He Took the Pain With Him When He Left Chapter 06

He Took the Pain With Him When He Left Chapter 06

By the time I got to the hospital, I was already in labor.

The doctor said it was placental abruption. The baby could suffocate at any moment. I needed an emergency C-section.

The nurse held out the consent form. “Is family here?”

I looked down the empty hallway and remembered that day three years ago, when Derek held my hand and said he’d be there for me no matter what.

Even those words had been spoken at a fake marriage registration office.

I took the pen. “No family. I’ll sign it myself.”

As the anesthesia took hold, I glanced at my phone one last time.

No message asking if I was okay. Just one line:

[Serena’s showing signs of a threatened miscarriage. You need to issue a public apology for what happened tonight.]

I turned off the screen and closed my eyes.

My baby weighed only two pounds, eight ounces. She was sent to the NICU before I could even see her.

I hemorrhaged badly. I was in surgery for three hours.

When I woke up, it was the next afternoon. My father sat by the bed. His usually immaculate hair was disheveled. His suit was wrinkled from an overnight flight.

—

When he saw my eyes open, he turned away and wiped his face.

“The baby’s stable for now. The doctor says the next seventy-two hours are critical.”

I stared at the ceiling. After a long time, I asked, “Did Derek come?”

He didn’t answer. That was enough.

My phone buzzed. A photo from Serena. Derek was sitting by her hospital bed, blowing on a bowl of soup.

More messages followed.

[Derek stayed with me all night. He said nothing mattered more than keeping the baby and me safe.]

[Vivian, you should take care of yourself too. Don’t keep hurting yourself just to get his attention.]

I stared at the screen for a few seconds. Then I blocked both of them.

Hart came in. He placed a recording device beside me.

“Ms. Vance, before you entered tonight, you told all your security to keep their bodycams on. Everything that was said is saved. Including Derek admitting to forging the marriage certificate. And Serena admitting they tricked you with a fake ceremony and used your trust for a bet.”

I closed my eyes. It was the only good news I’d heard all night.

Hart continued: “The fidelity agreement is void. But when the Hawthorne Group took Vance Group’s funding, Derek signed a personal guarantee. He promised he was legally married to you and

—

put his personal shares as collateral. Since it’s proven he defrauded Vance Group from the start, we can pursue contract fraud. Recover every cent. Liquidate the pledged shares immediately.”

I opened my eyes.

Derek had spent all that effort making the fidelity agreement worthless. But he forgot one thing. The Vances had never been easy to push around. Neither had I.

I pushed the recording back to Hart.

“Hand the evidence over to the police. Notify all board members. Emergency shareholder meeting tomorrow morning.”

He nodded. I stopped him.

“Release the complete mall surveillance footage as well. Since they like making bets, this time I’ll see it through to the very end.”

—

Hart paused at the door. “Ms. Vance, are you sure? This will put you at the center of a media storm. Your name, your reputation—”

“My reputation is already in shambles. They made sure of that. The only way out is through. Release it.”

He nodded and left.

I lay back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling. My body was wrecked. My baby was fighting for her life in a glass box down the hall. The man I’d loved for three years had chosen another woman, not once but every single time.

But I wasn’t broken.

I was angry.

And anger, I’d learned, was a much better fuel than grief.

My phone buzzed again. A different number. I almost didn’t answer, but something made me pick up.

“Ms. Vance.” A woman’s voice, calm and measured. “My name is Elena Crawford. I’m a journalist. I’ve been following your case for weeks. I think I have some information you might find useful.”

I sat up straighter. “What kind of information?”

“About Serena’s baby. And about the night Derek signed that personal guarantee. There are witnesses who saw them together before the paperwork was finalized. Witnesses who are willing to speak.”

I gripped the phone tighter. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I’ve seen what they did to you. And I’ve seen what he did to others before you. Derek Hawthorne has a pattern. And I think it’s time someone exposed it.”

I took a deep breath. “Send me everything you have.”

“I will. But Ms. Vance—be careful. This isn’t just about your ex-fiancé anymore. This goes higher than you think.”

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone in my hand, the weight of her words settling into my bones.

It was no longer just about revenge.

It was about survival.