One Pregnancy, Three Secrets: He Begs for Remarriage

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