A nurse draped a blanket across my knees and began checking my blood pressure.
Another placed a fetal monitor against my stomach.
The rapid rhythm of my daughter’s heartbeat filled the corridor.
For the first time since Savannah’s heel caught my ankle, I nearly cried.
Not from fear.
From hearing proof that my daughter was still fighting beside me.
Preston tried to approach, but the security officer blocked him.
“Emily,” he said, softening his voice, “we should discuss this privately.”
I looked at the man who had spent years teaching me that privacy meant there would be no witnesses.
“No.”
His expression hardened again.
“You have no idea what you are doing.”
“I know exactly what I am doing.”
Dr.
Cole removed a small audio device from the folder.
It belonged to my attorney, who had delivered the evidence packet before I arrived.
“Mrs.
Hartwell has authorized us to preserve this recording,” she said.
Preston’s eyes moved toward the device.
His own voice came through the speaker.
“You will not leave this marriage with my heir.”
The corridor became completely still.
The recording continued.
My voice, quieter, asked, “What are you planning to do?”
Preston answered, “Whatever is required to establish that you are unfit.
Once the baby is born, you will not be in a position to interfere.”
Dr.
Cole stopped the recording.
Savannah released Preston’s arm.
“You said she would be treated,” she whispered.
He turned on her.
“Be quiet.”
That command did what the evidence had not.
It stripped the glamour from their alliance.
Savannah had imagined herself standing beside a powerful man at the beginning of a new life.
Now she saw how quickly he could turn the same cold voice on her.
The elevator doors opened behind us.
Two uniformed officers entered with my attorney, Celia Grant.
Celia was small, silver-haired, and carried no expression Preston could charm.
She came directly to my side.
“Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Then we deal with your health first.
Everything else can wait.”
Preston pointed at the folder.
“Those materials were obtained illegally.”
Celia looked at him.
“Emily recorded a threat made to her inside her own home.
Your dispatch request was sent through a medical transport network and provided to the hospital named as the pickup location.
The security footage belongs to St.
Catherine’s.
Which part would you like to call illegal?”
His gaze shifted toward the ceiling cameras.
Savannah followed it.
Dr.
Cole noticed.
