Chapter 5 - The Baby They Wanted to Erase
Eliza's blood ran cold.
"My ultrasound?"
Dominic turned toward her.
"You're pregnant?"
Nobody moved.
Paige's face drained of color.
Eliza instinctively placed a hand over her stomach.
"How did they get into the penthouse?"
Griffin answered carefully.
"The intruder bypassed the main security system. They knew exactly where to look."
Dominic's eyes remained fixed on Eliza.
"Fourteen weeks?"
She said nothing.
"Eliza."
"Yes."
His expression changed.
The anger disappeared.
Something far more vulnerable took its place.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She gave him a tired look.
"Would you like the answer in the ballroom, or should I wait until you introduce another woman as your future wife?"
He flinched.
"I didn't know."
"You didn't ask."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Is the baby healthy?"
"That's none of your business right now."
"She's my daughter."
"She's also inside my body. And I decide who gets access to us."
He looked as if she had struck him.
Paige stepped between them.
"You're leaving."
Dominic didn't argue.
But before he walked out, he turned to Eliza.
"Whoever took that photograph knows about the baby. I won't let anyone hurt you."
Eliza's expression hardened.
"You already hurt us."
He left.
That evening, Rebecca arranged for Eliza to stay in a secure apartment under a different name.
Paige accompanied her.
The doctor confirmed that the pregnancy was progressing normally, but the stress had left Eliza exhausted.
When she returned, a package was waiting outside the apartment door.
No return address.
Inside was a small envelope.
And the ultrasound photograph.
On its back, someone had written:
A Rourke heir belongs to the family. Not to you.
Paige immediately called Griffin.
Dominic arrived twenty minutes later.
He read the message without speaking.
Then he handed it to Griffin.
"Find the person who sent this."
Eliza sat on the sofa, pale and trembling.
Dominic approached slowly.
"I'll put security outside."
"No."
"Eliza, this isn't a negotiation."
"Neither is my divorce."
He stopped.
She looked up at him.
"Do you understand what you did? You made our marriage a public joke. You made me walk out of that ballroom alone. And now people I don't know are threatening my child because of your family."
His voice lowered.
"I will fix this."
"You cannot fix everything by ordering men around."
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then he did something she had never seen him do.
He knelt.
Not dramatically.
Not to manipulate her.
He lowered himself until they were eye level.
"I'm sorry."
Eliza's eyes filled.
"Don't apologize because you found out there's a baby."
"I'm apologizing because I made you believe you had to protect her from me."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Dominic reached into his coat and removed a small black box.
Inside was the emerald necklace.
Eliza stared.
"Where did you get that?"
"Celeste returned it."
"Why?"
"Because Griffin found evidence she had accessed the estate safe without authorization."
Dominic closed the box.
"I don't know what she wanted. But I know she wasn't wearing that necklace because I gave it to her."
Eliza looked away.
"That doesn't change anything."
"I know."
He stood.
"Can I at least ask about the baby?"
She hesitated.
Then she said quietly, "The doctor says she's healthy."
Dominic closed his eyes.
A breath escaped him.
"Thank God."
It was the first genuine expression of relief Eliza had seen from him in months.
But their fragile moment ended when Griffin returned.
"We found the intruder."
Dominic turned.
"Who?"
"One of Celeste's personal drivers."
"Bring him in."
Griffin hesitated.
"He isn't talking."
"Then give him a reason."
Eliza stood.
"No."
Dominic looked at her.
"Eliza—"
"If you want to protect our daughter, you need to stop acting like the man your father raised."
The words landed hard.
Dominic slowly nodded.
"Then we'll do it legally."
Griffin looked surprised.
Eliza was too.
But the next morning, the driver agreed to speak.
And his statement revealed something worse than Celeste's involvement.
He claimed that the woman who ordered the break-in wasn't Celeste.
It was Dominic's former housekeeper.
May you like
A woman who had supposedly died twelve years earlier.
Victoria Rourke.
