Chapter 2

The older nurse's trembling fingers fumbled with her phone. She hit FaceTime and held the cracked screen over my face. 

It rang twice before connecting. 

Rowdy filled the screen. He was in the warm, gold-accented VIP maternity suite. I could see the edge of the luxury birthing bed behind him. 

He was wiping sweat from Nancy's forehead with a warm cloth. 

"Just breathe, Nancy. I'm right here. You're doing amazing," Rowdy murmured. His voice was thick with a tender, desperate devotion I hadn't heard once in our entire marriage. 

Then, he glanced down at his phone screen. 

The warmth vanished instantly. His jaw clenched tight, his eyes hardening into shards of ice. 

"What the hell do you want now, Celeste?" he snapped, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper so he wouldn't disturb Nancy. 

"Rowdy, please," I gasped. "My water broke. I'm bleeding. The baby is coming right now. Please tell them to send one doctor down here!" 

Rowdy's lip curled in disgust. "Are you seriously pulling this stunt today of all days?" 

"I'm not faking it!" I cried, my teeth chattering uncontrollably as the morgue's freezing air bit into my bare skin. "I don't care about the family heir! I'll sign the divorce papers right now. I'll take her and disappear. I won't let her fight Nancy's son for a single cent. I just want my baby to live! Please, Rowdy!" 

A cruel, mocking laugh left his lips. 

"You sure knew how to pick your timing when you crawled into my bed and trapped me," he sneered, his eyes filled with absolute contempt. "Now you pull this pathetic victim act? It's just a girl, Celeste. She is absolutely not stealing the thunder from the Shepherd family's firstborn grandson today." 

"Rowdy! Our baby is suffocating! I can't stop it!" 

"You'll hold it in," he said, his tone dead and hollow. "Just bear it. Once Nancy gives birth, I'll send a doctor down immediately. Until then, shut up." 

Click.

The screen went black. 

My hand dropped. A fresh contraction ripped through my pelvis, tearing a guttural scream from my throat. 

Right then, the heavy steel door opened. 

I dragged my heavy eyelids up, praying for a doctor. But it wasn't medical staff. 

It was Gina. 

Rowdy's adopted sister strutted in, swathed in a thick fur coat. Two massive syndicate bodyguards flanked her, their faces blank. 

"Get the hell out," Gina barked at the two terrified nurses. 

The older nurse hesitated, glancing at my bleeding form. "Miss Shepherd, she's hemorrhaging—" 

"I said get out!" Gina screamed. 

They ran. The heavy door slammed shut. 

Gina didn't even look at me. She strutted straight to the digital thermostat mounted on the concrete wall. She punched the down arrow repeatedly. The red numbers flashed, dropping rapidly from -5°C down to a bone-chilling -20°C. 

"Gina... what are you doing?" I choked out. My lips were turning blue. 

"Making sure my brother doesn't go soft and change his mind," she smirked, finally turning to face me. She looked down and noticed the dark red puddle expanding beneath the gurney, the edges already beginning to freeze into bloody slush. She kicked one of her guards in the shin. "Clean that blood up. Wipe the floor spotless. I don't want Rowdy seeing this mess if he actually decides to check on her later. We can't have him distracted." 

"Please," I whispered, reaching out a trembling hand. "Help me. Call an ambulance." 

Gina pulled a short, black leather riding crop from inside her coat. With a sharp flick of her wrist, she lashed it straight across my face. 

Crack!

The skin on my cheek split open. I shrieked, curling inward on the metal table. 

"Shut up!" Gina snarled. She grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head brutally backward, and drove her knee straight into my jaw. 

My teeth clamped down on my tongue. The metallic taste of fresh blood flooded my mouth. I collapsed sideways, completely disorientated. 

"Ahhh!" I sobbed. 

"Why?" I gasped, blood dripping from my chin. "Why are you doing this to me, Gina? What did I ever do to you?"

Gina threw her head back and let out a shrill, manic laugh. The sound bounced off the frozen concrete walls. 

"Why? Because I love Rowdy!" Her eyes went wide, completely unhinged. "I've loved him since we were little! Before you showed up, everything was perfect! We were perfect! I hate you!"

Before I could even catch my breath, Gina grabbed my right hand. She slammed it flat against the metal railing of the gurney and brought the heavy heel of her winter boot down hard on my fingers. 

Snap.

I heard my knuckles break. 

"Ahhh!" I screamed hysterically. I wrenched my broken hand back and wrapped both arms protectively around my swollen stomach. "Gina, stop! This is your niece! It's Rowdy's flesh and blood! Please stop!" 

“It's a mistake!" Gina shrieked. 

She grabbed my hair again and slammed the back of my head against the frozen metal table. 

White flashes exploded in my vision. My ears rang with a high-pitched whine. 

"You stole Rowdy from me!" Gina screamed, her face twisting into pure, psychotic rage. "You don't deserve to carry his child! You seduced him! You schemed your way into this family and ruined our bond! He used to love me the most! You ruined my life!" 

She shoved me hard, sending me tumbling off the gurney. I hit the freezing concrete floor, taking the impact on my shoulder to protect my belly. 

Gina stood over me, her chest heaving. She snapped her fingers at her guard. 

The man reached into his jacket and handed her a thick glass syringe. It was filled with a dense, milky-white liquid. 

My eyes widened in absolute terror. I dragged myself backward across the icy floor. "What is that?" 

"A highly concentrated labor suppressant," Gina smiled, flicking the long needle with her manicured fingernail. "Rowdy ordered it himself. He said you needed to be taught a lesson. He wants you to eat some real suffering." 

"No! You're lying! He wouldn't do that to his own child!" 

"Hold the bitch down," Gina ordered, her voice completely flat. 

The two massive guards lunged. One grabbed my wrists, twisting them violently and pinning them above my head against the concrete. The other threw his entire body weight over my kicking legs, crushing my knees into the floor. 

I fought back with everything I had left. I thrashed, bit the air, screaming from the absolute depths of my soul. I bucked my hips, trying to roll away from her. 

The violent struggle tore something deep inside my pelvis. 

A terrifying, agonizing rip echoed through my body. A horrific gush of hot fluid flooded out of me, soaking my ruined dress and pooling rapidly onto the freezing tiles. It wasn't just water. It was thick, dark crimson, and unstoppable. 

"My baby!" I shrieked, staring at the massive puddle of fresh blood spreading around my legs.

Gina just stared down at the spreading red puddle. Her eyes were completely dead, devoid of a single ounce of human empathy. 

"A little bitch dying is nothing to cry about," Gina sneered, her expensive boots stepping right into my blood. "Don't let her delay my eldest nephew getting his inheritance. The Shepherd family doesn't need your trash." 

She knelt right beside my exposed stomach. I thrashed my head wildly, but the guard pressed his heavy boot down on my neck, choking off my scream. 

Gina didn't bother looking for a vein. 

She jammed the thick, jagged needle straight into my pregnant belly and slammed the plunger all the way down.