Chapter 3
The exam room was too bright.
Too white.
Too clean.
I sat on the edge of the bed while a monitor tracked my daughter’s heartbeat.
Fast.
Steady.
Alive.
That sound nearly broke me.
My uncle stood near the door, arms folded, face carved from anger.
A nurse named Clara adjusted the strap around my belly.
“She sounds strong,” she said gently.
“She is.”
My voice cracked.
I hated that.
Not because crying was weak.
Because I had spent so long not crying in Bennett’s house that tears felt like surrender.
Uncle Adrian noticed.
He waited until Clara stepped out.
Then he sat beside me.
“Tessa.”
“I’m fine.”
“No.”
I looked down.
He sighed.
“I knew something was wrong when you stopped calling.”
“I was embarrassed.”
“Of him?”
“Of myself.”
His face softened.
“For what?”
“For choosing him. For staying. For thinking I could fix it by being easier to love.”
My uncle closed his eyes.
“Tessa.”
“Three days ago, he froze my cards.”
His eyes opened.
“What?”
“He said I was spending irresponsibly.”
“On what?”
“Prenatal vitamins. Groceries. A crib mattress.”
My uncle stood.
The chair scraped.
“That son of a—”
“Uncle.”
He stopped.
Barely.
I touched the monitor.
“I need to be smart now.”
“You needed to call me months ago.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.” His voice cracked. “Your mother trusted me to protect you after she died.”
The mention of my mother hit hard.
Evelyn Mercer.
Brilliant attorney.
My uncle’s older sister.
Dead since I was nineteen.
Bennett had known exactly how to isolate a woman with no parents, no siblings, and too much pride to admit she was trapped.
“I thought I could handle it,” I whispered.
“And now?”
I looked toward the door where security stood beyond the glass.
“Now I want out.”
My uncle nodded once.
“Then you’re out.”
I almost smiled.
“It’s not that simple.”
“It is tonight.”
“No. Bennett controls our house, our accounts, my car, even my phone plan.”
My uncle leaned closer.
“Tessa, your mother left you more than grief.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, Clara rushed in.
Her face was pale.
“Dr. Mercer, Mr. Halloway is demanding access.”
My uncle turned.
“Let him demand.”
Clara swallowed.
“He says he has medical power of attorney.”
My blood went cold.
“I never signed that.”
May you like
Uncle Adrian’s face hardened.
“Then we find out who did.”
