Chapter 5

I didn't go back to Lily's. I went straight to work — to my company, Bloom Early Learning.

I'd built it from nothing two years ago. Every part of it was mine.

My assistant, Sophie, nearly jumped when I walked through the lobby.

"Ms. Smith — you look really pale. Do you want to sit down for a bit?"

"I'm fine." I walked past her and into my office. I locked the prenatal consent form in my desk drawer, took a slow breath, and steadied myself.

"Call all the department heads. Meeting in ten minutes. And the co-branded curriculum project with Cole Group — shut it down. Effective immediately."

Sophie's jaw dropped.

"Ms. Smith, Cole Group has already put significant marketing resources behind that launch. If we pull out now, we'll owe them a substantial termination fee."

"I'll cover it personally. Pull everything — any promotional material with the Cole Group logo, I want it gone."

She didn't push further. She hurried out.

At three in the afternoon, Ethan kicked open my office door.

He didn't knock. His tie was half-undone, his expression wild.

"Have you completely lost it?! Who gave you the right to unilaterally cancel the project? Do you have any idea what this does to Cole Group?"

I didn't look up from the document in front of me.

"Mr. Cole. Watch your tone. This is my office. I don't owe you an explanation for my business decisions."

He crossed the room in a few strides and slammed both palms down on my desk, looming over me.

"What is this really about? Because I had Joanna stay over, you're going to tank a business deal? Since when do you mix personal feelings with professional responsibilities?"

I set down my pen. I looked up at him.

"Mixing personal and professional?" I almost smiled. I reached into the desk drawer, took out the VIP prenatal consent form, and threw it at his face.

"Tell me something, Ethan. When you signed 'fiancé' on that form — were you thinking about professional boundaries then?"

The paper caught the edge of his cheek and drifted to the floor.

He looked down at it. The color drained out of his face. The anger in his eyes cracked, and underneath it was something raw and cornered.

"How did you — where did you get this?"

"Surprised?" I stood up and faced him across the desk, my voice like something frozen solid. "Three months ago, I was in the OR in this same hospital, losing a pregnancy due to an accident. You didn't even show up because of your IPO. While I was in there alone, you were one building over, registering Joanna for a VIP delivery suite. Ethan. Your time management is really something."

His throat moved. When he spoke, his voice wasn't steady.

"Mia, listen to me. That day — Joanna had a cramp, I was scared something was wrong, I drove her in. The signature was just to get through the paperwork faster. It didn't mean anything — "

"It didn't mean anything." I cut him off. "Then explain this to me. You didn't come to the hospital during my miscarriage because of the IPO. But somehow Joanna's pregnancy doesn't affect the IPO at all?"

He opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

The office door opened.

Joanna walked in, wearing a designer maternity outfit, one hand pressed to her lower back.

She looked down at the form on the floor. Her eyes shifted — just for a second. Then she rearranged her face into something soft and devastated.

"Mia, please don't be angry at Ethan. This is all on me. I was the one who asked him to come. And the fiancé thing — I begged him to write that because I was embarrassed about being unmarried and pregnant..."

She drifted toward Ethan and caught his sleeve. Tears were already running down her face.

"Ethan, please don't fight with Mia because of me. If my being here causes this much pain for everyone, I'd rather just take my baby and disappear..."

Ethan closed his hand around her arm, his face tightening with alarm. "Don't you dare say that."

I watched them. I felt sick.

I took out my phone. I pulled up a screenshot, zoomed in, and turned the screen toward them.

"Joanna. Since you're so reasonable and understanding — explain this. Three months ago, someone sent me this from an anonymous number."

The screen showed a text message:

[Don't blame Ethan for being cold, Ms. Smith. It's not that he doesn't like kids. He just doesn't want to be tied down to you through one.]

[My baby is different. He actually cares. He stayed up all night arranging the best doctors for me.]

The moment Joanna saw it, she went white. Her whole body flinched.

"That — that's not from me. I don't know anything about that."

I let out a short, cold laugh.

"Really. Should I contact the carrier and pull the registration on that number?"

Joanna's lips were shaking. She couldn't get a single word out.

Ethan looked at the screenshot, then looked at Joanna. For the first time, something uncertain moved through his eyes.

"Joanna. Did you actually send this?"

"No — Ethan, I swear, it wasn't me, please believe me — " She was shaking her head over and over, face a mess of tears.

I was already done watching.

I pressed the intercom on my desk.

"Security. Please come up and escort two visitors out of my office. If they refuse to leave, call the police."

Ethan stared at me. The look on his face was complicated in a way I didn't have the energy to decode.

"Mia. Are you really going to take it this far?"

"You're the one who took it this far, Ethan." I pointed to the door. "Take your fiancée and get out of my building. After today, the only place I want to see you is in a courtroom."