eclipsing even the freezing cold that had seeped into her bones. She was no longer in the water. She was on a rough
nd salt spray. Her best friend. The one person she had always trusted. "I've bee
cracked whisper. But then another wa
Summer Hayes went into premature labor. The triplets she had been carrying-the babies she had dreamed of holding in a
e tiny, fragile babies
uish tint, and his breaths were shallow, ragged gasps. Chloe, her hands shaking,
ps. She had chosen the names months ago, in the quiet
d and furious. They were small-barely four pounds each-but their lungs work
Leo was
seized Summer. She looked at her two healthy children, then at Leo, his tiny c
l resources in the country. The Astor Medical Center had a world-renowned pediatric cardiology unit. She would sen
ld be found, anonymously. The Astors would not be able to ignore a dying infa
gued fiercely against it. "Summer, you
nd times in her fevered mind. Julian's cold words. But also the guard's moving lips. Scarlett's smile. "I don't know what re
f her broken vows. She tucked it into the folds of Leo's threadbare blanket. It was p
reer-was summoned. Leo was swaddled in the cleanest blanket they had, a
then turned back to Summer. "I've arranged transport. We'r
ef. Each mile that would separate her from Leo was a fresh wound. "Summer Hayes died in t
truly ordered her death, or if Scarlett had orchestrated it alo
Astor stormed into his grandson's study at the Astor mansion. The
nch. "That girl is carrying your children. My great-grandchildren. Triplets, Julian. She was carrying triplets, and you didn't
that his memories of the hours after waking from the coma might be fragmented. He remembered the hospital. He remembered the yacht. He remembered
iage he'd been pushed into, angry at the accident that had stolen three
ulian said, his voice carefully measured. "A
n near the window, her eyes wide with feigned concern. "Everyone knew
ot even looking at her. "
head and glided from the room. Julian watched h
mistake was letting her family get their hooks into ours. Don't repeat it." He fixed Julian with
an sat alone in t
assinet at the massive front gate. A security guard brou
side was an infant-tiny, impossibly fragile, with a bluish tinge to his lips. For a
t a ring. Her ring. The one he had placed on Summer's finger on their wedding day, in a ceremon
t his lungs
cked number. A man's gravelly voice
haging after a difficult birth. She didn't make it. Her dying wish was for t
g in his palm, didn't question it. Summer was dead. Their other children-triplets, his grandfather had said, and h
ho was stirring weakly, his b
rked at his assistant. "And contact the pe
d. He didn't know what to believe. Bu
ched Caleb and Olivia to her chest. Each mile that separated her fro
hat woman had died in the Atlantic. A new person wa
back. She would learn the truth about what happened on that yacht. She would take back her son. And if Ju
d orchestrated this... then the re
d prepare. And she would keep her re
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