Without meaning to, my hand moved toward my stomach.
Victor did not notice.
That was his greatest mistake.
Because inside me were four lives worth more than every dollar he owned.
Four tiny heartbeats.
Four babies who would one day have Ethan Harrison’s eyes, his smile, and his features.
I signed the papers and accepted the check.
Not because Victor had won.
But because I had already chosen a path he could never understand.
I was not disappearing.
I was protecting my children.
That night, alone in a quiet hotel room outside Seattle, I held my ultrasound photo and cried.
Quadruplets.
All healthy.
Part of me wanted to call Ethan.
But after weeks of his silence, after seeing no sign that he was ready to fight for us, I chose the only people who truly needed me.
My children.
For the next five years, I raised them alone.
It was exhausting.
Messy.
Frightening.
And beautiful all at once.
Every birthday reminded me that the Harrison family had made their choice.
And I had made mine.
Then the invitation arrived.
Ethan Harrison was getting married.
I nearly threw it away.
But some truths are not meant to stay hidden forever.