Chapter 1 - Cast into the Cold
Nathaniel’s grip on my chin felt like a steel vice, his fingers digging into my skin as another fierce contraction tore through my abdomen. The pain was blinding, white-hot, and suffocating, but the cold cruelty in his blue eyes hurt exponentially worse.
“You think you can trap me with a crying brat, Clara?” Nathaniel whispered, his voice dangerously low, stripped of the charming veneer he showed the media. “Harrington Global is merging with Kensington Enterprises tomorrow morning. Victoria is my future. You? You were just a temporary tax write-off from a bankrupt family. I’m not letting a hysterical, bleeding woman ruin the biggest night of my life.”
“Nathaniel, please,” I gasped, my knees buckling. I looked past his shoulder at Victoria, who was casually adjusting her crimson silk dress in the mirror, a smug, satisfied smirk playing on her lips. “Victoria... we were friends. Help me. The baby... she’s coming early.”
Victoria didn't even turn around. She merely picked up a glass of scotch from the desk. “A good businessman always liquidates his bad assets before the market opens, Clara. You should have signed the post-nuptial agreement when we asked you nicely.”
Nathaniel shoved my face away, standing up and wiping his hands on a silk handkerchief as if I had contaminated him. He looked at the two towering security guards standing outside the study door.
“Take her out,” Nathaniel ordered flatly. “Not through the front lobby. Use the service elevator. Throw her out the back alley. If she’s still on my property in five minutes, arrest her for trespassing.”
“Nathaniel, no! It’s snowing outside! I can’t—ah!” A massive contraction seized my body, causing me to collapse onto the antique rug.
The guards, faces expressionless and frozen by the billionaire's payroll, grabbed me by my arms. They dragged me down the long, cold utility corridor, my pale silver maternity gown tearing against the concrete floors, leaving a trail of amniotic fluid and blood behind.
They shoved me through the heavy metal exit doors of the penthouse complex. The freezing New York blizzard hit my bare skin like a thousand needles. The doors slammed shut behind me, locking with a heavy, mechanical click.
I was alone in a dark, snow-filled alleyway. No coat. No phone. No money. Just the agonizing, rhythmic torture of advanced labor.
I collapsed against a stack of wooden pallets, the freezing slush soaking through my silver dress. I screamed into the howling wind, but the sound was swallowed entirely by the storm. I wrapped my arms around my belly, feeling my baby girl kicking frantically inside me, terrified by the sudden drop in temperature.
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” I wept, my tears freezing on my cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
My vision began to blur. The white snow turned into a haze of gray, and then, a deep, terrifying black. My heart slowed, my body giving up under the dual assault of hypothermia and childbirth. I closed my eyes, preparing to die in the dark.
Then, through the blinding veil of snow, a pair of blindingly bright headlights illuminated the alleyway. The heavy roar of a massive armored SUV engine echoed between the brick walls.
The vehicle screeched to a halt just inches from my frozen body. A car door slammed. Through my fading consciousness, I saw a tall silhouette stepping into the blizzard. He wore a long, black cashmere coat, his face cast in sharp, aristocratic shadows, his dark eyes burning with a sudden, fierce intensity as he spotted me.
May you like
He knelt in the snow, his large, warm hands instantly gathering my freezing body into his arms.
“Hold on,” a deep, commanding voice rumbled against my ear, carrying an authority that seemed to challenge death itself. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
