When was the last time she’d eaten? Yesterday morning? She couldn’t remember.
The anxiety about coming here had stolen her appetite completely.
The soup was delicious—some kind of vegetable broth with soft noodles. She ate slowly, mechanically, and tried not to think about Carter’s expression when she’d told him about the pregnancy.
That flash of joy she’d seen before the shutters came down.
She hadn’t imagined that. She was sure she hadn’t.
He’d been happy. For maybe three seconds.
Then the doubt had crept in.
What had happened to him to make him so mistrustful?
In his study, Carter listened to Marcus’s report with mounting fury that had nowhere to go but inward.
“Security footage shows she arrived at 8:42 a.m., sir,” Marcus said. “She approached the front desk at 8:45. Ms. Chen spoke with her for approximately ninety seconds before escorting her out. The subject then positioned herself across the street and remained there for the next nine hours and sixteen minutes.”
“Nine hours,” Carter repeated, voice dangerously quiet. “She stood outside my building for nine hours without food, without water. Pregnant.”
“It appears so, sir.”
“And Margaret Chen turned her away.”
“According to the footage, yes. Ms. Chen appeared to be… dismissive.”
“Dismissive.” Carter replayed the footage on his laptop, watching Natalie approach the desk with her shoulders squared despite obvious nervousness. Watching Margaret’s face transform into something cold and cruel. Watching Natalie’s expression crumble.
Watching her stand outside his building for hours in the summer heat, swaying on her feet, pressing her hand against the wall for support.
All because she wanted to tell him he was going to be a father.
The guilt was a living thing, clawing at his insides.
She’d told him the truth about trying to reach him. About being turned away. About waiting all day.
But that didn’t mean she was telling the truth about everything else.
