After work, I had a follow-up appointment at the hospital. The doctor looked over my chart with a serious expression.
“The fetus is developing normally, but you’re not in great shape,” she said. “You’re stressed. You’re not eating well. This isn’t good for the baby.”
“I’ll be more careful,” I promised.
“And about your decision. You need to make it soon,” she said, looking at me. “If you’re going to terminate, it should be within the next two weeks. After that, the risks increase significantly.”
“I understand,” I said.
Leaving the hospital, I called Leo.
“The doctor gave me two weeks to decide.”
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Honestly, I want to keep him, but I’m afraid I can’t give him a good life.”
“A life is something we can build together,” he said. “Chloe, I’m not kidding. If you’re willing, we can raise this child together, even though he’s not mine.”
“Legally, he is,” he added. “And that’s enough.”
That night, Leo took me to a movie, a lighthearted comedy. We sat in the dark theater with a large popcorn between us like a normal couple on a date. Halfway through the movie, he gently took my hand. I didn’t pull away. Afterward, we walked along the river. The evening breeze was cool and refreshing.
“Chloe,” he said.
“Yeah?”
“If we really did this, what kind of life would you want?”
I thought about it.
“Quiet. Stable. Full of mutual respect and trust. No lies. No betrayals.”
“That’s not asking for much,” he said.
“But it’s hard to find,” I said with a sad smile.
“We could try,” he said again.
This time, I looked him in the eyes.
“Leo, are you sure? This isn’t out of pity or because of the promise you made to your mom. You really want to be with me?”
He was quiet for a moment.
“At first, yes. It was pity, and it was for my mom,” he admitted. “But not anymore.”
He stopped walking and faced me.
“Chloe, I admire your strength, your intelligence. I admire that you’ve seen the worst in people, but still managed to be kind.”
His gaze was intense.
“I want to be with you. Not as a compromise. Not as a convenience. For real.”
The wind blew my hair across my face. The city lights glittered on the river’s surface.
“Okay,” I heard myself say. “Let’s try.”
He smiled. A real, genuine, happy smile. And in that moment, I thought maybe this ridiculous marriage wasn’t a mistake. Maybe it was a beginning. A terrible, messy beginning, but one that could lead to something good.
But life has a way of kicking you when you think things are finally looking up. Three nights later, Leo got a phone call. The color drained from his face.
“I’ll be right there.”
He hung up and grabbed his jacket.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Trouble at the company,” he said, his face grim. “Someone reported me for tax fraud. The IRS is there right now going through my books.”
“How is that possible?”
I stood up.
“I don’t know.”
He rushed out the door.
“Go to sleep. I’ll handle this.”
He didn’t come back. At midnight, I called him. No answer. A feeling of dread crept over me. At one, the doorbell rang. I ran to open it. Two police officers stood on my doorstep.
“Ma’am, are you Chloe Miller?” one of them asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s about your husband, Leo Sterling. He’s been taken into custody for questioning regarding an ongoing investigation into wire fraud and tax evasion.”
He handed me a notice.
“This is the official documentation. Please sign here.”
I took the paper, my hands shaking.
“Where is he?”
“At the federal building downtown,” the other officer said. “No visitations are allowed at this time. Please wait for further notice.”
They left. I closed the door and slid down to the floor, my back against it. The paper fluttered from my hand. In black and white, it detailed the allegations. Leo’s company was suspected of creating fraudulent transactions to obtain bank loans. The amount was substantial. If convicted, he could face more than ten years in prison. I looked around the empty apartment. Just hours ago, I’d felt a glimmer of hope. Now I was back in the abyss. My phone rang. An unknown number. I answered. On the other end was Alex’s manic laughter.
“Chloe, I told you you’d regret this. You think you won? I’m telling you, this is just the beginning.”
“This was you,” I whispered.
“I’m the one who tipped them off,” he crowed. “If I’m going down, you’re not getting your happy ending either.”
“What did Leo ever do to you?” I felt a surge of rage.
“Nothing,” he said, his voice turning venomous. “But he helped you, and for that he has to pay.”
The line went dead. I clutched the phone, a bone-deep chill spreading through me. Alex’s revenge had come so swiftly, so viciously. What now? Leo was arrested. His company was being investigated. And I was four months pregnant, had just got my job back, and was facing a massive project. And now I had to figure out how to save him. My phone rang again. It was Maya.
“Chloe, it’s bad,” she said, her voice frantic. “I just heard from a source. The case against Leo’s company is serious. There’s a discrepancy of several million dollars.”
“How?”
“The rumor is that he embezzled company funds to pay for his mother’s medical treatments, then cooked the books to cover it up.”
Maya’s words were like a hammer blow to my chest.
“The evidence is apparently solid. It’s going to be very hard to fight.”
I leaned against the door and closed my eyes. Leo, how much more were you hiding from me? Our try hadn’t even started, and was it already over? The phone slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor. Maya’s voice was a faint buzz from the earpiece.
“Chloe, are you still there?”
I bent down and picked it up, my fingers numb.
“I’m here,” I said, my voice so hoarse it didn’t sound like my own.
“What are we going to do?” Maya asked.
“I don’t know,” I whispered, looking at the empty living room where Leo had cooked dinner just a few hours ago. Now he was in a holding cell facing federal charges.
I forced myself to take a deep breath, clutching my belly.
“I can’t fall apart. Not now.”
“I’m here,” I repeated, my voice raw.
“Okay, don’t panic,” Maya said, her own voice steadying. “My dad knows a few people in the legal world. I’ll have him ask around.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. “I’ll call you back.”
I sat on the cold floor, leaning against the sofa. A tight, painful knot formed in my stomach. I took slow, deep breaths. Stay calm. Panicking won’t help. At three in the morning, Maya called back.
“I have some info,” she said. “It’s complicated. Leo’s company does have some serious tax irregularities, but the evidence for fraud isn’t a slam dunk.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he probably did move money around, but it might not meet the legal definition of fraud,” Maya explained. “The key is to find out where the money went.”
“His mother’s treatment. It was incredibly expensive,” I said.
“Exactly. That’s our angle,” Maya said. “If we can prove the money was used for medical bills, it could mitigate the charges.”
“How do we prove it?”
