CHAPTER 1: THE SECOND HEARTBEAT

The silence in the ultrasound room felt endless.

I lay frozen on the examination table while the technician stared at the screen.

The doctor entered moments later.

His expression immediately worried me.

"Ethan," I whispered.

My husband squeezed my hand.

"What's wrong?"

The doctor took a slow breath.

Then he pointed at the monitor.

"Your wife is pregnant."

Relief flooded through Ethan's face.

Then the doctor continued.

"With twins."

The room went completely still.

Twins.

Two tiny heartbeats flickered on the screen.

Two lives.

Two babies.

Tears instantly filled my eyes.

For a moment, despite the pain, despite the blood, despite what Linda had done, all I could think about was those tiny flashes of light.

My babies.

But the doctor's expression remained serious.

"There is another issue."

Fear returned immediately.

"What is it?" Ethan asked.

The doctor enlarged the image.

A dark area appeared near one of the sacs.

"The trauma caused significant bleeding."

I felt sick.

"Are they alive?"

"Right now, yes."

Right now.

The two most terrifying words I had ever heard.

The next twenty-four hours became a blur of tests, medications, and waiting.

Police officers arrived.

Nurses asked questions.

Family members called endlessly.

Linda's attack had already spread across social media because several guests had recorded portions of the birthday party.

The footage was horrifying.

One moment I was smiling.

The next I was collapsing onto the floor.

Public opinion turned against Linda almost instantly.

But none of that mattered to me.

All I cared about was whether my babies would survive.

Late that evening, Ethan sat beside my bed.

His face looked older somehow.

More tired.

More broken.

"I should have stopped her years ago."

I looked at him.

He wasn't talking about the attack.

He was talking about his mother.

Years of insults.

Years of manipulation.

Years of cruelty disguised as concern.

He had always defended her.

Always excused her.

Until now.

Tears filled his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

I squeezed his hand.

Neither of us noticed the police detective standing quietly outside the room.

He wasn't there because of a family argument.

He was there because the district attorney had already reviewed the evidence.

And what Linda had done wasn't considered an accident.

It was aggravated assault on a pregnant woman.

The consequences