Chapter 4

Once he'd had a taste, Miles was like a man who couldn't quit, tireless every night.

For two solid months he barely left the house, his whole attention on me.

As for Grant, word was he'd gone off to Aspen with Daphne. I hadn't seen him in two months.

Then one day I wasn't feeling well, and Miles took me to the hospital for a checkup.

In the stairwell, we ran straight into Grant and Daphne, fresh back from their ski trip.

Daphne spoke first. "What a coincidence. My appetite's been off lately, I feel like throwing up every day, and who knows, maybe we got carried away in Aspen and I'm pregnant. What about you two? What brings you to the hospital?"

Miles's voice was flat. "Nora hasn't been feeling well. I brought her in for some tests."

Grant was afraid of giving himself away, so he said nothing at all.

But I noticed his eyes fixed on the red marks on my neck.

I pretended not to see and walked past them, unbothered.

At the exact moment we passed each other, Daphne shrieked, tipped sideways, and tumbled down the stairs.

Grant's face turned cold in an instant. He rushed down and scooped her into his arms.

Daphne clutched her twisted ankle and cried as if her heart were breaking. "Grant, your wife pushed me down. I honestly don't know when I ever wronged her. Why does she keep coming after me?"

Grant's face was cold and grim, and he raised his voice at me. "Nora, apologize to Daphne!"

It was almost funny.

Same as always. He hadn't looked into a single thing, and already he wanted me on my knees.

"I don't apologize for things I didn't do!"

Grant's face was frost. "Who else could it have been? You were the only one next to Daphne when she went past. Did she throw herself down the stairs?"

"Your eyes are blind. Is your heart blind too!"

All those years, everything I'd given him, everything I'd done for him, and Daphne still came first in his heart.

Every time, without fail, the blame landed on me!

I laughed coldly. "I will never apologize!"

"That isn't your choice to make!"

Grant slammed his foot into my knee, and the pain forced me down onto the floor.

He pressed a hand to the back of my head, forcing the apology out of me.

"Let go of her!"

It was Miles, charging in, wrenching Grant's hand away, fury all over his face. "Don't touch her!"

Grant's jaw worked, his expression sour.

They went back and forth, and then a wave of dizziness hit the back of my skull. My arms and legs lost all their strength, and I went straight over backward.

Before I hit the ground, I heard two cries.

"Nora!"

Miles got to me first, and Grant tore me out of his arms.

"Nora, what's wrong?"

"Nora, wake up!"

"I'm sorry, Nora, I shouldn't have been so harsh with you. Wake up..."

Grant carried me and ran for the emergency room.

Outside its doors, Grant's face was cold as he demanded an answer from Miles.

"Miles, explain to me how those marks got on Nora's neck."

Miles was so angry he laughed. "That's what you're thinking about right now? Shouldn't you be worried about whether she's okay?"

Just then, the emergency room door opened.

The doctor pulled down his mask as he walked out. "She's fine. She's pregnant. She's been under a lot of emotional strain, and her blood pressure runs low this early in a pregnancy. That's what made her dizzy. She'll wake up shortly."

"What did you say?" Grant stood there as if lightning had struck him.