Chapter 1 - The Red Heel
Ethan heard the crash before he saw Emma.
The front door of the mansion had barely closed behind him when his eyes found his pregnant wife lying on the white marble floor.
Claire stood over her.
One hand held a glossy red high heel above Emma’s abdomen.
The narrow heel pointed downward.
For one frozen second, none of them moved.
Then Claire saw Ethan.
Her face transformed.
The shoe disappeared behind her back.
“What happened?”
Claire softened her voice.
“She suddenly collapsed.”
Emma stared at her in disbelief.
Her breathing came fast and shallow, one hand spread protectively over her belly.
Ethan rushed forward and knelt beside her.
“Emma?”
“I’m okay.”
Claire began backing away.
Then the red heel slipped from behind her.
CLACK.
It landed on the marble.
Ethan slowly looked at it.
Then at Claire.
Emma pointed.
“She was going after the baby.”
Ethan stood.
Claire retreated.
Her heel caught a medical envelope beside a broken wineglass.
The envelope slid across the marble.
A report slipped free.
Claire saw it and lunged.
Ethan got there first.
He unfolded the page.
PRENATAL PATERNITY ANALYSIS.
Emma looked confused.
“What is that?”
Ethan read the paternal match.
His face emptied.
“No.”
Claire stopped moving.
Ethan read the name again.
ADRIAN VALE.
Probability of paternity:
99.98%.
Ethan looked at Emma.
Then at Claire.
“This man died eight years ago.”
Emma’s confusion became fear.
“What man?”
Ethan turned report toward her.
Adrian Vale.
Claire stared at Emma’s stomach.
Her hands began trembling.
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“How can a dead man be her baby’s father?”
Claire’s eyes filled.
For several seconds she looked like she might deny everything.
Then she whispered:
“Because he never died.”
Ethan went completely still.
Emma gripped the fabric over her belly.
Claire realized instantly she had said too much.
She lunged toward report.
Ethan pulled it away.
“Who is Adrian Vale?”
Claire’s composure shattered.
“Give me that!”
“Who is he?”
Claire screamed:
“THAT BABY CAN NEVER BE BORN!”
Emma recoiled.
Ethan stepped between them.
Claire stopped.
For the first time, Ethan saw something beneath her rage.
Terror.
Not fear of police.
Not fear Ethan would leave.
Fear of the baby.
Ethan looked at the DNA report again.
Adrian Vale.
Eight years earlier, Ethan had attended Adrian’s funeral.
He had seen the casket.
He had watched Claire cry beside it.
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Because Adrian Vale had not merely been some dead stranger.
He had been Claire’s husband.
