Chapter 1 - The Neonatal Ward
The cold tile floor sent a sharp shiver up Claire’s bare legs as she pushed her heavy IV pole down the sterile hallway.
Every single step sent a blinding flare of agony through her fresh surgical incision.
She did not care about the physical pain tearing through her exhausted body.
She only cared about the two tiny, fragile lives she had protected for eight lonely months.
The fluorescent lights hummed loudly overhead as she finally reached the heavy glass doors of the neonatal intensive care unit.
She pushed through the doors, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of the rows of clear plastic incubators.
In the very back corner of the large room, two incubators were surrounded by state-of-the-art medical monitors.
Claire stumbled forward, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs.
She looked down through the clear plastic and saw her beautiful, perfect babies sleeping peacefully amidst a tangle of wires.
Tears of profound relief finally spilled over her eyelashes and tracked down her pale cheeks.
She reached out a trembling hand, pressing her palm flat against the warm plastic barrier.
Then, the heavy sound of expensive leather shoes echoing on the floor made her freeze completely.
She turned her head slowly, fully expecting to see Adrian standing behind her.
Instead, a tall, elegantly dressed older woman stepped out from the shadows of the medical supply closet.
It was Victoria Vale, Adrian’s incredibly powerful and notoriously ruthless mother.
Claire instinctively moved her body to block the incubators, a fierce maternal protectiveness surging through her veins.
Victoria did not even look at the fragile infants sleeping just a few feet away.
She kept her icy, gray-green eyes locked directly onto Claire’s exhausted face.
Victoria reached into her designer handbag and pulled out a thick stack of legal documents printed on heavy cardstock.
She held the papers up to the harsh fluorescent light, a cruel and victorious smile playing on her lips.
Victoria tapped her manicured fingernail against the bottom of the front page.
Claire recognized her own messy signature scrawled across the dotted line in blue ink.
She had signed dozens of consent forms in a drug-induced haze while being prepped for emergency surgery an hour ago.
She realized with a sickening jolt of horror what Victoria was actually holding.
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Victoria calmly placed the papers on the counter and looked back at Claire.
She announced that Claire had just legally surrendered all parental rights and full custody of the twins to the Vale family.
