Chapter 1: The Blood on the Wedding Sheets
“ADRIAN! GET UP HERE NOW!”
Eleanor Whitcomb's scream shook the entire house.
Heavy footsteps thundered up the staircase.
A moment later, Adrian Whitcomb burst into the bedroom still wearing yesterday's wrinkled dress shirt.
“What happened?”
Then he saw the bed.
The blood.
The pale face of his bride.
And the positive pregnancy test clutched in his mother's trembling hand.
His world stopped.
“Lila?”
No response.
He rushed to her side and grabbed her hand.
Ice cold.
“Call an ambulance!” Eleanor shouted.
“I already did!”
Adrian's voice broke.
Minutes later, paramedics flooded the room.
One look at the sheets and their expressions changed.
Something was very wrong.
As they wheeled Lila toward the ambulance, one of the medics turned to Adrian.
“How far along is the pregnancy?”
Adrian blinked.
“I... I didn't know she was pregnant.”
The medic exchanged a glance with his partner.
Then looked back at him.
“Then someone needs to explain why your wife appears to have suffered severe bleeding and dehydration for hours without receiving medical attention.”
The words hit Adrian like a punch.
Hours.
Not minutes.
Hours.
And suddenly he remembered something.
Around three o'clock that morning, he had woken briefly.
Lila wasn't beside him.
He vaguely recalled hearing voices downstairs.
His mother.
His aunt.
And someone crying.
He had assumed it was wedding stress.
Now a terrible feeling crawled into his chest.
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What had happened after he fell asleep?
And why hadn't Lila told him she was pregnant?
