The rain pounded against the window of Victoria’s apartment. It was past midnight when the pounding moved to her door.
Victoria opened it to find William soaking wet, his tie undone, reeking of scotch. He looked like a man who had lost everything.
“William,” she whispered, clutching her robe tighter around her waist to hide her growing stomach. “Go home.”
“I have no home,” William slurred, pushing past her into the small living room. “I burned the company. I left Seraphina. I did it all for you, Victoria. And I saw you.”
He spun around, his eyes wild and bloodshot. “I saw you looking at him tonight. I saw you whispering in the studio. Is it true? Are you sleeping with him?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Victoria said, keeping her distance. “We are divorced in every way that counts.”
“It matters to me!” William roared, slamming his hand against the wall. He crumbled, sliding down the plaster until he hit the floor, burying his face in his hands. “I can’t breathe without you, Victoria. I tried to buy you back. I tried to fight for you. But if you love him… if you really love him…”
He looked up, tears mixing with the rain on his face. “Tell me. Tell me you love Dominic Valerius, and I will walk out that door. I will never bother you again. I will let you be happy.”
Victoria stared at him. Her heart was breaking. She didn’t love Dominic. She loved the broken man on her floor. But if she told him the truth–that there was no affair–he would stay. He would find out about the baby. He would drag her back into the toxic orbit of his family, and Seraphina, and the danger that surrounded them.
She had to save her child.
Victoria looked him in the eye. She clamped her mouth shut. She let the silence stretch, heavy and suffocating.
William watched her face. He waited for the denial. He waited for her to run to him. But she stood still, silent as a statue.
“I see,” William whispered, his voice dying.
He stood up slowly, swaying slightly. He looked at her one last time, his eyes dead. “Goodbye, Victoria.”
He walked out into the rain, leaving the door open. Victoria listened to his footsteps fade, then collapsed onto the sofa, sobbing into her hands as she felt the baby kick for the very first time.