“Kaiden. This is the only way I can protect you and keep you alive,” I choke out, trying to wrest out of Charlie’s hand so I can go to him. But Charlie wraps his hand around my wrist in warning, and pain punches me from all sides. I would give anything to touch Kai one final time, but Charlie will deny me if I try anything, so I’ll just have to make do with my words.
I might pay for this later, but it’s not against the rules. “Please don’t ask me not to do this, Kai, because I’m doing it to save you.” A sob rips from my throat and tears sting my eyes. “I love you, Kaiden. You have my whole heart, now and always.”
He straightens his spine, biting down on his lip as pain wracks his body, pinning me with his one good eye. “I love you too, Abby. So much. And I’m not giving up.”
“How touching.” Sarcasm drips from my father’s words. “I knew I was right to have an insurance plan.”
Terror has a vise grip on my heart as I stare at Charlie.What else has he done?But he looks as confused as I am. “Don’t you want to know what it is?” he mocks.
Christian roars out laughing. “You’re a sick, evil bastard, Michael. It’s why I’ll follow you to the end of time.”
“Can we cut the amateur dramatics and be done with this?” I plead, because I’m close to my breaking point.
“You want kids, right, Abigail?” he asks, throwing me off course.
“Yes.” My tone is wary. “Why?”
“If you want kids, you’ll have to stay married to Charlie.”
I have no idea where he’s going with this.
“Why?” Drew asks, folding his arms as he slants a look at the bastard. “What did you do?”
“Abigail has long proven she’s one of those women who needs to be controlled because she’s not capable of making wise decisions for herself, so I discussed some options with the doctors at Parkhurst while she was a guest there and made an informed decision on her behalf.”
The look on his face is downright evil, and a shiver works its way through me as I piece things together.
How tired and emotional I’ve been.
The pulling sensation in my stomach, aching abdominal muscles, and bloody discharge that I attributed to the abortion.
“No!” Intense pain presses down on my chest, and I’m struggling to get enough air into my lungs. I bend over, almost crippled in pain.
“What did you do?” Charlie asks in a lethal tone.
“Relax, son. She can still give you an heir, but she won’t be able to carry any of your babies because the doctors performed a hysterectomy on her, and she no longer has a womb.”
The dam breaks, and tears pour down my cheeks.
“You twisted bastard,” Kai growls, finding a resurgence of energy from somewhere as he rises, thrashing about in the chair, attempting to snap the binds around his arms and legs.
Benjamin stalks toward him, punching him in the face, and I scream. Kai slumps in the chair, out cold, and while I hate to see him like this, it’s for the best. At least this way, he won’t have to watch as I’m forced into marrying another man.
“I had a right to know this,” Charlie says through gritted teeth.
“They had already performed the procedures before you and I began working together, but it’ll be fine. Thanks to the fertility treatment, the doctors removed fifteen healthy eggs. They are frozen and will be ready whenever you decide to have children. You can conceive via IVF with a surrogate, like we did.”
He grins at Drew and I, thinking this is the first time we’ve heard this.
“There are additional benefits. Your wife won’t get fat, and you can fuck your surrogate as often as you want because you’ll own her too.” He shrugs. “And if she opposes you, like Olivia’s bitch of a sister did me, you can have fun taking what you want for the hell of it.”
My tears have dried, and I’m just numb inside now.
This is the worst violation of all.
He has taken everything from me.
My mother.
