Promise of the Heart

"I didn't do it!"

"I don't want to give blood!"

"I didn't hurt Eva Walters! I didn't hurt your father! I didn't do anything!"

In the cramped storage room, Sophia Bennett cradled her pregnant belly with one hand and held the door with the other, trying to stop it from being forced open.

But her cries didn't stop the banging. It just got louder.

Bang!

Bang!

BANG!

With a final kick, the door burst open and she fell hard onto the dusty floor. A cloud of dirt rose around her as Lucas Bennett stormed in, his tall figure looking even more intimidating in the small space, face full of barely contained rage.

"You're leaving me no choice, Sophia!" he snapped, striding toward her, backing her into the corner before yanking her forward roughly. "The doctor's here. Try anything and don't blame me for going harsh!"

"No! I won't go!" Sophia clung to the doorframe with all her strength. "Lucas! I've been Eva's walking blood bank for three years! I'm seven months pregnant! Can't you spare me—spare our baby—for once? The doctor said my health can't take it. If I give blood again, me and the baby could die!"

Lucas's tone went ice cold. "Spare you? And who spared my dad? Who spared Eva? It's only been three years, and you're already whining? Be quiet and stay in line."

"It wasn't me! Please believe me..."

Smack!

Lucas spun around and slapped her across the face. The hit was so hard it knocked her off balance—she hit her forehead on the cabinet, then collapsed onto the ground.

"You ruined my dad's life—you left him in a coma! You wrecked Eva's mind! She's sick, Sophia. Don't dare pretend you didn't do it!"

"It wasn't me! Why won't you believe me?" Sophia let the blood drip from her forehead, one arm still wrapped around her belly, tears pouring nonstop.

"Eva asked me to meet her at that hotel—I swear I was on my way, but I got stuck in traffic. I don't know what happened to her. I don't know why your dad fell with her. I swear I didn't touch them.""I got there too late. Everything had already happened."

"I swear I didn't do it, I really didn't! What exactly do you want me to admit to...?"

Sophia's voice grew raspy as she kept struggling to speak, full of fear and frustration. By the end of her sentence, it broke into a raw, desperate cry.

Lucas's chest rose in a shaky breath.

But the evidence was all there—clear as day. If it wasn't Sophia, then what? Did his own father and Eva fake everything with their lives just to frame her?

Unbelievable. She still wouldn't admit it. Disgusted, he let go of her hand and gripped her chin instead, forcing her to look at him.

"Sophia," he said with a sneer, "don't act like some poor victim. If Eva didn't have such a rare blood type, and if yours wasn't a match, I would've had you locked up ages ago. You wouldn't be sitting here as Mrs. Bennett, pregnant with that damn baby."

Without giving her a chance to respond, Lucas stomped on her leg as her hands reached out to fight him off.

Then he grabbed her ankle and dragged her across the hallway like she was nothing—like she wasn't even human. He threw her onto the bed in the center of the room.

The nurses waiting inside moved quickly, pinning each of her limbs down.

"Mr. Bennett, shall we proceed now?" the leading doctor asked, his brows slightly furrowed. He'd been to the Bennetts' home plenty of times before and knew about Sophia's so-called past. But right now... wasn't she pregnant?

"Do it," Lucas ordered coldly.

His voice cut through the room like a blade.

Sophia had been struggling like mad, but now she suddenly froze. When she looked at Lucas, her eyes shimmered with a weird kind of amusement. She even let out a quiet laugh, her lips curving faintly in a smile.

It stung Lucas in a way he couldn't explain.

No! Eva was still in the clinic waiting for a transfusion. He couldn't let himself go soft now—not for her!

He gave her one last glance, then turned and left without a word.

"Move faster!" he snapped over his shoulder.

In under a minute, the doctor had snipped her sleeve and found a clear spot on her bruised, needle-pocked arm to stick the needle in.

"Wait—her hemoglobin's low! She's anemic. Stop the draw immediately!"As soon as the doctor finished speaking, Sophia, already hanging by a thread, felt everything go black and collapsed on the spot…