Her hand caressed her flat belly, pride dripping from her voice.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you—I'm pregnant. Just one try, and I conceived. You, after three miscarriages, couldn't give him an heir. Tristan says only I'm qualified to give birth to his child. Shouldn't you thank me for completing the task you could never accomplish?"
My hand flew before I realized it, striking her hard across the face.
"Indeed. I should thank you—for revealing his true colors."
She toppled, clutching her abdomen, and shrieked. "Tristan! Help! She wants to kill our baby!"
Tristan came running.
In front of everyone, he shoved me aside with one powerful motion.
I stumbled back, instinctively pressing my hands to my belly, and fell hard against my mother's memorial table. A hot candle wax seared my palm, but it was nothing compared to the blast of hurt in my chest.
He scooped Hillary into his arms as if to protect her, his eyes rimmed with a hard-edged disgust. "Don't forget your brother is still in the hospital. If anything happens to Hillary or the child, I can stop his treatment with a single word."
My mother was gone; I could not lose my brother either.