Chapter 10 - The Night My Water Broke
My doctor had warned me to avoid stress, but terror has a way of ignoring medical advice.
By late afternoon, cramps tightened across my abdomen. Margaret drove me to the hospital while security followed close behind.
The doctors admitted me for observation. I was thirty-four weeks pregnant, and the baby's heartbeat remained steady, but they wanted to monitor me overnight.
I had barely settled into the room when Ethan appeared at the door.
Security moved to stop him.
“Please,” he said. “I need to speak to her.”
I almost ordered him away.
Then I noticed the blood on his cuff.
“What happened?”
He looked shaken.
“Victor's people attacked my apartment. They took my laptop and left a message. They said if I didn't give them the original recording, they'd come for the baby.”
“Why would you have the original recording?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Because I helped Daniel copy the files. But I kept one recording for insurance.”
“You've been blackmailing them?”
“I was trying to protect myself.”
“Not me. Not your child. Yourself.”
His shoulders sagged.
For the first time, he looked less like a powerful executive and more like a frightened man discovering that money couldn't purchase safety.
He handed me a small drive.
“It's everything I have. Transfers, emails, Victor's instructions. It proves I helped them, too.”
I took it without thanking him.
“Give this to Margaret. Then leave.”
“Claire, I still love you.”
“No. You love the life you thought I could give you.”
He opened his mouth, but a sudden wave of pain stopped me from hearing whatever excuse came next.
My water had broken.
Nurses rushed into the room.
As they wheeled me toward labor and delivery, I heard Ethan shouting for a doctor.
Then the lights flickered.
A nurse glanced at her tablet, and her face drained of color.
“Someone has accessed the hospital's emergency contact system.”
“What does that mean?” I gasped.
She looked at the screen again.
“Mrs. Caldwell, your baby's medical records have been transferred to an outside account.”
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A second later, every monitor in the room went dark.
And the hospital doors locked.
