The Brother Who Broke Her Fall
Chapter 02 - The Brother Who Broke Her Fall
Noah reached Emily a heartbeat before she struck the floor. He caught her around the waist, but the impact drove him to his knees and sent both of them crashing onto the marble. Pain shot through his shoulder. Emily cried out and clutched her stomach.
For one terrifying second, nobody moved.
Then Daniel raced down the staircase, shouting for an ambulance. Victoria remained above, pale and silent, still gripping the paternity report as if it could protect her from what she had caused.
At the hospital, doctors rushed Emily into emergency care. The baby’s heartbeat had slowed, and Emily was bleeding. Daniel waited outside the operating room with Noah, whose arm was now in a sling.
“You saved her,” Daniel whispered.
Noah stared at the floor. “I caught her. That doesn’t mean she’s safe.”
Three hours later, the surgeon came out. Emily had suffered a placental abruption, but both she and the baby had survived. She would need strict bed rest, constant monitoring, and as little stress as possible.
Daniel felt relief for only a moment. Then the doctor handed him the items collected from Emily’s dress. Among them was the torn test report.
Noah studied it carefully. “This clinic name is misspelled.”
Daniel frowned. “What?”
“The real clinic is Hawthorne Genetics. This says Hawthorn Genetic.” Noah had worked in corporate security and had learned never to trust a document simply because it looked official.
They called the clinic. No test had been performed under Emily’s name. No sample had been received. The report number did not exist.
Daniel’s relief turned to fury.
When Emily woke, he sat beside her and apologized. She listened without speaking, one hand resting protectively over her belly.
“I should have believed you,” he said. “I let one piece of paper matter more than everything we built.”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears, but her voice remained steady. “You didn’t just doubt me, Daniel. You doubted our child in front of everyone.”
He reached for her hand. She pulled it away.
Meanwhile, Noah went back to the mansion and reviewed security footage. The cameras showed Victoria meeting a man near the service entrance before the party. The man handed her the envelope in exchange for cash.
Noah froze the image and enlarged the stranger’s face.
He recognized him.
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The man was Lucas Grant, Emily’s former fiancé—the same man who had disappeared after stealing money from the hospital charity where Emily once worked.
And according to the footage, Victoria had not been his only contact inside the mansion.
