Chapter 1
The steel bed rail snapped in Elena Vance’s hand just as the monitor alarm changed pitch.
Her husband stopped arguing.
For the first time since labor began, Dr. Preston Pierce looked at the screen instead of at her.
Elena’s blood pressure was collapsing.
Her damp dark hair clung to her face. Both hands had been gripping the rail while another contraction tore through her body, but now one arm dropped weakly against the mattress.
The delivery nurse reached for the emergency controls.
“Her pressure is falling. We need surgery immediately.”
Minutes earlier, Elena had already told them.
“He’s too large. Order the C-section now.”
But Preston had pointed at the medication controls and ordered, “Turn off the epidural. She delivers naturally.”
Behind him, Khloe—the blonde intern in red scrubs who had spent months whispering into his ear—clung to his arm and cried theatrically.
“She attacked me first. Don’t let her control you.”
Preston had believed her.
Or wanted an excuse to.
Now Elena’s eyes rolled unfocused toward the surgical lights.
Her hand slid from the broken rail.
Preston rushed to the bedside and caught her face between trembling palms.
“Elena—stay with me!”
His knees struck the floor.
The nurse shoved him aside as the emergency team flooded the room.
“Dr. Pierce, you are no longer directing this delivery.”
The sentence cut through him more sharply than the alarm.
Because everyone had heard his orders.
May you like
The monitors had recorded the timing.
And Elena, barely conscious, had heard enough to know her husband had chosen another woman’s lie over her life.
