Chapter 15 - THE LOWEST POINT
Vanessa talked for three hours.
She admitted the affair.
The conspiracy.
The plan to take Emily’s trust.
But she insisted things had changed months earlier.
Preston had become dangerous.
“At first, he said nobody would get hurt.”
Vanessa cried.
“He said Emily would get money and disappear.”
Emily stared at her.
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
Vanessa wiped her face.
“Then the brake line happened.”
“You knew?”
“Afterward.”
Emily’s voice became colder.
“And you stayed.”
Vanessa looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Then you kicked me.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Preston told me you had signed the transfer papers.”
“He said it was over.”
“He told me to scare you away.”
Emily felt no sympathy.
But Vanessa’s next words mattered.
“Preston has been talking about the baby.”
“What about him?”
“He said once the child was born, everything became easier.”
Emily’s blood chilled.
That night, contractions began again.
Real ones.
Harder than before.
Doctors rushed Emily into Labor and Delivery.
Thirty-three weeks was early.
Too early.
Raymond stayed outside.
Nathan arrived.
Even Vanessa, under police guard, sat silently down the hall.
Emily labored for six hours.
Doctors managed to slow the contractions.
But then the baby’s heart rate dropped.
Emily heard alarms.
People moved around her.
She felt fear finally break through every wall she had built.
“Please.”
She grabbed the doctor’s wrist.
“Save him.”
The emergency procedure began.
Raymond stood behind glass while his niece disappeared through surgery doors.
At 3:14 in the morning, Emily’s son was born.
Tiny.
Silent for three terrible seconds.
Then he cried.
Raymond covered his face.
Emily barely heard it before anesthesia pulled her under.
When she woke, the neonatal bassinet beside her was empty.
She panicked.
“Where is my baby?”
A nurse rushed over.
“He’s stable.”
“He’s in the NICU.”
Emily looked toward the door.
Raymond stood there.
Something was wrong.
“Uncle?”
Raymond held a phone in his hand.
“Preston sent another message.”
Emily’s heart sank.
Raymond showed her the screen.
May you like
Congratulations on my son.
Now give me what belongs to me.
