Chapter 1 - The Echo of a Mistake
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Charlotte stared at the black-and-white monitor, the rhythmic pulsing of two tiny hearts echoing in the quiet examination room. The sound was both a miracle and a death sentence.
“Two,” she whispered, her voice trembling as she clutched the thin paper gown around her shivering shoulders.
“Fraternal twins, by the looks of it,” Dr. Reyes smiled, unaware of the catastrophic shift in the universe. “You’ll need to start taking prenatal vitamins immediately. And given your stress levels, I strongly suggest you involve the father. Twins are a handful.”
The father.
Damian Blackwood. The man whose dark eyes had made her feel like the only woman in the world. The man who had gently kissed her forehead while she slept, who had listened to her mundane stories about her third-grade students as if they were matters of national security.
She’s nothing but a mistake.
His cold, effortless words from the night before played on a brutal, endless loop in her mind. He hadn’t hesitated. He hadn’t defended her. He had offered her up to his father’s judgment, discarding their entire relationship to maintain his standing in a family built on blood and extortion.
Charlotte closed her eyes, fighting back a wave of intense nausea that had nothing to do with morning sickness. If the Blackwood family viewed her as a liability, what would they do to two illegitimate heirs? The mafia didn’t do shared custody. They did silencing. They did erasing.
“The father isn’t in the picture,” Charlotte said, her voice suddenly turning to steel. She sat up, wiping the gel from her stomach.
“Charlotte, it’s a big responsibility,” Dr. Reyes cautioned gently.
“I know. And I need to handle it alone.”
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She walked out of the clinic into the biting November wind. She pulled her coat tightly around her body, protecting the two tiny lives growing inside her. She couldn't go back to her apartment. She couldn't go back to her school. Damian knew everything about her routine.
If she wanted her babies to survive, Charlotte Bennett had to disappear. Completely.
