The nurse hesitated. Alex finally yelled, “Lily is
dead! Dead! Your daughter is dead! She didn’t
get the blood she needed! She’s in the
morgue!”
I ripped out my IVs. “Come see for yourself.” I
glared at Amelia. “You too.”
She stammered, “I just gave birth…the baby’s
<
too fragile…”
“You were fine parading your bastard around
when you came here. Now you can’t walk?” I
stepped closer. “Or are you afraid of what you’ll
see?”
Fifteen minutes later, we stood in the morgue.
The reality of Lily’s death finally hit Mark. But
his grief was shallow. He hadn’t loved her, only
seen her as his offspring. “I didn’t know it was
true,” he said. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have…”
“We told you repeatedly. But one whimper from
Amelia, and you’d give her the world. I would
have saved them both, then left with Lily. But
you…” I looked at him, all warmth, all love,
gone. “I want a divorce.”
Amelia’s triumphant expression faltered as
Mark coughed. “Sarah, there’s nothing between
us.”
く
Amelia shrieked, “What do you mean? I had
your baby! You’re abandoning us?”
Mark glanced at my impassive face, a flicker
of…disappointment? I felt nothing. No shock,
no hurt. I just wanted them gone.
I pulled my phone from under my pillow and
stopped the recording. I’d started it when they
started arguing. Mark’s confession, his
admission of paternity, was all there.
“Mark, I have proof of your adultery. I can take
you for everything. I’m your legal wife, and I’m entitled to half of St. Joseph’s.” I continued, “And you killed our daughter. I’ll pursue legal
action and release this to the media. You care
so much about your reputation? I’ll destroy it.”
Mark’s mind raced. “Lily’s dead. Amelia and I
aren’t married, but our son has inheritance
rights. Don’t do anything rash. You might end
up with nothing.
<
As if on cue, the little “heir,” left unattended as
his parents argued, rolled off the sofa.
“Baby!” Amelia screamed, rushing to him. The
sofa wasn’t high, and he was swaddled, but he
was a newborn. He lay still, blood trickling from
his nose and ears.
“Mark, save him!”
But it was too late. He died in the ambulance.
Mark’s grief vanished as he read the medical
report. A chilling calm settled over him. “Amelia,
was that my child?”
