Chapter 218

“Tara, I know exactly what’s going on. Reese marrying Sebastian was all part of your family’s scheme, wasn’t it?”
Tara’s face drained of color. She never expected Zach to throw it all out in the open like this.
“I—I didn’t know. It was my parents who set everything up. I swear, I didn’t know anything,” she stammered.
“You didn’t know?” Zach grabbed her chin, his grip so tight she cried out in pain. “You’re saying you didn’t know Sebastian was drugged? And what about the two million Reese gave you to pass to me? You didn’t know about that either?”
Tara’s eyes went wide with shock. She hadn’t thought Zach would find out about that.
Her lips quivered. “I-I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you. I just wanted so badly to be with you.
“Zach, maybe you don’t realize, but I’ve loved you since I was a teenager. Back then, you were with Reese, and all I could do was watch you from a distance.
“When Reese gave me that money, she was already married to Sebastian. I thought there was no way for you two anymore. That’s why I did what I did.
“I know I shouldn’t have donw that, Zach. But you can’t just forget everything we’ve been through, everything we felt for each other
“Enough.”
If she’d kept her mouth shut, maybe he could have let it go. But hearing her say all this just made Zach feel like a fool for all those years.
He let go of her. Tara staggered back, bumping into the front desk and holding her chin.
Zach stared at her, cold and unfeeling. “Whatever your family has done for me all these years, I’ll pay it back twice over. And there was the hurt you caused Reese. I’m not letting that slide as well.”
“No, Zach! Please, don’t do anything to my family!”
Tara panicked and grabbed his arm. “I’m begging you. Please, for the baby’s sake. Just don’t go after my family!”
Zach frowned, glancing at her belly, something unreadable flashing
through his eyes He pulled his arm
free the baby is
But that
doesn’t mean your family gets to do
whatever they want.”
A thousand thoughts raced through Tara’s mind. Finally, she bit her lip and let herself fall to the floor.
“Ah! My stomach… it hurts
She clutched her belly, sweat popping up on her forehead, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Zach… the baby… please, save our baby
No matter what, this child was still his. Zach’s eyes narrowed. He knelt beside her, heart twisting at the pain on her face.
He hesitated, then scooped Tara into his arms and rushed for the door. “Hang in there. I’ll get you to the hospital.” ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ.net
Curled up in Zach’s arms, Tara squeezed her fist tight, secretly triumphant.
She knew she’d gambled right. As long as she had this baby, Zach would never really harden his heart against her.
She couldn’t lose this child, no matter what.
The hallway outside the ICU was so quiet it felt like the whole world had stopped. The only thing in the air was the biting smell of antiseptic.
Sebastian sat on a bench, staring through the glass at the frail man lying in the hospital bed.
The man used to be so full of life, so powerful. Now he was hooked up to tubes, his cheeks sunken, his cheekbones jutting out. His hair, which sed to be neatly combed, was plastered messily to his scalp.
Every shallow breath looked like it took all the strength he had left. The lines on the heart monitor moved so
slow and weakly, it seemed like
any’s
second now they flatten out and never move again.
Sebastian’s fingers shook. His heart was clenched so tight it hurt to breathe.
He’d lost his father young. This man had raised him, not just as a guardian but as
the one person who kept his whole world together.