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Chloe Hawthorne's damp forehead, her body breaking out in a thin
er earlobe. "Isn't this what you
, and he came home so rarely that she had begun to forget the sound of his footsteps in the hallway. His grandmothe
ice did
ething that would silence the whispers that followed her through every Sinclair family
slip, the bedroom lit only by candlelight. She had poured him a glass of his favorite bourbon-the same bottle he always drank from, nothing added
time in months. He had taken the glass. He had followed her to the bedroom.
this coldness. She had
t want to be here. Not really. But she had asked-no, she had begged-and he had agreed. Now
the word died in her throat as he s
iling into her hair. She stared at the ceiling
at her. She lay there, the silk slip twisted around her
her elbows, her voice raw
aching for his sh
a month. About the fact that you flinch when I touch you. About the fa
n unreadable. "You wanted a child. I gave yo
t a di
g in the air
toward the bed, stopping inches from he
her lips trembled. "I smell her on you every time you come hom
face-surprise, maybe, or guil
tly-felt like a knife twisting in her chest. Kaila Walker. His childhood friend. His
andmother wanted her for you. I know you've been keeping her
and began buttoning his shirt with cold, me
ing rea
You want a child one minute and a divo
her body. "I don't want a child anymore. I d
e shook his head. "Not tonight. I don't have the energy for this."
lia
behind him before
e out. She slid down the bedpost and crumpled onto the plush carpet. She press
oe sat in her own small, empty apartment. The silence her
he table. She glanced
ated, the
arp, impatient, as always. No greet
on my table,"
having second thoughts?" There was a sneer in his voice, the same cold mockery she had heard a thousand times befo
hand drifted unconsc
were. Sign the papers. I want t
ne wen
ad been sitting on her coffee table for two weeks. She tore open the seal. Her hands were steady as she pulled out the sheaf of
signature was already there,
The nib hovered ove
ne rang
It wasn't Julian this time.
n down and ans
rday." The nurse's voice was warm, professional. "Congratulations-you're pregnant. Approximately six w
rld st
t night with Julian-that cold, mechanical, brutal n
ne? Are you
ere. Thank you. I'll... I'll call
slipped from her finger
ing, of hoping, of breaking herself against the walls of a loveless marriage-t
e table. At the signature line. At his na
len everything without ever raising her voice. Then another image followed-smaller, softe
pen again. Her h
d taken everything from her. This child would not know the cold silence of a loveless dynast
er name. Chl
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