Chapter 2

Brynna's POV

"Brynna," she said, slapping my hand away. "It's time for you to walk away."

"You were faking it."

"I just wanted you to see it with your own eyes." She placed a hand on her flat stomach. "Eight years, 22 proposals, and he still won't marry you. Isn't that enough to tell you he doesn't love you?"

"You steal my boyfriend and tell me to walk away?"

"He never belonged to you." She smiled. "Everyone at his company knows I'm his fiancée. You're the only one who's been kept in the dark for eight years. Besides, I'm pregnant with his child. You'll never beat me to this spot."

Her words hit me like a physical blow. I stared at her hand resting on her stomach, feeling violently sick. The next second, I raised my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

"You're despicable."

She turned her head, covering her swelling cheek as tears instantly pooled in her eyes. "Brynna, how could you hit me?"

Footsteps echoed from the ER doors. Kieran rushed out, shoving me away forcefully to shield Elaina.

"Did she hurt you?" he asked, cradling her face, his voice trembling.

The wound on my forehead split open again, blood running down my brow into my eye.

"I'm hurt too."

Kieran finally looked at me. The eyes I had gazed into for eight years held no warmth, only the cold annoyance of dealing with a burden.

"Apologize to Elaina."

"She stole my boyfriend."

"Apologize," he hissed, his voice dropping. "Don't make me cut off your mother's medical funds. You know exactly who's paying the bills at Willowmere Care Home every month."

My whole body went rigid.

Leaning against him, Elaina whispered, "Forget it, she didn't mean it."

"She needs to take responsibility for her actions." He glared at me. "Now. Apologize."

I clenched my jaw, the taste of copper spreading in my mouth. "I'm sorry."

"Not good enough." Kieran's tone was flat. "Slap yourself twice."

A few passersby stopped and held up their phones. They didn't know me; they probably just thought I was some crazy woman harassing a CEO. I looked at the smug satisfaction in Elaina's eyes, raised my hand, and slapped my own face.

By the second slap, all I could hear was ringing in my ears.

"Are you satisfied now?"

He nodded, helping Elaina walk inside to find a doctor.

I stood rooted to the spot, watching their backs pressed closely together. I finally understood that my eight-year romance and twenty-year friendship had long since excluded me. I wasn't the abandoned lover; I was just the inconvenient third wheel in their love story.

I wiped the blood from my eye and dialed a number I hadn't called in a long time.

The line connected, and a lazy male voice came through. "Brynna Carver. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Let's make a deal. I hold the full designs, copyrights, and structural patents for Solene's entire autumn/winter haute couture line under my name. I need you to get me and my mother away from Kieran. In exchange, the Alden Group won't get a single piece of this collection."

"Deal."

While a nurse was stitching my forehead, I overheard people in the next bed talking.

"The gentleman who came in earlier looked like he won the lottery when he heard his girlfriend was pregnant."

"He carried her in all the way, terrified she might trip."

I stared down at the dried blood on my hands.

A doctor walked over holding a chart. "Brynna, you're pregnant. About four weeks. Congratulations."

I took a picture of the diagnosis report, sent it to Callum, and added a single line: The deal stands.

The next morning, I went straight to Willowmere Care Home.

When Nadine Carver saw me, her first words were still: "When are you and Kieran having the wedding? Mom wants to wear that blue dress."

I threw myself into her arms, my tears finally breaking free.

"Mom, I'm just so tired."

She patted my back gently. "Then don't force it. Let's leave Kestrel City and go live by the sea for a while."

I nodded. I went to the front desk to handle her transfer and discharge papers, telling myself that as long as I took her away, we could start over.

As soon as I stepped out of the office, a nurse sprinted toward me and grabbed my arm.

"Brynna! Your mother fell from the balcony! She's in the ER right now!"