He Killed Our Baby Then Begged Me to Stay

"The man in those photos is my brother. I'm only going to ask you once—do you believe me or not?"

There were plenty of ways to prove it. A paternity test on the baby. Getting in touch with my brother. If anyone actually wanted the truth, it could be laid bare in minutes.

Kieran pressed his lips into a thin line and said nothing. Paula snatched the phone from my hand.

"Kieran has azoospermia—he can't possibly have children! And you're claiming that man is your brother? Kieran doesn't even know what your brother looks like!"

"Harper, if you're going to lie, at least make it make sense!"

When Kieran and I got married, the Whitfield Group had been in the middle of aggressive overseas expansion. My brother couldn't get away. He hadn't attended the wedding. In all the years since, Dominic had been holding up the entire company on his own. He and I had barely seen each other, let alone Kieran.

But none of that mattered to me as much as one question: Why did Paula know about Kieran's azoospermia?

I lifted my head and stared straight at Kieran.

"Why does she know about your diagnosis?"

"Why have you never told me?"

Kieran glanced at me, his face saturated with disgust.

"Tell you? And then what?"

"What would you have done? Gotten rid of the baby behind my back so you could keep cheating on me?"

Things had spiraled too far. Kieran was blinded by rage. Nothing I said now would get through to him.

I took a deep breath, stood, and moved toward the door.

Kieran seized my wrist.

"What—run out of excuses so now you're running? Going to find your lover to come rescue you?" His grip tightened. "This baby is getting aborted. My wife is not carrying another man's child."

"As for this marriage, we'll talk about that after you get rid of it."

The moment those words left his mouth, Paula cut in.

"What do you mean talk about it? You're not actually thinking of staying married to her, are you? Kieran, how can you be this soft on her?" Her voice pitched higher. "She's already pregnant! God knows how many filthy things she's done with that man—"

Kieran whipped around and snarled at her.

"This is between us. It has nothing to do with you."

Paula pressed her lips together. She looked like she wanted to say more, but the fury on his face shut her mouth.

And all I could hear, echoing through my skull, was what Kieran had just said.

He wanted to kill our baby.

I wrenched my wrist free and stumbled two steps back.

"Kieran, this is my child! We've been married three years before I finally got pregnant—what gives you the right to take that away?"

"As long as I'm alive, no one is going to hurt this baby!"

Something in him snapped. The rage he'd been barely holding back erupted, and his open palm cracked across my face.

I didn't see it coming. The force sent me to the floor, and for a moment I couldn't get up.

Kieran grabbed the front of my collar and hauled me toward him. When he spoke, his voice was cold enough to freeze blood.

"Harper, I'm not negotiating with you. You are my wife, and you're carrying some bastard's child."

"You should be grateful that murder is illegal. Because right now, I want nothing more than to kill you."

I didn't know if it was the fall or the panic, but a sharp, cramping pain twisted through my lower abdomen.

Kieran had lost all reason. Going head-to-head with him now would only make things worse.

I wrapped my fingers around his hand, trying to loosen his grip on my collar.

"Kieran, I'm begging you. Don't hurt this baby."

"Please. Please. Please."

He froze. His eyes went wide, as if he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.