I Can Hear My Unborn Baby’s Thoughts, and We’re Taking Down the Other Woman Together Chapter 07

I Can Hear My Unborn Baby’s Thoughts, and We’re Taking Down the Other Woman Together Chapter 07

Marla’s public meltdown at the clerk’s office became the hammer that finally shattered Sloane Whitmore’s fortress.

The police investigation moved fast. Later, when I gave my statement, the officer told me that faced with kidnapping charges, Marla’s bravado collapsed. Not only did she confess to everything—stealing Declan’s benefits, trying to sell me off—but she also gave up Sloane, detailing every payment and instruction.

Two days later, I sat with Declan in the main conference room of Global Rescue Operations HQ.

The air was freezing.

“Mr. Thompson, let me explain! Captain Hayes’s psychological defenses were totally shot. Changing his file and keeping Sage Bennett away from him? That was an extreme form of emotional containment therapy!”

Sloane stood at the end of the long table, her perfect makeup now a mess. She was still hiding behind her psychological jargon. “It was medically necessary! I was trying to save him!”

SLAM!

Thompson threw a thick stack of police reports and bank records in her face.

“Medically necessary? You call secretly transferring fifty thousand dollars to his stepmother for ‘hush money’ medically necessary?!”

Thompson was shaking with rage, pointing at the scattered evidence.

“You abused your authority to change internal records and list yourself as his fiancée. You misused hypnotic drugs to plant false memories that his wife cheated on him and aborted his baby.”

“You weren’t treating him. You were psychologically destroying one of our core operatives!”

I watched Sloane stare at the bank transfers on the floor. Her face went paper-white. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed into a chair, unable to say another word.

I squeezed Declan’s hand and stood up, looking down at the woman who almost destroyed us.

“Dr. Whitmore, you planned everything perfectly. But you never figured out that Marla isn’t even Declan’s real mother. She’s just a greedy, evil stepmother.” My voice was cold, each word a knife.

“You used her greed to hurt me, and in the end, her stupidity destroyed you. Karma’s a bitch. You believe that now?”

That afternoon, Declan showed me the official notice from group headquarters: Sloane Whitmore was terminated for severe ethical violations and criminal conduct.

The legal department handed her over to the authorities. Her psychology license was permanently revoked. She became the most despised figure in both the psych and rescue communities.

And Marla and her thugs were formally charged. They’d be behind

bars for a long time.

The storm that had been crushing me for five months finally broke.

…

One week later, I was invited to the rescue group’s “Family Day” and demonstration exercise at the Training & Demonstration Field.

I sat in the VIP seats, sunlight pouring over the huge helipad and obstacle course. Declan stood at the front of his team in a crisp black uniform, his back straight. He was still a little thin, but the sharp, lethal edge of a special ops captain was back.

After the demonstration, it was time for the quarterly family authorization renewal.

In front of hundreds of team members, officers, and families, I watched Declan walk to the front, take the Family Privilege & Emergency Authorization form from a staffer, and pause.

He didn’t sign it right away. Instead, he turned around—and under all those curious, stunned eyes—walked straight toward me in the family section.

He stopped in front of me.

Then, in front of everyone, his ice\`cold face cracked into something warm. Like spring.

He bent down and pressed the form into my hands.

The team started whooping. “Captain Hayes! Who’s this? Introduce

us!”

“Yeah, you’ve been hiding her!”

Declan straightened up and faced the crowd. His traumatic aphasia wasn’t fully healed—he couldn’t do long sentences. But he took a deep breath, gripped my hand with his big, rough one, and pointed at me with the other.

I watched his throat work hard. And then, using every bit of strength he had, he forced out five words, loud and clear.

“Sage Hayes. My wife!”

His voice was hoarse, but the pride and certainty in it were undeniable. Through the speakers, those five words rang across the entire training ground.

For a second, silence. Then thunderous applause and cheers.

Everyone who’d whispered about me because of Sloane’s lies now looked at me with nothing but respect.

[Whoa—Daddy is so freaking cool today!!]

My baby’s little voice bounced with excitement.

[Mom, look! His ears are bright red! He’s probably setting off fireworks in his head!]

I listened to my son’s running commentary, felt the heat of Declan’s palm, and the last wall inside me crumbled. My eyes stung, but I held back the tears.

The applause faded.

Declan didn’t drop to his knees and beg for my forgiveness in front of everyone. He knew my pride. And he knew that five months of suffering couldn’t be erased by a simple “sorry.”

He let go of my hand, pulled out his phone, and typed something with intense focus.

Then he turned the screen toward me.

No long confessions. Just one line. Controlled. Humble. Begging. [I lost you once. Let me win you back. Can I?]

I looked into his bloodshot eyes—hopeful and terrified like a giant puppy—bit my lip, and swallowed the ache in my nose.

I didn’t nod. I didn’t take the phone.

I just lifted my chin, brushed a speck of dust off his shoulder, and let the corner of my mouth curve up. My voice was quiet, but loud enough for him.

“Nice try. I have high standards now.”

I paused, watching his face fall for just a second. Then I added, slow, “Show me what you’ve got, Captain Hayes.”

Declan froze for one beat.

Then joy hit him like a tidal wave. That man, who never flinched in rubble or fire, grinned like a silly kid who’d just been given candy.

Silent. Brilliant.