Chapter 10
Three weeks later, Elena entered the neonatal unit in a wheelchair and held her son without monitors between them for the first time.
She named him Daniel Marcus Vance.
Not Pierce.
The paperwork was not yet final.
The decision was.
Marcus stood nearby, pretending to study the city through the window so Elena could cry privately.
Laura entered quietly.
“He is ready to go home soon.”
Elena touched the baby’s cheek.
“So am I.”
Not to the apartment she shared with Preston.
Marcus had already prepared a guest suite in his home, complete with medical support and a nursery.
Preston remained suspended.
The board had not completed its ruling.
No final punishment had been announced.
Khloe’s hearing was still pending.
But Elena no longer measured safety by whether consequences had arrived fast enough.
She measured it by what she could finally choose.
Her doctor.
Her home.
Her name.
Who entered her room.
Who held her child.
Outside the unit, Preston stood behind the glass with a patient advocate beside him.
He had been permitted to see the baby from a distance.
Elena looked up.
Their eyes met.
He pressed one hand against the glass.
The man who once commanded her delivery now needed permission even to approach.
Elena did not look away.
She also did not move toward him.
Marcus came beside her.
“Ready?”
Elena looked down at her son.
“Yes.”
She turned the wheelchair toward the exit.
Behind her, Preston remained frozen outside the secured doors, finally understanding that the moment the bed rail broke had not been when he nearly lost Elena.
May you like
He had lost her earlier.
The instant she asked him to save her life—and he chose to punish her instead.
