Chapter 1

I held my newborn son tightly against my chest as I continued running the hospital floor. I heard heavy footsteps echoing behind me. Men were shouting.

"Find her! She went this way!"

They were my fiance’s men.

I turned the corner too fast, making me crash right onto someone. I almost dropped my baby, but strong hands grabbed my shoulders and steadied me.

I looked up. A tall familiar man stood in front of me.

"Please," I begged. Tears spilled down my face. I grabbed his jacket with my shaking hand. "Please, you have to hide my baby. They are going to take him."

The man looked down at me.

"I was kidnapped three days ago. I was heavily pregnant. They locked me in a warehouse. I managed to escape into the woods tonight. I gave birth to my son in the dirt. But before I ran, I heard the kidnappers talking."

I took a shaky breath. The memory made my heart hurt.

"They said George hired them," I told the stranger. "George is my fiancé. He never wanted to marry me. He only wanted me to have a baby. He planned to steal my son and give him to Danica, his first love and his best friend. She cannot get pregnant. So George used me to give her a child."

"Please," I sobbed. I held my son out to him. "If they find him, they will give him to Danica. I will never see him again. Please save my son."

The shouting grew louder. The men were getting closer.

"She must be down this hall!" a rough voice yelled.

The tall stranger looked down the hallway. Then, he looked back at me.

He opened his mouth to speak. But I never heard the rest of his words.

My vision blurred, and the handsome stranger faded away as the world turned completely black.

I woke up to a bright light. I was lying in a hospital bed. A machine beeped slowly next to me.

I opened my eyes. My body felt heavy and weak.

"You are finally awake."

I turned my head. George was standing next to the bed. He wore a clean gray suit. His hair was perfectly styled. He did not look worried. He looked angry.

Before I could even speak, George raised his hand.

He slapped me hard across the face, making my head turn to the side from the force of his hit. It burned my cheeks.

"You are completely useless!" George screamed at me. "You cannot do anything right!"

I touched my stinging cheek. I looked at him. The man I thought loved me. The man who bought me flowers and promised me a happy family. It was all a lie.

"Where is the baby?" George demanded. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Where is he, Stephanie?"

I stared at him, confused. My heart started to beat very fast. "You... you do not have him?"

"What do you mean?" George yelled. He let go of my shoulders. "My men found you passed out in the hallway. You were bleeding. But there was no baby. We searched the whole hospital. We searched the woods. There is nothing. The doctors said you already gave birth. Where did you leave him?"

My breath caught in my throat.

No baby? We searched everywhere?

My mind raced back to the hallway. The tall stranger. I gave him my son. But I passed out before he could promise anything. Did he get scared and run away? Did he drop my baby? Was he even real, or did I imagine him because I lost so much blood?

If George did not have my baby, and the hospital did not have him...

My son was gone. He was so small and weak. He was out there somewhere, lost, or worse.

A raw, terrible pain ripped through my chest. It hurt more than the bleeding. It hurt more than the slap.

"No!" I screamed. I covered my face with my hands and let out a loud, painful sob. "My baby! My baby is gone!"

George stared at me. His face twisted with disgust. He did not comfort me. He did not care about my broken heart.

"You lost him?" George asked. "You left my child in the dirt to die?"

"I did not mean to!" I sobbed, shaking my head wildly. The grief was eating me alive. "I was running from your men! I was trying to save him!"

"You are a stupid woman," George said. He took a step back from the bed. He looked at me like I was trash. "I spent so much time taking care of you. I gave you everything. And you lose the only thing that mattered."

"Do not talk to me," George snapped. He turned around and walked toward the door. "You make me sick. Stay here and recover. I have to go fix this mess."

He opened the door and walked out.

The door clicked shut.

I was left alone in the quiet room. I cried until my throat was raw. I cried for my tiny, quiet son who never even got a name. I cried for the life I thought I was going to have.

But slowly, the tears stopped.

I lowered my hands and looked at the closed door. My cheek still hurt from his slap. My body was broken. My child was dead.

I placed my hand on my empty stomach. I took a deep breath. The crushing sadness inside me began to turn into something else. It turned into cold, hard anger.

George caused this. He used me. He let men kidnap me. He planned to steal my child. Because of him, I had to run. Because of him, my baby was gone.

I will never forgive him.