Chapter 3

Liam Miller's full attention was on Chloe Davis. He gently stroked her hair, his voice a low, soothing murmur. "It's okay, Chloe. I'm here. Don't cry."

He then turned his cold, furious gaze back to Ava. "Look at what you've done. Our daughter is fighting for her life in an incubator, and you're here, attacking the one person trying to help. Is this the kind of mother you're going to be?"

The accusation was so twisted, so profoundly unjust, that a bitter laugh escaped Ava's lips. "You want to talk about being a parent, Liam? You, who drugged me and forced our child into the world two months early just to move your mistress into our house?"

Liam's face hardened. "You're delirious. The stress caused a placental abruption. Dr. Carter saved your life, and our daughter's. You should be grateful. Chloe is here because I need help, because you're clearly not stable enough."

"I don't want her here," Ava said, her voice shaking with rage. "Get her out. I want a real nurse."

"No," Liam said flatly. "Chloe is staying. If you want to see our daughter, you will be civil. You will accept her help. Don't make me keep you from your own child, Ava. I'll do it."

The threat hung in the air, a weapon pointed directly at her heart. Her baby. Her tiny, fragile daughter was alive. A flicker of desperate hope ignited within her. She had to be strong for her. She had to play along, for now.

"Now," Liam said, his voice softening as he turned back to Chloe, "let her help you. You need your medication."

Chloe stepped forward, her eyes still red, a picture of martyred patience. She picked up a syringe from a sterile packet on the tray. "This is for the pain and to help your uterus contract," she said softly.

As Ava gritted her teeth, Chloe administered the shot in her thigh. The needle went in with a brutal, stinging jab, and the medicine burned as it spread. It felt less like a medical procedure and more like a punishment. Ava gasped, a tear of pain and rage slipping down her cheek. Liam watched, his expression unreadable.

As Chloe pulled the needle out, Ava's eyes caught a glint of light on her hand. It was a ring. A delicate diamond band on her right hand. It wasn't an engagement ring, but it was expensive and new. It was a ring Ava had seen before, in a jewelry catalog Liam had left on his desk just last week.

"That's a beautiful ring," Ava said, her voice dangerously quiet.

Chloe's hand flew to her chest in a theatrical gesture of modesty. "Oh, this? It's just a little something. A gift." She looked at Liam with wide, innocent eyes. "Liam felt so bad about everything that happened... he said I deserved something for my trouble." She then looked back at Ava, her expression turning to one of hurt. "You make it sound like it's something sordid."

"Because it is," Ava snapped.

"That's enough!" Liam's voice boomed in the small room. He stepped between them, shielding Chloe as if Ava were a monster. "Chloe is a guest in our home, and she is helping to care for you and our child. She will be treated with respect. You, Ava, will apologize to her. Now."

The sheer audacity of the demand stole her breath. Apologize? To the woman who was tormenting her, who had helped orchestrate this horror?

"No," Ava said, meeting his gaze. The single word was filled with all the defiance she had left. "I will never apologize to her."

Liam's face twisted into a mask of cold fury. "Fine. Have it your way." He pulled out his phone and made a call. "Ben? It's Liam. Ava is being... uncooperative. She's refusing her post-op care. I think we need the orderlies."

He hung up. A chilling smile touched his lips. "You don't want to cooperate. You don't want to apologize. That's okay. We have other ways to make you comply."

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching in the hallway filled Ava with a new, terrifying dread. He wasn't just going to threaten her. He was going to use force. He was going to break her, right here in this hospital bed, while his mistress watched.