Bleeding Out Alone, I Return His Ring

I pulled the photograph from his hands and tore it in half right in front of him. Then I placed the resignation letter on his desk.

"Mr. Holloway. Sign this."

Garrett's brow furrowed deeply. He instinctively reached for the torn pieces, but the moment he registered the words "resignation letter", his expression twisted into fury.

"Enough! Keira, what the hell do you want?"

I met his gaze calmly. "To make room for Sienna."

That shut him up for a second, and his face went white with anger. Then something clicked, and his voice dropped low.

"Did you go running to your mother? This is her idea, isn't it? She's never liked me, always finding some new way to make my life difficult. If she's got that much free time, maybe she should keep a better eye on her own husband and clear some space on the tabloid front pages instead of—"

The slap landed before he could finish.

My voice was ice. "Garrett Holloway, a man pathetic enough to get his mistress pregnant has no business talking about my family."

Garrett stared into my eyes, and something in them made him flinch. Before he could say a word, a scream came from outside.

A female employee burst through the door, panicked. "Mr. Holloway! Something happened! Sienna, she's bleeding, there's so much blood…"

He shoved past me before she had even finished speaking. The corner of the desk caught me right in the lower abdomen, and a wave of cold sweat broke over my entire body.

I slid to the floor. Blood was already spreading between my legs.

The employee who'd rushed in saw me and scrambled over. "Ms. Prescott? Are you okay? Someone call an ambulance!"

They got me into the ER fast enough that there wasn't any lasting damage.

Mom called while I was still at the hospital. She sounded furious.

"Garrett just called and told me to stay out of your relationship. What is that supposed to mean? He can't even keep his own company from falling apart, yet he's got the nerve to cheat? And then he has the audacity to come swinging at me about it? Where are you right now? Come home."

I told her where I was. There was a long silence on the other end before she let out a cold, bitter laugh.

"He put you back in the hospital again? Fine. Don't worry about it. I'll handle this. Time for Holloway Group to go under."

After the call ended, I sat in the hallway and waited quietly for the results.

Just then, Garrett came out of the room next door with Sienna leaning on his arm. The second she saw me, Sienna's eyes went red and fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

Garrett stared at me, his face dark. "You practically made Sienna lose this baby. Are you happy now?"

I didn't even look up. "Sienna's been scheming so hard to take my place. Funny how it never occurred to her to just ask me for it."

I smiled and added, "I would've given it to her."

"Keira!" Garrett roared, his expression murderous. "How long are you going to keep this up? I already told you, nobody is taking your place. What more do you want?"

I rested a hand over my flat stomach and looked at Garrett with a smile that didn't reach my eyes. "Garrett. Let's break up."

The angry words he was about to say died in his throat as something seemed to occur to him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled.

"Forget it. You're pregnant. I'm not going to argue with you. But I'm telling you one last time, stop saying things like that."

His eyes were cold when they settled on me. "You're carrying my child. If you leave me now, where are you going to go? Who's going to want you?"

I almost laughed. He sounded exactly like the impression Mom used to do when she was trying to talk me out of being with him, the voice a man got when he'd decided a woman couldn't leave. It was identical.

The door to the exam room opened and the doctor stepped out, chart in hand. "Keira Prescott? The scarring from your recent miscarriage hasn't fully healed yet. You'll need to be very careful to avoid any further trauma to the area."

"Understood. Thank you, doctor."

I took the chart. And in the next second, there was a sharp rustle as the medical forms Garrett had been holding for Sienna scattered across the floor.

"What did she just say? Who had a miscarriage?"