Betrayed By Love, Reborn By Fire

elivery room, a sound so powerful it momentarily erased the exhaustion from my bon

ver me, his face a mask of perfect

ispered, kissing my damp forehead.

us, their voices a low

all read about what happened. To endure that scandal and still be

, was photographed in a hotel room with four women. The story that his team spun was a masterpiece o

ts, refusing to compromise my health or our unborn child' s safety during the most delicate stage of my pregna

ard another nurse say quie

But just as I started to relax into the fragile pea

ay. They had been with me since I was a girl, gifts from my family in Europe to he

me, and one detail made t

their conditions obvious

y eyes. Their hesita

, swept into the room, her face beaming with an almost manic jo

laimed, clapping her hands together. "Dan

urrogate mothers. A contingency, you see. To ensure

rrogate mothers. This wasn't a scandal. It was a plan. Daniel hadn' t spent the night in

e. I looked at Daniel. His pe

s as he fell to his knees bes

n accident. The drug... I couldn't control it. I couldn' t bear to involve you, no

n be live-in nannies, Ava. They can help you

the man I had chosen over a more powerful match from my own world,

table where I had placed my personal belongings. I pulled out a crisp, f

ce pa

s weeping stopped.

" he asked, hi

d, my own voice soun

s smile vanished, replaced by a dark sco

tural cry of rage, he ripped them into pieces, the

' t! Ava, we have a connection, a deep love! This

promise. You will always be the primary matriarch, my only true wife

him, at the four women who had

Now they stood before me, their futures shackled

houghts. He turned to them

eg for her f

ed most, stepped forward. Her face was pale,

ou have to accept us. Think of our futures. If you d

, my own pain a cold,

"You, more than anyone, know my on

, unable to

she whispered, admi

le, lurched forward. "If you don' t acc

tepped in, her face a mask of pure fury

you trying to harm my future grandchildren? I knew you were tro

s. "You will accept this arrangement! For the good of the Hayes

me. I looked at my mother-in-law' s hateful face, at Daniel

ve a small

y voice clear and s

m. Daniel' s shoulders sagged. H

nd pulled out another set of papers, identical to the f

ng directly at Daniel.