Chapter 1 - Ten Minutes to Leave
"Don't stop until I say you're finished."
Evelyn Vale's command hit the room at the same moment Adrian's travel bag struck the marble floor.
Three sealed bags of ginger candy slid from an open pocket and skittered under the console table. Claire jerked at the sound. Her wrist hit the steel basin. Water spilled across the rug beneath Evelyn's bare feet.
Nobody moved.
Adrian stood in the doorway, still wearing the clothes he had slept in on the flight from Singapore. He had come home a day early because the deal had closed faster than expected. He had pictured coffee with Claire, a hand on her belly, maybe an hour of sleep before anyone knew he was back.
Instead, his eight-month-pregnant wife was kneeling on the floor.
His mother was sitting above her with one foot in a basin.
Claire looked at him like she was waiting to learn whether rescue had actually arrived.
"Claire," Adrian said. "Stand up."
She tried.
Her left leg buckled.
Adrian crossed the room in three steps and caught her under the arms. She made a small sound and immediately tried to hide it.
"Easy."
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
Evelyn pulled her foot from the basin. "She offered to help me."
Adrian did not look at her. He helped Claire toward the bench beneath the windows. Her wet fingers clutched his shirt.
"My pregnant wife was on her knees," he said finally. "You have ten minutes to leave this house."
Evelyn's face tightened. "You flew fourteen hours and walked into the final thirty seconds of a disagreement."
"Nine minutes."
"You cannot speak to me this way in a house I helped you buy."
Claire's belly hardened beneath the beige fabric of her dress. She stopped breathing.
Adrian crouched. "What is it?"
"Nothing. Just a cramp."
Evelyn said, "She's been having those for days. Her doctor said they were normal."
Adrian slowly turned his head.
"How do you know what her doctor said?"
The room went silent.
Claire stared at the floor.
Evelyn answered too quickly. "Because somebody had to take care of her while you were gone."
Adrian took out his phone. "I'm calling Dr. Patel."
"No," Claire said.
He looked at her.
She swallowed. "Not while she's here."
That sentence landed harder than a scream.
Evelyn stood. "I am not an intruder."
Adrian faced his mother. "Go pack."
"You're choosing a frightened woman over your own mother?"
"I'm choosing my wife."
For the first time, Evelyn's polish cracked.
"Then ask your wife why the maternity ward no longer has her on the admission list."
Adrian froze.
Claire closed her eyes.
"What did she just say?" he asked.
May you like
Claire opened them again, and he saw pure fear.
"She canceled the hospital," Claire whispered.
