[Unknown number: Your car is waiting three blocks outside the pack. Everything's arranged as discussed.]
I deleted the message just as another notification appeared—a text from Alexander.
[I don't have time to track down a drowning victim. Don't make me file a missing persons report.]
[Bring her medical records to the healer tomorrow at 2 p.m. He needs to confirm if her condition is genetic. The baby can't have any defects.]
I stared at the message, my thumb hovering over the screen. Instead of replying, I removed the SIM card and dropped it into the diner's cold coffee cup, watching it sink like my former life.
'Alexander—our story ends today. The woman you broke no longer exists.'
The next morning, at healer Medical Center—
"Alexander, is something wrong with the baby?" Victoria clutched her barely-showing stomach.
Alexander immediately crossed the private waiting room, enveloping her in his arms as though she might shatter.
"Nothing's wrong, sweetheart. The ultrasound shows perfect development. The fall into the pool didn't cause any harm."
"Thank God," she whispered. "You've been checking your phone obsessively since we arrived. I was terrified you were hiding bad news from me."