Chapter 1 - THE CHAIR SHE LEFT BEHIND
“Take me to the nearest hospital.”
Natalie Romano barely recognized her own voice.
The cab driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
“Ma'am, are you bleeding?”
She looked down.
The midnight-blue silk had darkened near her knees.
Her heart began pounding.
“Please,” she whispered. “Just drive.”
The driver accelerated through the rain.
Natalie pressed both hands against her abdomen.
Twelve weeks.
She was twelve weeks pregnant.
After seven years of marriage.
After three miscarriages.
After doctors had gently explained that another pregnancy might never happen.
And tonight, the night she had planned to tell her husband they were finally going to have a child, Matteo Romano had ordered her to surrender her chair to another woman.
A pregnant woman.
His pregnant mistress.
Natalie closed her eyes.
The memory struck again.
Give Isabella your seat.
Not a request.
An order.
Spoken in front of two hundred guests.
She had stood.
Removed the diamond bracelet he'd fastened around her wrist an hour earlier.
And walked away.
But now, sitting in the back of a taxi with pain twisting through her abdomen, Natalie would have given anything to return to the moment before Matteo spoke.
Not to save her marriage.
To save the innocence of believing he would be happy about their baby.
The taxi stopped outside St. Catherine's Medical Center.
The driver jumped out.
“Help! Somebody help!”
A nurse hurried toward them with a wheelchair.
Natalie tried to stand.
Another cramp struck.
She gasped.
The nurse caught her.
“How far along are you?”
“Twelve weeks.”
“Any previous pregnancy complications?”
Natalie's throat tightened.
“Three losses.”
The nurse's expression changed.
“Let's get you inside.”
---
At 10:47 p.m., Matteo Romano was still standing in the ballroom.
The anniversary cake remained untouched.
Seven sugar orchids sat beneath the chandelier.
The orchestra had stopped playing.
Isabella Ricci occupied Natalie's chair.
Her pearl-gray dress stretched across her stomach.
She smiled at the guests who dared look toward her.
Matteo stared at the empty space beside the table.
His wife had been gone for nearly an hour.
He told himself she was being dramatic.
Natalie had always been emotional about anniversaries.
She liked traditions.
Photographs.
Handwritten notes.
Things Matteo considered sentimental distractions from the realities of his business.
He had expected her to protest.
Perhaps cry.
Perhaps leave the room for a few minutes.
Then return.
She always returned.
But tonight she hadn't.
His security chief, Luca Bellini, approached.
“Boss.”
Matteo looked at him.
“What?”
“Mrs. Romano's car is still outside.”
Matteo frowned.
“She took a cab.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“We're checking.”
Matteo's jaw tightened.
Isabella touched his arm.
“Darling, don't let her ruin the evening.”
He looked down at her hand.
For some reason, the touch irritated him.
“Not now.”
She blinked.
“Matteo—”
“I said not now.”
Isabella withdrew her hand.
Matteo turned toward Luca.
“Find my wife.”
---
At 11:16 p.m., Natalie lay on a hospital bed while a physician examined her.
Her friend Rebecca Morgan sat beside her.
Rebecca had arrived twenty minutes earlier wearing sweatpants and an oversized coat.
She had taken one look at Natalie and started crying.
“What happened?”
Natalie shook her head.
“Please don't ask.”
Rebecca held her hand.
“All right.”
The physician entered with an ultrasound technician.
Natalie's breath caught.
She stared at the monitor.
A small shape appeared.
Then a flicker.
The technician adjusted the image.
Natalie stopped breathing.
“Is that—”
The physician smiled gently.
“That's your baby's heartbeat.”
Natalie covered her mouth.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
The physician continued.
“The heartbeat is present, and that's encouraging. But because you've had bleeding and cramping, we'll continue evaluating you carefully.”
Natalie nodded.
She knew better than to believe one reassuring moment guaranteed everything.
Still, she stared at the screen.
The heartbeat flickered.
Fast.
Steady.
Alive.
Rebecca squeezed her hand.
Natalie began sobbing.
Not because the marriage was over.
Because, for this moment, her baby was still here.
---
At 2:13 a.m., Matteo returned to the penthouse.
Natalie wasn't there.
Her coat was missing.
So was her handbag.
He walked into their bedroom.
The room smelled faintly of her perfume.
White roses stood beside the window.
On the dresser sat a small jewelry box.
Matteo noticed an envelope beneath it.
His name was written across the front.
For Matteo. Tonight, after the anniversary toast.
He frowned.
Then opened it.
Inside was a letter.
And an ultrasound photograph.
Matteo stared.
For several seconds, he didn't understand what he was looking at.
Then he read the first sentence.
May you like
My darling Matteo, after seven years of waiting, we're finally going to have a baby.
His knees nearly gave way.
