The Comments Said My Baby Was Worth A Billion-Dollar Empire Chapter 09

The Comments Said My Baby Was Worth A Billion-Dollar Empire Chapter 09

A sharp chemical smell burned my nose. I thrashed. My phone hit the floor.

The last thing I heard before everything went black was Victor shouting my name through the speaker.

I came to in a room I didn’t know.

Ocean outside the window. Soft restraints around my wrists.

I looked down. Still pregnant. The relief almost made me dizzy.

The door opened. My parents walked in. Mom’s eyes were so puffy they were nearly swollen shut.

“Chloe, don’t panic. We’re at a private clinic just outside the city.”

My head rang. “You kidnapped me?”

Dad’s jaw clenched. “You’re done with the Vance family. That’s final.”

I struggled against the restraints. “Let me go!”

Mom was crying, her arms around me. “Once this is taken care of, we go home.”

“Taken care of?” I stared at her. My throat closed.

“This is my baby.”

Dad’s face hardened. “Victor’s gotten into your head.”

I laughed. I laughed until the tears came.

“You used to say you’d give me the world if I asked for it.”

“All I want is this baby.”

“And you can’t even let me have that.”

Mom looked like she’d been struck.

A doctor walked in with a nurse. The syringe on the tray made my blood run cold.

The comments appeared, one at a time.

[This is the turning point in the original plot.]

[Chloe loses the baby here and has a complete breakdown. Victor goes full villain arc after this.]

[HOLD ON. Victor’s already tracked her down.]

I kept my eyes on the syringe. When the nurse reached for me, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into her wrist.

She screamed. I kicked the tray off its stand.

The syringe skittered across the floor. Bodyguards poured in.

The room erupted into chaos. I threw myself off the bed, grabbed a shard from the broken glass, and pressed it to my throat.

Everyone froze. Mom screamed.

“Chloe!”

My hand was trembling, and the glass dug into my skin. Blood ran down my neck.

“Touch me and I’ll do it. Right here.”

Dad’s face twisted in horror. “Chloe, you’ve lost your mind!”

Tears streamed down my face. “You did this.”

Something slammed against the outside door, once, twice, then it splintered.

The bodyguards spun around.

The door to the room flew off its hinges. Victor filled the doorway, dressed in black, eyes rimmed red, looking like he’d burn the building down if he had to.

Behind him: lawyers, medics, and local police. The glass slipped from my fingers.

“Victor.”

He crossed the room in a few long strides and pulled me against him. He held me so tight I could feel his heartbeat slamming against mine.

“I’m late.”

I clung to him, shaking so hard I couldn’t stand. “They were going to take the baby from me.”

Victor raised his head and looked at my parents. The look on his face could’ve stopped a heart.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sterling. I’m filing charges for kidnapping and false imprisonment.”

Mom’s knees buckled. Dad stepped forward, voice shaking with rage.

“I’m her father!”

Victor lifted me into his arms, his voice raw.

“And she’s been my wife since the moment she put on that ring.”

I blinked up at him. “We haven’t even made it to the courthouse yet.”

Victor looked down at me. “The ring came first. That’s what counts.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or fall apart.

He carried me out. Lily was standing at the end of the corridor.

Hospital gown, bandage on her forehead, and that same faint smile.

“It doesn’t matter how fast you are, Victor. You can’t outrun the ending.”

Tires shrieked from the street below.