MY EX-HUSBAND DISCOVERED HIS UNBORN DAUGHTER WAS HIS—THEN THE DOCTOR HIT THE EMERGENCY BUTTON
PART 2: THE ULTRASOUND THAT REVEALED ADRIAN’S HIDDEN ENEMY
Dr. Sloan pressed the emergency button.
The cheerful beeping of the ultrasound machine suddenly seemed unbearably loud.
Adrian stood beside me, completely still.
“What is it?” I asked.
The doctor didn’t answer immediately.
She moved the scanner again, studying the monitor from several angles.
Then she looked at me.
“Your daughter appears to be doing well, but I want to run a few additional tests.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Dr. Sloan glanced at Adrian before returning her attention to me.
“There’s something unusual about the placenta.”
Adrian’s expression hardened instantly.
“Is my daughter in danger?”
“Not necessarily,” she replied. “But I don’t want to make assumptions.”
He stepped closer.
“What do you need?”
“A blood panel, additional imaging, and possibly monitoring for the next few hours.”
“I’ll arrange—”
“No,” I interrupted.
Adrian stopped.
I looked at him.
“You promised.”
His jaw tightened.
Then, surprisingly, he nodded.
“Right.”
Dr. Sloan looked between us.
“That’s probably the best decision.”
A nurse entered with additional equipment.
Adrian stepped aside.
For the first time since he’d walked into the clinic, he looked completely helpless.
And somehow, that frightened me more than his reputation ever had.
Because I knew Adrian Moretti.
He was a man who could make a phone call and have an entire problem disappear before breakfast.
But he couldn’t make this one disappear.
He had to wait.
Just like me.
For nearly forty minutes, Adrian remained beside the wall while the medical team examined me.
He didn’t interrupt.
He didn’t threaten anyone.
He didn’t even touch his phone.
He simply watched.
Finally, Dr. Sloan returned.
“I have good news.”
I exhaled.
“The baby is stable.”
Adrian closed his eyes for one second.
But the doctor wasn’t finished.
“There is one thing I need to discuss privately with you, Claire.”
Adrian immediately stepped backward.
“Of course.”
I looked at him.
“Stay.”
His eyes met mine.
“You’re sure?”
I nodded.
Dr. Sloan pulled a chair beside my bed.
“The abnormality isn’t with the baby,” she said quietly. “It’s with your blood work.”
“What does that mean?”
“You have elevated levels of a medication that you haven’t reported taking.”
My blood went cold.
“I don’t take medication.”
Dr. Sloan looked toward the chart.
“That’s what concerns me.”
Adrian’s expression changed.
“What medication?”
She named it.
I didn’t recognize the name.
But Adrian did.
His face went completely blank.
“Where is it used?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
Dr. Sloan did.
“It can be prescribed for certain neurological conditions, but it can also cause serious complications during pregnancy if taken without medical supervision.”
I stared at Adrian.
“You know it?”
His jaw clenched.
“Yes.”
“How?”
He looked away.
“Because someone tried to use it on me years ago.”
A strange silence filled the room.
“What are you talking about?”
Adrian finally looked at me.
“Someone wanted me dead.”
I swallowed.
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Dr. Sloan’s eyes narrowed.
“Mr. Moretti, are you suggesting your wife was deliberately exposed to this medication?”
Adrian’s gaze dropped to my stomach.
“I don’t know.”
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
His security chief was calling.
Adrian answered.
“What?”
A pause.
His expression changed.
“Say that again.”
He listened.
Then his eyes lifted toward me.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“Do not touch anything.”
He ended the call.
I stared at him.
“What happened?”
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
Then he walked toward the window and lowered his voice.
“My housekeeper found something in your old apartment.”
I frowned.
“I haven’t lived there in six months.”
“I know.”
“What did she find?”
He looked at me.
“Your medical records.”
My heart skipped.
“That’s impossible.”
“They were hidden behind a false panel.”
“Who had access?”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
I pushed myself upright.
“Adrian, what exactly did they find?”
He hesitated.
“A folder.”
“What was inside?”
“Copies of your prenatal records.”
My blood ran cold.
“And?”
“A list of every appointment you’ve had since you left me.”
I stared at him.
Someone had been tracking my pregnancy.
Adrian continued.
“Your clinic address was written on the last page.”
I felt suddenly exposed.
“They knew where I was.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Then the clinic lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The hallway outside became strangely quiet.
Adrian’s security chief appeared in the doorway.
His expression was grim.
“Boss.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“The cameras went offline.”
Adrian’s entire demeanor changed.
The gentle man who had watched his daughter on the ultrasound disappeared.
The Chicago everyone feared came back.
“How long?”
“Three minutes.”
“Any visitors?”
“One.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
The security chief looked at me.
“A woman.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“Description.”
“Late thirties. Dark hair. Black coat.”
My heart stopped.
I knew that description.
I had seen her once before.
Six months ago.
The day Adrian’s divorce papers arrived.
“Her name is Vanessa,” I whispered.
Adrian turned sharply.
“Who?”
“Your attorney’s assistant.”
His face went cold.
“She was supposed to be in New York.”
“She wasn’t.”
The security chief touched his earpiece.
“Boss…”
“What?”
“We just found her.”
“Where?”
A pause.
“Downstairs.”
Adrian looked at me.
Then at my stomach.
His expression became terrifyingly calm.
“Get everyone out.”
The security chief nodded.
“Everyone?”
“Everyone except the medical staff.”
He reached for my hand.
I instinctively pulled away.
“Adrian…”
“I know.”
His voice softened.
“I promised not to control you.”
He glanced toward the hallway.
“But I need you to trust me for the next five minutes.”
Before I could answer, the clinic doors slammed open.
A woman screamed.
Then came the sound of running footsteps.
Adrian moved instantly.
He stepped between me and the doorway.
His security team formed a wall around the examination room.
And then Vanessa appeared at the end of the hallway.
She wasn’t holding a weapon.
She wasn’t running.
She was smiling.
“Adrian,” she called.
He stared at her.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Vanessa’s smile widened.
“I think you should ask your wife why I came.”
My heart dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa looked directly at me.
“Because your husband isn’t the only person who knows the truth about your daughter.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
Vanessa laughed softly.
“You still think this is about you.”
She pulled a small envelope from her coat.
Then she tossed it onto the floor.
It slid across the polished tiles and stopped beside my hospital bed.
I looked down.
My name was written across the front.
CLAIRE MORETTI.
My hands began to shake.
Adrian bent down and picked it up.
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
He stared at it.
Then his entire face changed.
“What is that?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
I reached for it.
Adrian hesitated.
Then he handed me the photograph.
My breath disappeared.
It showed me eight months earlier.
Standing outside a doctor’s office.
Pregnant.
But that wasn’t what terrified me.
Standing beside me in the photograph was a man I had never seen before.
And written on the back were six words:
HE WAS THERE BEFORE ADRIAN KNEW.
I looked at Vanessa.
“Who is he?”
She smiled.
“That’s the question your husband should have answered six months ago.”
Adrian’s eyes hardened.
“Vanessa.”
She took one step backward.
“You divorced Claire because you believed someone inside your organization was using her to get to you.”
Adrian froze.
“You knew?”
“I knew everything.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“Because the person who ordered me to keep quiet…”
She looked directly at me.
“…was your own father.”
The room went silent.
Adrian stopped breathing.
“My father died nine years ago.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
She pulled out her phone.
“That’s what everyone was supposed to believe.”
Then she pressed play.
A man’s voice filled the hallway.
Old.
Deep.
Unmistakable.
“Keep Claire away from my son.”
Adrian’s face went white.
The voice continued.
“And if she becomes pregnant…”
A pause.
“Make sure the child never reaches adulthood.”
I covered my mouth.
Adrian stared at the phone as if it had just resurrected a ghost.
Then another sound came through the recording.
A woman’s voice.
Vanessa’s voice.
“Understood.”
The recording ended.
No one moved.
Then Adrian looked at me.
His eyes were filled with something I had never seen before.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For our daughter.
He dropped to his knees beside my bed.
His hand covered mine.
“I swear to you,” he whispered, “no one is taking our daughter.”
I stared at him through tears.
And for the first time since I had left him, I believed him.
But then Dr. Sloan looked at the photograph again.
Her face suddenly drained of color.
“Claire…”
“What?”
She pointed at the man standing beside me.
“I know him.”
Adrian looked up.
“Who is he?”
Dr. Sloan swallowed.
“He’s the specialist who signed off on your pregnancy records.”
I felt my heart stop.
“The specialist who treated me?”
She nodded.
Then she whispered:
“He died three years ago.”
TO BE CONTINUED
PART 3 TEASER: Claire thought Adrian’s family was the greatest threat to her unborn daughter. But the dead doctor on her medical records reveals that someone has been manipulating her pregnancy from the beginning—and the next file Adrian opens may prove that Claire was never supposed to survive long enough to give birth.
