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“From what I can see… prison. Fabricated evidence, regulatory sabotage—maybe even worse. I found burner messages.

If she couldn’t get you to sign the divorce and stay away, they planned to destroy you. She sold her wedding ring six months ago. A necklace too.

Looks like she’s been paying them to keep their hands off you.”

Grant stared at the marble wall, seeing nothing.

Miles spoke again, more gently. “Grant… she didn’t betray you. She took the blow for you.”

For a moment, the only sound Grant heard was the restaurant beyond the hallway—the clink of glasses, laughter, the artificial brightness of normal life.

Then the past rearranged itself in his mind.

The way she avoided his eyes when she lied.

The tremor in her voice.

The way her hands shook—not with guilt, but fear.

He ran.

Bursting through the kitchen, he shoved open the back door and sprinted into the alley.

“Elena!”

She was still near the wall where he had left her, but one knee had given out.

Her hand pressed against her stomach, sweat shining on her forehead despite the cold night air.

By the time he reached her, she was sliding slowly down the brick.

“Hey—look at me.”

Her eyes opened weakly.

“My head,” she whispered. “I can’t… I can’t see right.”

Cold panic spread through him.

Severe headache.
Swelling.
Vision changes.

Danger.

He knelt in front of her. “How long has this been happening?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

She weakly tried to push him away.

“Finish your deal.”

He stared at her in disbelief. Then he pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

“Pregnant woman—about eight months. Severe headache, vision problems, swelling.

Possible emergency. We’re behind the Sterling Room on West Fifty-Seventh.”

She clutched his arm. “If Victor and Mason find out—”

“Stop,” he said, his voice breaking.

“You’re not carrying this alone anymore.”

By the time the sirens pierced the night, Grant didn’t care whether the contract had been signed, whether the investors stayed, or whether the restaurant deal collapsed.

All that mattered was Elena trembling in his arms—and the horrifying realization that while he had spent months hating her, she had been starving, working, lying, and sacrificing everything to protect him.

And now she and the baby might die because of it.