Chapter 2

Jillian Patrick POV:

Out of the corner of my eye, Derek's body jerked. His fingers twitched uncontrollably inside his pocket, as if he had been shocked. For a moment, he snapped his head up, his dark eyes filled with raw terror, fixed on me. But the next instant, he looked away, reached out to steady Alexia's elbow, as if she were the one who had just received bad news.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Jillian," Dr. Evans sighed, her eyes soft with pity. "In that case, you'll need to hire a nurse or have a close friend stay with you. You can't afford any risks right now."

The pity in the doctor's eyes stung worse than any physical wound. I nodded stiffly, kept my back straight, and forced myself not to let a single tear fall.

Ten minutes later, we walked out of the clinic into the blinding parking lot. The midday sun beat down on the asphalt, heat rising from the ground. My legs felt like lead, and a dull cramp radiated from my lower back.

"Jill, in your condition, you can't take the subway," Alexia said, gripping my arm. "Derek, drive us to her apartment. We have to make sure she gets upstairs safely."

"I can just call a cab."

"Don't be ridiculous." Alexia pulled me toward a black Audi with no room for argument. "You almost lost your baby today! Derek is a doctor. He knows how to handle emergencies. Get in."

The remote key clicked. Derek opened the rear door for me without meeting my eyes. "Get in," he muttered, his voice dry and tight.

Alexia slid into the passenger seat, flipped down the sun visor, and turned on the air conditioning with practiced ease. I sat in the back, directly behind the passenger seat.

This was Derek's car. When he'd just matched for his residency, I ate instant noodles for three straight months to help make the down payment on this exact Audi. And now I was curled up in the back like a silent outsider, watching my best friend sit with perfect ease in the passenger seat that legally should have been mine.

Derek started the engine and pulled onto the main road.

"I still can't believe that scumbag just dumped you," Alexia said, turning around to look at me, her face red with anger. "What kind of person hides a woman for seven years and then throws her away when she gets pregnant? A complete coward!"

Derek's hands tightened on the steering wheel, veins bulging across his knuckles.

"Alexia, drop it."

"Why should I? She's my best friend! She wasted her entire twenties on a bastard who wouldn't even let her meet his parents! No wedding, no ring, and now her baby is in danger and he just walks away? Derek, you're a decent, kind man, so you probably can't even imagine someone that evil. But men like that deserve to rot in hell!"

I looked up at the rearview mirror. Derek's gaze collided with mine. He shook his head a fraction of an inch, silently begging me to shut up. I met his eyes without backing down.

"Alexia, he didn't just walk away," I said calmly. "The real reason we broke up is that he has no morals. He was sleeping with another woman behind my back the entire time."

The car veered violently to the left. The tires screeched. Derek slammed on the brakes, the front nearly clipping the curb before he yanked the wheel back into the lane.

"Derek! Watch out!" Alexia screamed, grabbing the dashboard.

"Sorry… a dog ran out. I lost focus." In the mirror, his face was white as paper. Through the glass, he glared at me, his eyes cold with warning and fury.

"See? Even Derek is disgusted by what that bastard did to you!" Alexia patted her chest and turned back to me. "Jill, tell me his name. My father's firm has top lawyers. We'll sue him until he spits out every last cent of child support!"

I leaned back against the leather seat, pulled out my phone, opened my voice recorder, placed the phone face down on my knee, and looked out at the gray streets flashing past. "Don't worry about his name, Alexia. He'll pay for it himself."

I looked back toward the driver's seat. "By the way, Alexia, you've never told me how you and Derek actually got together. How did you two meet again?"