail, but something made me answer.
A flat voice said, “Your child didn’t die because there was no heart transplant. The heart was given to Lorenzo—because he is Nathan’s son with your stepsister Amber.”
The line went dead. I stood frozen, the words landing like a blow. Lorenzo. Amber. Nathan. My stomach dropped. For a moment I thought it was a cruel prank. Then my hands started to shake.
Nathan texted: Dinner’s off. Business emergency. Sorry, Em. We’ll reschedule.
Normally I would have believed him and moved on. This time, I couldn’t. The stranger’s words were a splinter under my skin. The idea that my child’s heart had been given to someone else—someone with Nathan’s name—ignited something cold and furious inside me.
I told the driver to take me to his office instead of the restaurant. If he really had a business emergency, I would find him there. If he was lying, I would see it on his face.
The company lobby smelled of lemon polish and money. Mr. Santos met me with that careful expression servants wear when they don’t know how to lie. “Madam,” he said quietly, “Mr. Nathan left earlier. He went out with Miss Amber. They were seen leaving for the port.”
The port. The word landed like a punch. I didn’t think. I ran.
The yacht was lit and loud, a pocket of other people’s joy. I stayed in the shadows and watched. Nathan stood close to Amber—closer than he ever had to me in private. Her laugh was sharp; his hand rested on her back the way it should have rested on mine. His voice was low and easy, the kind of voice that kills trust slowly.
“Are you sure she won’t come?” Amber asked, like she was practicing worry. “What if she finds out you canceled to be with me?”
Nathan smiled as if naming the truth was a joke he alone understood. “She won’t. She always believes me. She’s gullible because she loves me. The only reason I married her was because of our parents. If only you were the legitimate one, it would have been different.”
My breath stopped. “I’ll make you my wife soon,” he said without a tremor. “We’ll wait for the right time to—dispose of her. During my parents’ anniversary—we can frame her cheating with someone else. They’ll approve the divorce. You know how my family is when it comes to marriage, so we have to make sure they can’t say no, and make her look like the bad one.”
“Do it soon. Lorenzo’s growing; he wants you to bring him to Family Day. Don’t hide him. I’m tired of this.”
Footsteps thudded. A small voice called, “Daddy!” Lorenzo ran to them. Amber caught him; Nathan lifted him into his arms. The boy’s face was open and trusting. “Daddy,” he said again, and that one word split the world I thought I knew.
Nathan laughed softly, brushing the boy’s hair. “Be careful, buddy. You know you can’t just run around like that…”
Amber smiled and touched the child’s cheek. “Let him. After all, his heart is safe now—thanks for giving it to him, and not to your daughter with Emerald.”
Nathan chuckled, the sound low and careless. “Come on… it’s not like I ever wanted a child with her. It’s you, Amber. It’s always been you. Forever.”
I pressed my hand to my belly. The life inside me kicked. I thought I would be able to surprise my husband, Nathan, with the news of a baby after losing our first child three years ago, but I was the one surprised.
Back then, our daughter, Gem, was only five when she was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease—something the doctors said came from Nathan’s family line. We waited for a donor for months, and when a heart finally came, we thought it was her chance to live. But the transplant failed. They said it wasn’t a match. Gem died on the table, and all that time, I believed that was the real reason—just a tragedy, just bad luck.
Now I know the truth.
I ran until my legs trembled. I drove straight to St. Isidore’s Hospital—the place that had taken my daughter. Doctor Morales had been the man who told me there had been nothing more to do. Now I found him, and I did not beg. I did not plead. I threatened.
“You tell me everything now,” I said. “Or my brother Reid will do what he does.”
Reid’s name carries weight in this city—whispers of mafia ties, favors paid in fear. I hadn’t seen him in years; life had pushed us into different paths. Still, just saying his name made people hurry and strip their lies away. Doctor Morales’s hands shook.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Emerald,” he said at last. “Your husband… he arranged it. He wanted the heart given to Amber’s child. He used his influence. He made sure the transplant went to their boy.”
The words hit like an avalanche. The phone call, the yacht lights, the child’s voice—everything snapped into a brutal, clear picture. Nathan had chosen. Nathan had given my child’s heart away.
I sat down until the world stopped spinning enough to think. There was one thing I could do that didn’t wait for time to punish him: call Reid.
My fingers found his number as if they’d practiced the motion. I hadn’t seen him in years—ever since Reid got involved with the mafia and our father forced me to cut ties—but despite everything, we’d always been close, and I knew he would come. He answered on the second ring.
“Brother, help me, please! Nathan hurt me! Take me home and I’ll do everything you want me to do.”
