Chapter 2 - The Pregnancy Was Real
The ambulance ride lasted nineteen minutes.
It felt like an hour.
My wet dress clung to me beneath thermal blankets.
One paramedic monitored blood pressure.
Another asked about pregnancy.
“Seven weeks.”
“Confirmed intrauterine?”
“Yes.”
“Bleeding?”
“No.”
“Pain?”
“Cramping.”
“Did you strike abdomen?”
“I don’t know.”
The fall had been backward into water.
No concrete impact except shoulder clipping pool edge.
But at thirty-eight, after everything, every sensation felt catastrophic.
Ethan followed in Frank’s car.
Lydia attempted to come.
Frank stopped her.
I learned that later.
At the hospital, Dr. Patel met us.
He was not an emergency physician but had called ahead.
They performed ultrasound.
Bloodwork.
Observation.
I watched ceiling and tried not to count disasters before anyone confirmed one.
Then Dr. Patel came beside bed.
“The pregnancy is still viable.”
I closed eyes.
A sound escaped me.
Not quite sob.
“Heartbeat?”
“Yes.”
“Same?”
“Appropriate.”
“Is there damage?”
“There is a small subchorionic bleed. That can occur for many reasons. Given the fall and stress, we’ll monitor. Right now there is no evidence the pregnancy has been lost.”
I gripped sheet.
“Can I go home?”
“Not yet.”
Ethan stood near doorway.
Soaked sleeves rolled up.
He had changed? Maybe still damp.
He looked as frightened as I felt.
Dr. Patel turned to him.
“You are Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“The pregnancy is completely real.”
The words were directed toward him.
But Lydia was behind glass doors arguing with security.
She had arrived after all.
When Dr. Patel stepped into corridor, I heard her voice.
“Tell them she slipped.”
He stopped.
“What?”
Lydia lowered voice.
“This family does not need a scene. She was upset. She lost balance.”
Frank said:
“I watched you put both hands on her.”
Lydia stared at husband.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
Ethan stepped backward.
The movement was small.
But I saw.
He was physically moving away from his mother.
Dr. Patel’s expression became grave.
“I am a physician. I do not alter medical history for family reputation.”
Lydia looked at me through glass.
I lifted my phone.
Not because I had recorded the pool shove.
Several guests and cameras had that.
My screen held an email from forensic accountant James Wu.
SUBJECT:
URGENT: FOREIGN ACCOUNT LINKS CONFIRMED.
I had seen it in ambulance and not opened.
Now I did.
Attached were transfer summaries from company vendors into entities connected to Lydia.
My hands began shaking for a reason unrelated to pregnancy.
Lydia watched me.
She could not see details.
But something in my face changed.
Ethan entered room.
“Anna.”
I looked at him.
“Do you know what Seabrook Advisory Holdings is?”
His brow furrowed.
“What?”
“Or LBC Management?”
“No.”
“Or a Cayman account ending in 4419?”
His face emptied.
“What are you talking about?”
I turned phone.
The first page showed transfers.
Company vendor payments.
Consulting invoices.
Then foreign accounts.
Beneficial-control indicators linked to Lydia Bennett.
Frank came closer.
His mouth opened.
Lydia stopped arguing outside.
She had seen enough through doorway.
I looked directly at her.
May you like
“And while I was carrying your grandchild, I found every account you thought the divorce would bury.”
For the first time in fifteen years, Lydia Bennett looked afraid.
