Chapter 3

For the next two days, Nathan didn't come home once.

Off keeping Hildegarde company, no doubt, six months along as she was.

I used those two days to reach out to a lawyer.

"Clay Mason, I need you to draw up a divorce agreement for me."

"And there's something else I want to ask. Faking a marriage certificate during a marriage, then living with someone else as husband and wife—that's bigamy, isn't it? What's the usual sentence for it?"

Clay told me to gather evidence. Everything else, he would handle.

Nathan, gone for two days, walked back through the door right on time the third evening.

His clothes were neat, a faint clean scent about him.

Still that same gentle, attentive face.

He came in carrying an elegant takeout box, changed his shoes, and crossed quickly to me. "Silvie, work's been crazy these two days. I'm sorry you've been stuck here alone."

"I went out of my way to get you the soup dumplings you used to love. Eat them while they're hot."

He opened the box with care and held it out to me, his eyes tender.

The old me would have gone soft at the sight.

I gave nothing away and ate a few bites.

The taste was as familiar as ever.

I lifted my eyes to the man who was just as familiar.

I couldn't make myself believe he had turned into something this monstrous.

"Good, aren't they? Have another."

"Your appetite's been off since you got pregnant. Silvie, I know how hard this pregnancy has been on you. And since it's been this hard, and the baby isn't well anyway, why don't we hurry and get rid of it?"

I meant to refuse on instinct, but somehow a wave of dizziness came over me all at once.

My arms and legs went limp and weak, my head heavy and clouded, until even keeping my eyes open took everything I had.

I forced myself to stay conscious. "Nathan, what did you put in that? Why is my head spinning so—"

He leaned in and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Silvie, don't blame me. I'm doing all of this for us."

Before he finished, my eyes closed on their own and I sank into the dark.

I don't know how long it was before a small jolt of the car shook me awake.

From the front seat came Nathan's and Hildegarde's voices.

Hildegarde sounded a little tense. "The drug should've kicked in by now, right? She still won't wake up. What if something goes wrong?"

"We'll be at the hospital any minute. You're sure you can get rid of her baby for good today?"

Nathan's voice was cold. "Relax. The dose was just right. She can't lift a finger, let alone fight back."

"The operation has to be finished today. After this, no one will ever get in our way again."

The car reached the hospital soon after. Someone lifted me out with great care and wheeled me straight into the operating room.

Nathan murmured against my ear: "Silvie, this is all for us. Trust me."

The operating room door closed.

The faint clink of instruments echoed in my ears.

My whole body was rigid, unable to move at all. I could only lie there and feel a despair I had no words for.

Then, in the instant before the operation was to begin, the lead surgeon suddenly bent down close to my ear, his voice respectful: "Miss Simmons, don't worry. Mr. Simmons arranged for me to come and watch over you. Everything is under control. You will be perfectly safe."