Chapter 2 - THE ULTRASOUND HE THOUGHT I HADN’T SEEN
“At St. Catherine’s?”
Adrian stopped loosening his tie.
Only for a second.
Then his expression became calm again.
“Yes.”
Nia closed the book in her lap.
“With whom?”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I saw you.”
The silence that followed was almost physical.
Adrian slowly placed his tie on the back of a chair.
“You were at the hospital?”
“Yes.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nia almost laughed.
Because she had planned to surprise him.
Because she had walked into that hospital carrying the most beautiful secret of her life.
Because she had believed her husband would be happy.
Instead, she had watched him hold another pregnant woman’s hand.
“I had an appointment.”
Adrian's face changed.
“What kind of appointment?”
Nia looked directly at him.
“An ultrasound.”
His breathing stopped.
For the first time that evening, his control slipped.
“You’re pregnant?”
She nodded.
He stared at her.
Then his gaze dropped toward her stomach.
“How far?”
“Eight weeks and four days.”
Adrian sat down.
Nia had expected happiness.
She had expected shock.
She had even expected fear.
She had not expected silence.
“You knew?” she asked.
“I didn't.”
“I was going to tell you tonight.”
His eyes remained on her.
“Nia…”
“Who is Erin?”
He looked away.
The answer came too slowly.
“She’s someone I’m helping.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“She’s pregnant.”
“I noticed.”
“She needs protection.”
“From whom?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Nia stood.
“Is the baby yours?”
His head snapped toward her.
“No.”
She searched his face.
“You swear?”
“Yes.”
“Then why were you touching her like that?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because she was terrified.”
“So am I.”
That silenced him.
Nia walked toward the kitchen.
She picked up the ultrasound photograph.
Adrian watched her fingers tighten around it.
“I thought I was going to tell you we were finally going to have our family.”
“We are.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I don't know what we are anymore.”
Adrian stood.
“I should have told you about Erin.”
“Yes.”
“I wanted to.”
“When?”
“When it was safe.”
Nia stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He walked toward her.
She stepped back.
That movement hurt him.
She could see it.
But she did not apologize.
Not this time.
“You said something to her,” Nia whispered.
“What?”
“You said you would never leave her alone.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“I meant it.”
“Would you say that to me?”
“I have.”
“Not lately.”
His eyes lowered.
Nia saw something flicker across his face.
Guilt.
Then something else.
Fear.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Adrian looked toward the windows.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“That is the problem.”
He reached for the photograph.
She pulled it away.
“Don't.”
“Nia.”
“You don't get to decide what concerns me anymore.”
She walked upstairs.
He did not follow.
That night, Nia locked the bedroom door.
For the first time in six years.
She sat on the floor beside the bed and stared at the ultrasound photograph.
Her hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
She didn't know whether she was speaking to the baby or herself.
At 2:14 a.m., she heard Adrian leave.
She waited until the front door closed.
Then she opened her laptop.
She searched Erin's name.
Nothing.
She searched St. Catherine's.
Nothing.
Then she remembered the hospital bracelet she had seen around Erin's wrist.
A name.
ERIN VALE.
Nia searched again.
This time, something appeared.
Erin Vale was the daughter of Daniel Vale.
Daniel Vale had once been Adrian's business partner.
He had disappeared eighteen months earlier.
Officially, Daniel had died in a boating accident.
Nia stared at the screen.
There was no body.
No funeral photograph.
No obituary from a major newspaper.
Only a brief notice.
She searched Adrian's name beside Daniel's.
The results were worse.
A financial article described Daniel as a former executive at Cole Meridian Holdings.
Another described a dispute involving missing investment funds.
Then Nia found a photograph.
Adrian and Daniel standing together at a charity event.
Adrian's arm was around Daniel's shoulders.
They looked like brothers.
Underneath the photograph was a caption.
COLE AND VALE PARTNERSHIP ENDS AFTER INTERNAL DISPUTE.
Nia leaned closer.
Something about the photograph bothered her.
Daniel wore a silver watch.
Adrian wore the same watch in another photograph.
She searched for more.
At 3:03 a.m., she found a scanned police report.
Daniel Vale's boat had been found abandoned.
The investigation remained open.
Nia's heart began beating faster.
Then her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
DON'T ASK ADRIAN ABOUT ERIN.
Nia stared.
A second message arrived.
ASK HIM ABOUT DANIEL.
She didn't reply.
Instead, she took a screenshot.
Then another message appeared.
THE BABY IS NOT HIS.
Nia's breath caught.
The final message arrived thirty seconds later.
BUT SOMEONE WILL KILL TO MAKE SURE THAT BABY IS BORN.
Nia looked toward the bedroom door.
Adrian was gone.
For the first time, she wondered whether the woman in that hospital room was not her husband's lover.
She wondered whether Erin was his responsibility for a reason far more dangerous.
May you like
Then she looked at her ultrasound photograph.
And realized that whatever was happening around Erin could now put her unborn child in danger too.
