Chapter 2 - THE PHONE CALLDominic Blackwood was holding a glass of bourbon when his phone began vibrating.
He ignored it.
“Dominic.”
Vanessa Sterling stood beside the fireplace in the private lounge overlooking the Blackwood Grand Hotel ballroom.
She wore a red dress and the expression of a woman who had been waiting years for exactly this evening.
“You’re not listening.”
Dominic looked toward the ballroom below.
“Claire could have been seriously hurt.”
Vanessa sighed.
“Your mother said she slipped.”
“My mother says whatever makes my mother look innocent.”
It was the first truthful thing he had admitted all night.
He looked at his phone again.
Claire’s message stared back at him.
Enjoy the family you chose.
Something about those words made his stomach tighten.
“Call her,” Vanessa said.
Dominic looked at her.
Vanessa shrugged.
“If you’re going to spend the entire night thinking about your wife, call her.”
Dominic had known Vanessa since childhood. Their families had vacationed together, invested together, and spent years assuming they would eventually marry.
Then Dominic met Claire Bennett.
Claire had possessed none of Vanessa’s polished social confidence.
She had been twenty-six, working as an architectural preservation consultant, arguing with Dominic inside a condemned theater he wanted demolished.
He fell in love with her while she was telling him he was wrong.
Victoria had hated her almost immediately.
And Dominic had spent six years telling himself he could love Claire without ever truly confronting his mother.
Tonight had exposed that lie.
His phone rang again.
ST. MATTHEW’S HOSPITAL.
Dominic answered.
“Dominic Blackwood.”
“Mr. Blackwood, this is Dr. Ethan Parker.”
Dominic straightened.
“I’m treating your wife.”
“How is she?”
“She suffered a concussion, two fractured ribs, and significant bruising.”
Dominic shut his eyes.
“Is she awake?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Tell her I’ll—”
“There’s more.”
The room seemed suddenly colder.
“Your wife was pregnant.”
Dominic didn’t move.
Vanessa watched him from across the room.
“What?”
“She was approximately nine weeks pregnant.”
The glass slipped slightly in Dominic’s hand.
“Was?”
“I’m sorry. The pregnancy could not be saved.”
Dominic sat down.
For years he had imagined hearing the words Claire is pregnant.
He had imagined carrying her through their apartment.
Calling his father.
Painting the room next to theirs.
He had imagined Victoria finally being forced to admit Claire had given the Blackwood family what everyone expected.
Instead, he had learned he was going to be a father in the same sentence that told him he never would be.
“How did she fall?”
The doctor paused.
“That is something your wife will need to discuss with you.”
Dominic looked toward the door.
His mother had said Claire had been drinking.
But Claire barely drank.
And she had never become intoxicated at public events.
Never.
“Doctor, I’m coming.”
“Mr. Blackwood.”
“Yes?”
“There is another issue regarding the fertility testing you completed.”
Dominic felt the blood drain from his face.
The doctor explained.
Every sentence struck harder than the one before.
Final analysis.
Progressive failure.
No viable sperm in the latest samples.
Extremely unlikely to father another biological child.
Dominic stood slowly.
“That pregnancy…”
“Based on your earlier testing and the gestational timeline, it was medically possible.”
Dominic gripped the table.
“The child was mine.”
“Yes.”
His knees almost gave out.
He ended the call without remembering how.
Vanessa approached him.
“What happened?”
Dominic looked at her as though he had forgotten she existed.
“Claire was pregnant.”
Vanessa froze.
“She lost the baby.”
Her hand went to her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Dominic grabbed his jacket.
“And I can’t have another.”
“What?”
“My test results.”
Vanessa reached for him.
He pulled away.
“I have to go.”
He was halfway through the doorway when Victoria appeared.
“Dominic, Senator Walsh wants—”
He stopped.
His mother’s face looked irritated, not concerned.
“You said Claire was drunk.”
Victoria blinked.
“What?”
“You told me she’d been drinking.”
“She was behaving irrationally.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“Dominic, this is neither the time nor the place.”
“My wife was pregnant.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
Not grief.
Shock.
“She lost the baby.”
For one second, the mask vanished completely.
Then Victoria whispered, “I didn’t know.”
Dominic stared at her.
Something about those words landed wrong.
Not what happened?
Not how?
Not is Claire okay?
Just—
I didn’t know.
Dominic stepped closer.
“What did you do?”
Victoria’s chin lifted.
“Be careful how you speak to me.”
“What did you do?”
Guests near the hallway began watching.
Vanessa stood frozen behind them.
Victoria lowered her voice.
“She became hysterical. I tried to calm her.”
“Did you touch her?”
“She grabbed me.”
Dominic knew Claire.
He knew his mother.
And suddenly six years of excuses collapsed.
He remembered Claire coming home after Thanksgiving crying because Victoria had called her barren.
He remembered dismissing it.
He remembered Claire begging him not to give Victoria a key to their apartment.
He remembered doing it anyway.
He remembered Victoria destroying Claire’s wedding bouquet because it was “cheap.”
He remembered saying, That’s just Mom.
The sentence disgusted him now.
“Did you push my wife?”
Victoria’s eyes flickered.
That was enough.
Dominic moved past her.
She grabbed his sleeve.
“You are not leaving this event over some hysterical woman.”
Dominic looked down at her hand.
“Take your hand off me.”
She released him.
“Dominic, think about the company.”
“My child is dead.”
Victoria recoiled.
“And you’re worried about donors?”
He walked away.
By the time Dominic reached St. Matthew’s, it was after one in the morning.
He ran through the emergency department.
“Claire Blackwood.”
The receptionist typed.
Then frowned.
“She’s no longer in that room.”
“Where is she?”
“I’ll get the nurse.”
The nurse arrived moments later.
“She was medically cleared for discharge under observation.”
“Who took her home?”
“I can’t disclose that.”
“I’m her husband.”
“She specifically requested that no information regarding her location be provided to you.”
Dominic stared at her.
“What?”
The nurse handed him an envelope.
“She asked us to give you this.”
Inside was Claire’s wedding ring.
Nothing else.
His phone rang.
Rachel Kim.
Claire’s attorney.
Dominic answered.
“Where is my wife?”
“From this point forward, communication regarding your marriage should go through counsel.”
His heart stopped.
“What are you talking about?”
“Divorce proceedings have been initiated.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Rachel, listen to me—”
“You were notified that your wife was hospitalized after a serious fall and chose not to come.”
“I didn’t understand—”
“That may be something you need to live with.”
The call ended.
Dominic stood beneath the hospital lights holding Claire’s ring.
He had spent years assuming she would always forgive him.
Always wait.
Always understand.
For the first time, he realized Claire had stopped waiting.
Back at the Blackwood mansion, Victoria entered her bedroom and locked the door.
She took out her phone.
Her hand shook as she called someone.
A man answered.
Victoria spoke quietly.
“There’s a problem.”
“What happened?”
“Claire survived.”
Silence.
Then the man said, “And the documents?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“I don’t know whether she found them.”
“What documents?”
A voice came from behind her.
Victoria spun around.
May you like
Dominic stood in the doorway.
And in his hand was the spare key Claire had once begged him to take away.
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