The first time, days before my due date, I stepped on a loose screw and tumbled down the stairs. That same night, Piers fired every servant in the house, his eyes red-rimmed with fury.
The second time, at eight months, a neighbor's dog went berserk and lunged at my belly. By the next morning, Piers had made that family vanish without a trace.
The third time, a car accident nearly destroyed my ability to ever conceive again. Piers brought in a top-tier legal team and put the driver behind bars for life.
Yet none of it eased the grief that consumed him.
Every time I got pregnant, he would set up the nursery with his own hands. Every time I miscarried, I could hear him behind that closed door, choking back sobs he thought I couldn't hear.
Now I was pregnant again.
At a red light, my phone buzzed.
I glanced down casually, and my pupils contracted.
BREAKING: Stephens Corp CEO Piers Stephens critically injured!
My hands shook as I tapped through to the article. "Stephens Corp CEO gravely wounded after heroic rescue. Condition critical."
Cold washed through my entire body. A low ringing filled my ears.
Memories flashed before my eyes: the way he'd cried before I did when I accepted his proposal. The way he'd held himself together to comfort me after each miscarriage, only to fall apart when he thought he was alone. The way he'd wanted to hold me when he learned I was pregnant again, but stopped himself, terrified he might hurt me...
Was our baby going to grow up without a father?
Was our dream of becoming a family of three going to die before it ever began?
"No... please, no..."
A blaring horn pierced the air behind me. The light had turned green.
I pulled the car to the curb and dialed his number over and over, frantic.
Ninety-nine calls. Not a single answer.
On the verge of collapse, I suddenly remembered I'd set up location sharing on his phone.
I pulled up his coordinates, and the pin dropped on the navigation's destination: Family of Three.
My heart sank like a stone.
Had he been hurt while setting up my surprise?
Then why hadn't he gone to a hospital?
I started the engine and floored the accelerator.
No matter what it cost, I would not let anything happen to him.
I'd barely pulled up outside the gated community when the hundredth call finally connected.
"Piers! I saw the news. How bad is it?"