I looked away after a single second. "It was always yours. Do what you want with it."
He walked off without a backward glance.
I let my eyes fall shut. The last lash came down. The pain in my abdomen sharpened. Then Graham Whitaker's horrified voice cut through the haze.
"Sir! Ma'am! The young madam is bleeding!"
Sapphire's shock was instant. She scrambled to call the family doctor.
I stayed conscious through all of it—watching the doctor rush in and out—until he approached with a needle to preserve the pregnancy.
I blocked his hand.
Sapphire's brow furrowed with displeasure. "What are you doing? I didn't know you were pregnant. If you refuse the injection now, are you blaming me?"
I shook my head. "It's the baby or me. You can only have one."
"I'll carry this child for the Harris family. But I won't stay here any longer."
It took Sapphire only a heartbeat to understand.
Something unreadable flickered in her eyes.
"You don't love Russ anymore?"
Even the deepest love wears thin eventually.
I didn't answer directly.
"I will give birth to this child and sever all ties with it completely. The baby will belong to the Harris family alone. All I want is a divorce."
Sapphire agreed.