Chapter 4

But it’s fine. The law says that for the first two years, custody automatically goes to the mother. Even if we divorce, he’ll have to see me if he wants to visit the baby. That means Lucas and I will be tied together, forever.

Thinking about it like that, staying connected through the child seemed like a better deal than running away while pregnant!

However, life has a funny way of knocking you down when you’re flying too high. My pregnancy symptoms hit hard, and by the time I was five months along, I couldn’t keep anything down. I lost over fifteen pounds, and I was barely surviving on medication.

One day, after throwing up my favorite steamed cod for the third time, I broke down in tears.

Lucas didn’t even flinch. Instead, he calmly wiped my face with a warm towel, treating me like I was a delicate piece of art.

Between sobs, I whimpered, “Lucas, if I keep vomiting like this, the baby won’t survive. I really, really want this baby.”

“I know,” he whispered.

He pulled me against him, gently stroking my back, then slowly helped me drink small sips of water. The bitterness in my mouth began to fade, and my emotions gradually settled. It was then I realized how intimate our position was.

If I tilted my head just a little, I could hear his heartbeat.

Before I could act on the thought, Lucas called for the housekeeper to take me back to my room to rest.

Ugh. He could talk for hours with Madeline, but when it came to me, all I got were “mm-hm’s,” “okay’s,” and “I know.”

Was I really that bad?

And come on, with that cold demeanor, how had Madeline even handled him? She wasn’t exactly curvy…

While my thoughts spiraled, I suddenly got a message.

It was from Madeline.

She didn’t say anything—just sent a picture.

It was a medical report. I didn’t understand most of the jargon, but the last line stood out:

“Infertility suspected. IVF recommended.”

The world around me seemed to dim. The report was Madeline’s.

That means… she can’t have children. And Lucas—he must know.

So… the baby inside me… was it meant for her all along?