Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO WOKE UP ALONE
Khloe woke to the steady sound of medical equipment.
Her mouth was dry.
Her abdomen hurt.
For several seconds, she didn't remember where she was.
Then everything returned.
The highway.
The rain.
Julian driving away.
Her hands moved toward her belly.
It was smaller.
Panic flooded her.
"My baby!"
A nurse appeared.
"Mrs. Caldwell, you're safe."
"My son!"
"He's alive. He's in the NICU."
Khloe began crying.
"Is he okay?"
"He was born early and needs support. The neonatal team is caring for him."
"Can I see him?"
"As soon as your medical team says it's safe."
Khloe closed her eyes.
Alive.
Her baby was alive.
She whispered a thank-you to a God she hadn't spoken to in months.
Then she asked:
"Where's my husband?"
The nurse hesitated.
"We've been trying to reach him."
Khloe looked toward the window.
Morning sunlight touched the hospital curtains.
"He isn't here?"
"No."
Something inside her went very still.
She remembered Julian's last words.
Don't use him against me.
She looked at the nurse.
"Please don't call him again."
The nurse nodded gently.
"We'll document your preference and make sure the team understands who you want involved in your care."
Khloe asked for her phone.
There were thirty-seven missed calls.
Most were from her younger brother, Ethan.
Three were from her attorney.
None were from Julian.
Then she saw the photograph.
Julian and Sienna.
His arm around her waist.
His mouth against her cheek.
The caption read:
CALDWELL INDUSTRIES CEO CELEBRATES SIENNA VALE'S BIRTHDAY AT EXCLUSIVE CHICAGO GALA.
Khloe stared.
The timestamp showed 10:14 p.m.
She checked her son's birth record.
9:51 p.m.
Twenty-three minutes.
Twenty-three minutes after their son entered the world fighting to breathe, Julian was kissing another woman.
Khloe set the phone down.
She didn't scream.
She didn't throw it.
She simply asked the nurse for a pen.
Then she wrote on the back of a hospital meal menu:
I will never let him make my child feel disposable.
She folded the paper.
May you like
Placed it beside her bed.
And began planning the rest of her life.
