Eleanor Morgan found out about her husband’s mistress because that woman hit her with a car.

The gauze under Eleanor’s nose was already soaked through by the time the nurse changed it for the second time.

“Hold still,” the nurse said gently. “You’re still bleeding.”

Eleanor’s cheek throbbed where she had hit the steering wheel, and a sharp ache shot through her ankle every time she moved.

Across the emergency treatment area, another woman sat with one hand over her stomach.

Sophia Hart.

That was the name she had given the nurse.

Twenty minutes ago, Sophia had run a red light in her white Rolls-Royce and hit Eleanor’s car.

Now she was arguing with the hospital staff as if she were the victim.

“I told you, I need a proper checkup,” Sophia snapped. “I’m pregnant. If anything happens to my baby, can your hospital take responsibility?”

The nurse kept her voice even. “Miss Hart, the doctor will examine you soon. Please try to stay calm.”

“Calm?” Sophia pointed at Eleanor. “She caused the accident, and you want me to stay calm?”

Eleanor lowered the gauze.

“I caused it? You ran a red light.”

“If you’d moved faster, I wouldn’t have hit you.”

Sophia looked her over, taking in the plain blouse, old cardigan, and blood drying along her collar.

“You’re pretty bold for someone who has no idea who she offended.”

Eleanor didn’t answer.

Her head hurt too much for this.

Sophia leaned back, one hand still resting protectively over her stomach.

“My boyfriend will be here soon. When he gets here, we’ll see if you can still talk to me like that.”

A powerful boyfriend. A luxury car. A temper that treated traffic laws like suggestions.

Great.

Eleanor grabbed her phone.

She had called her husband after the crash, but Alexander hadn’t answered. A few minutes after she texted him that she was at the hospital, an automatic message appeared on the screen.

**In a meeting. I’ll contact you as soon as it ends.**

He would come.

After three years of marriage, Eleanor had never doubted that if something serious happened to her, Alexander Reid would leave all work behind once he saw her message.

A few minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Eleanor looked toward the door.

Alexander stepped inside.

He was still wearing the suit he had left home in that morning. His hair was slightly disheveled, his expression tense.

Relief loosened something in Eleanor’s chest.

He came.

She started to sit up.

But Alexander wasn’t looking at her.

He crossed the treatment area quickly, his eyes fixed on Sophia.

Eleanor stopped.

“Sophia.”

Alexander reached her and looked down at her stomach.

“Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”

A low ringing filled Eleanor’s ears.

Sophia was answering him, but the words blurred together. Eleanor couldn’t tell what was true and what was a lie.

She only understood one thing.

Alexander hadn’t come for her.

“I was scared.” Sophia caught his sleeve. “My stomach hurt earlier. It was all her fault.”

She pointed at Eleanor.

Alexander followed the line of Sophia’s finger.

For a second, Alexander looked stunned. He clearly hadn’t expected the two women to be in the same room.

Sophia still had his sleeve in her hand. “Babe, you have to say something. She kept blaming me in front of everyone.”

Alexander looked down at Sophia’s hand, then back at Eleanor.

“Sophia,” he said, “apologize.”

Sophia froze. “What?”

“I said apologize.”

“Why would I apologize to some woman who...”

“She’s my wife.”

Sophia went still.

The indignation vanished from her face, replaced by sudden panic.

“Your...” She looked Eleanor over again, as if she couldn’t believe the plainly dressed woman in front of her was Mrs. Reid. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...”

“You meant every word five seconds ago,” Eleanor said. “You’re only sorry now because of who I turned out to be.”

Sophia had nothing for that. She looked at Alexander instead, like he’d fix it.

Eleanor looked at him too.

The ringing in her ears had faded. Now she wanted to hear what he would say.

“How long?”

“Eleanor, this isn’t...”

“How long, Alexander?”

He dragged a hand down his face. “It’s not what you think.”

“Then tell me what it is.”

Silence.

Sophia’s hand had found her stomach again. Alexander’s eyes flicked toward it before returning to Eleanor.

“It happened once,” he said finally. “Months ago. I was drunk, it wasn’t... I didn’t plan for any of this to happen.”

“You didn’t plan to sleep with her, or you didn’t plan for her to get pregnant?”

“Either. Both.” His jaw tightened. “It’s done, Eleanor. It happened. I can’t undo it.”

Eleanor looked at him.

“Are you sure the baby is yours?”

His brows drew together. “What kind of question is that? I’m the only man she’s been with. Of course the baby is mine.”

Eleanor’s fingers tightened around the edge of the exam table.

For a second, she couldn’t seem to draw a full breath.

Three years of marriage, and this was how she found out there had been someone else.

“Just now, you told me it was a one-time mistake. Now you’re so sure you’re the only man she’s been with.” Eleanor looked at him. “Alex, which part of what you’re telling me am I supposed to believe?”

Sophia found her voice again, softer now, careful.

“I never wanted this to happen the way it did. I’m not trying to take your place. I don’t want to be Mrs. Reid. I just...” Her hand pressed harder against her stomach. “I want my baby to have a father. That’s all I ever wanted.”

“You don’t want the title,” Eleanor said. “You just want everything that comes with it.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say.”

“Not as horrible as what you actually did.”

Alexander stepped between them, hands raised as if he were trying to calm things down.

“Eleanor, whatever you feel about me, you’re right to feel it, I mean that, but the baby didn’t do anything. Don’t put this on the baby.”

“I’m not blaming a baby, Alexander. I’m looking at the two adults who made it happen and lied to me for months.”

“I never lied to you...”

“You just didn’t tell me. That’s the same thing with better manners.”

His mouth opened, then closed.

“Look,” he said instead, lowering his voice. “I know this is a lot. I know I’ve hurt you. But she’s pregnant, Eleanor. Whatever’s between us, can we not do this right here, right now, in front of...”

“Ah.” Sophia’s breath hitched. Her hand flew to her stomach, fingers digging in. “Alexander, it hurts...”

He was already moving before she finished.

“Sophia. Sophia, look at me.” He caught her shoulders and searched her face. “Where does it hurt? Is it sharp or...”

“Low,” she gasped. “It’s really low, it scares me...”

“Someone!” Alexander’s voice cut across the treatment area, sharp with fear. “I need a doctor over here!”

A nurse hurried over.

Alexander helped Sophia off the exam table himself, one arm braced around her. He stayed close as they moved toward the exam rooms, Sophia leaning heavily against him.

At the doorway, he glanced back once.

“Eleanor, we’ll talk later. Just not right now, okay? I have to...”

He didn’t finish.

He turned and followed Sophia through the doors.

Eleanor stayed on the exam table, dried blood on her collar and fresh gauze taped beneath her nose.

Alexander didn’t come back for the next three hours.

From the moment he stepped into the emergency room to the moment he followed Sophia out, he hadn’t asked Eleanor a single thing about her injuries.

Eleanor swallowed, but the tightness in her throat didn’t go away.

She had been waiting for her husband to come when she arrived.

Now she knew exactly where she stood in her own marriage.

Quick footsteps broke the silence in the hallway.

Eleanor looked up.

It was Alexander’s mother.

Mrs. Reid walked into the treatment area.

Her gaze moved over Eleanor’s bruised face and wrapped ankle, and she frowned.

“Where’s my son?”