Adrian stared. “Emma, don’t be absurd.”
She met his eyes.
“I am not giving birth in a house where my child’s father ordered me to kneel before his mistress.”
She turned toward the doors.
Behind her, the enormous screen still displayed Adrian kissing Vanessa.
And for the first time in ten years, Adrian Calloway watched his wife walk away without knowing how to stop her.
PART TWO: THE SIGNATURE HE WANTED
Emma’s daughter was born forty-three minutes later in the back of an ambulance.
Margaret held Emma’s hand while the paramedic coached her through each contraction. Rain struck the roof, sirens cut through the night, and the city lights rushed past the windows.
“Stay with me,” Margaret pleaded.
Emma gripped her hand.
“I’m here.”
The baby arrived before they reached Saint Catherine’s Hospital.
She was small, furious, and perfect.
When the paramedic placed her against Emma’s chest, Emma wept with an intensity that surprised her. The tears were not only joy. They carried ten years of compromise, humiliation, and loneliness.
“What will you name her?” Margaret asked.
Emma looked down at the tiny face.
“Grace.”
It had been her mother’s middle name.
Adrian arrived at the hospital two hours later.
He did not come alone.
His attorney, Charles Mercer, walked beside him carrying a leather folder.
Emma was sitting upright in bed with Grace sleeping in a bassinet nearby. Margaret stood near the window, her expression cold.
Adrian glanced at the baby only briefly.
Then he closed the door.
“We need to discuss what happened.”
Margaret turned on him. “Your daughter was born tonight.”
“I am aware.”
“Have you even asked whether she is healthy?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Mother, leave us.”
“I will not.”
Emma touched Margaret’s arm.
“It’s all right.”
Margaret hesitated, then moved to Grace’s bassinet instead of leaving.
Adrian placed the folder on Emma’s bed.
“The footage from tonight has already begun circulating.”
“You mean the footage of you betraying me?”
“I mean illegally recorded private conversations.”
Charles cleared his throat. “Mrs. Calloway, there are complicated privacy issues.”
Emma looked at him.
“Were you aware Adrian was transferring company money?”
Charles said nothing.
Adrian opened the folder.
Inside were divorce papers.
Emma almost laughed.
“You brought these to the hospital?”
“You made reconciliation impossible.”
“You ordered me to kneel while I was in labor.”
“You humiliated me in front of the most powerful people in the state.”
Emma leaned back against the pillows.
