“I’ll go get it right now and push it through immediately. First thing tomorrow, I’ll make an official announcement. You’ll be my only heir.”
Her voice hardened.
“And as for that ungrateful son of mine… I won’t acknowledge him anymore!”
She turned and left in a hurry to take care of everything.
I lay there alone, curled on the hospital bed as the waves of pain crashed through me, harder and sharper each time. I couldn’t stop screaming.
Poppy, the assistant Terese had left behind, was pacing nervously, glancing at the door again and again, probably praying the doctor Sullivan promised would show up soon.
Finally, someone did arrive.
But it wasn’t a doctor.
It was a fucking delivery guy!
He stepped into the room, only to freeze at the sight of the blood soaking through the sheets. His face went pale. Hesitantly, he held out a plastic bag.
Something tumbled out—a sanitary pad and a Band-Aid.
“M-Ma’am… s-sir Sullivan said,” the guy stammered, “it’s just… It’s just postpartum bleeding. N-Nothing fatal. He said… clean yourself up… and stop using stuff like this to gross him out.”
Zareena’s POV
Poppy’s hands trembled as she shoved a bag into my arms, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
“Ma’am, I’ll transfer you to Hackensack right now,” she choked out. “Please—you have to hang on!”
But the pain was relentless. It tore through me like fire, ripping screams from my throat. My body was giving out. I could barely hear her anymore. Everything spun. Then—blackness.
When I came to, it was a jolt of agony.
A bucket of freezing water crashed down on me, soaking me to the bone. I gasped, coughing violently as I shivered on the icy floor, too weak to even sit up.
And then I saw him.
Sullivan stood over me, his arms crossed, his face twisted in a look of pure disgust like I was some shit under his shoes.
“You’re awake? Then stop faking it,” he snapped. “You knew damn well I’m making the official heir announcement with Shannah tomorrow, and you still made a scene, running off to another city to get “treated.” What—trying to frame Shannah like she hurt you?”
Behind him stood Shannah, cradling her newborn, her face streaked with tears. Her voice broke as she looked at me, eyes trembling.
“Zareena… I know you hate me. If you want to take it out on someone, take it out on me. Why drag his mother into this? Why take my baby?”
She started sobbing harder.