allowed near you without hospital security present.”
I shook my head frantically, panic seizing my throat. “You don’t understand who he is. He’s Julian Vance. He knows the hospital board. He will ruin your career. He will take my baby.”
Dr. Harper reached out and placed a warm hand over mine. “I don’t care if he owns the building, Clara. We have seen men exactly like him before. Bullies with thick wallets. But right now, you are my patient, and this hospital is my jurisdiction. We have protocols for this. We have a secure, unlisted wing where he cannot reach you. If you are ready, we can help you disappear tonight.”
Ready. I despised that word. It implied a well of courage I was entirely certain I did not possess. I felt like a terrified child, not a brave survivor.
Still, I looked at Caleb, whose eyes begged me to
save myself. I looked down at my swollen stomach, feeling my daughter flutter against my ribs. Julian had promised I was temporary. What would he do to her once she was born?
Dr. Harper squeezed my hand gently. “Did your husband do this to you, Clara?”
I closed my eyes. The image of Julian adjusting his designer tie before snapping my bone flashed in my mind.
I took a shaky breath, opened my eyes, and nodded. “Yes. He broke it.”
From that exact second, everything moved with a terrifying, breathtaking speed. I was not taken back to the ER suite. Dr. Harper initiated a “Code Violet.” I was quietly transferred through staff-only service elevators to a highly protected, locked maternity ward under a completely different patient alias. Security details were posted at the doors.
Caleb stayed fiercely beside my bed while I was treated, my arm set and casted. Then,
