Cruel Read online

  “Irene,” a man called from the doorway. Elyse turned and balked as Robert Preston entered the room.

  “What the hell is he doing here?” Elyse moaned, shaking her head. Irene looked at her in surprise.

  “He’s my fiancé,” she reminded Elyse as if the younger woman could have forgotten. Elyse’s head began to swim and she reached for the paperwork again. Irene held it up as the doctor and nurse watched with exasperation.

  “They don’t have time for this, Mom,” Elyse hissed. “They’re busy saving lives.”

  “Not my grandbaby’s, apparently.”

  Ire sparked through Elyse as she realized that her mother was again endangering her life. Somehow, the only thing she cares about now is the baby. I could just die for all she cares.

  She’s endangering both our lives.

  “Now, Irene,” Rap murmured. “Maybe you should let Elyse decide what to do. She’s a grown woman.”

  “She’s a stupid girl who got knocked up in college,” Irene retorted. “I won’t have her make decisions for my grandchild.”

  Fire sparked through Elyse and with an extended effort, she reached up and snatched the papers back from her mother.

  “I understand your concern,” she purred, malice in her tone as she scrawled her signature over the forms without bothering to read them. She knew it was only a matter of seconds before Irene tried to intervene again. “After all, this won’t just be your grandchild but your step-grandchild too.”

  Her mother stared at her, not an ounce of comprehension on her face.

  “What does that mean?” she demanded, looking at her fiancé in confusion. Robert was equally perplexed.

  “It means that Marcus is the baby’s father,” she shot back before she could stop herself. Elyse nodded at the nurse who hurried forward to collect the forms.

  “What?” Robert choked.

  “You’re lying!” Irene spat simultaneously.

  “You should clear the room as we prep Elyse for surgery,” the nurse announced crisply, steering the couple toward the door, despite their protests. The momentary smugness faded as they left her alone in the room, a deep sense of despair overcoming her instead.

  “Are you ready, Elyse?” Dr. Chandra asked, giving her a compassionate smile.

  “No,” she confessed. “But I won’t be any more ready than I am now.”

  He patted her arm comfortingly and nodded understandingly.

  “Know you’re in good hands. Just relax now, dear. When you wake up, your heart will be fixed.”

  But my baby might be gone.

  Chapter 16

  Shrill tones intermingled with strong, male voices roused her from the depth of her drug-induced slumber.

  No, not yet, Elyse thought, grasping at the wisps of her dream as they faded away and out of reach.

  “Ellie? Ellie, are you awake?” Irene cried, forcing Elyse to pry her lids open. Concern riddled her mother’s face and as the haze of the anesthesia wore away, she saw two other forms behind her.

  “The baby?” she whispered. “How’s the baby?”

  Relief flooded Irene’s face and she managed a weak smile, nodding as she leaned in to kiss her daughter’s forehead.

  “Everything went well. Your heart is fixed. The baby is fine.”

  “Oh!” Tears filled Elyse’s eyes and she moved her eyes around the room, a gasp of shock escaping as her eyes rested on Marcus’ distraught face.

  He rushed forward, almost pushing Irene out of the way to stare down at her face.

  “You complete jackass,” he growled. “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”

  Helplessly, Elyse tried to hold back a weak laugh.

  Well, wasn’t that just typical Marcus.

  She glanced wearily around the room, the drug-induced sleep slow to clear from her mind.

  “I called him,” Robert explained. “He was just as shocked as we were.”

  Elyse raised her eyes back toward Marcus, his hand gently stroking the stray strands of hair away from her face.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her throat dry. “I-I was going to tell you after the surgery. I didn’t want to give you more bad news.”

  “Elyse,” he groaned, sinking onto the side of the bed to grasp her hands. “I mean why didn’t you tell me about your heart condition?”

  “We should give them some privacy, Irene,” Robert suggested. Irene seemed ready to protest but allowed herself to be led out of the private room.

  “It’s embarrassing,” she breathed. He gawked at her.

  “It’s not your fault,” he cried. “Why would you hide that for so long?”

  It was a valid question but the answer was ingrained in the way her mother had raised her.

  “Don’t show them your weaknesses, Ellie. They’ll only take advantage of them.”

  “I looked up the sildenafil again,” Marcus admitted sheepishly. “I get it now.”

  With a shaky breath, she met his eyes.

  “You know about the baby?” she breathed. He nodded, his face turning grave.

  “I wish you would have told me yourself and I didn’t have to find out from Rap.”

  She nodded, again swallowing the cotton in her mouth.

  “I wasn’t sure if there was going to be anything to tell,” she confessed weakly. “The outcome wasn’t guaranteed.”

  “And yet here we are,” Marcus told her, his hand cupping her face warmly. “Again, the fates throwing us together. I’m starting to think that maybe, someone up there wants us to be together and won’t stop until we are.”

  Elyse bit on her lower lip and studied his face.

  “Do you think we can make this work? All three of us?”

  His eyes brightened, his hands trailing down along her body to rest against her still-flat stomach.

  “We’ll make it work,” he promised. “I have a feeling if we don’t, we’re going to upset the gods.”

  Elyse managed a smile, her heart swelling with the promise he was delivering. She had no illusions about what lay ahead for them. They would have a mountain to overcome but if they’d made it this far, maybe they could go the distance.

  “So,” Marcus asked, leaning in closer to whisper in her ear. “How long until we can get it on? Seeing you in that hospital gown is triggering some kind of nurse fantasy in me.”

  Elyse sputtered and laughed simultaneously, triggering a cough that caused her to gasp with pain.

  “Why don’t we start with you getting me a glass of water, nurse,” she complained to him when she found her breath. He jumped up from the bedside to fulfill her request and after she had taken a sip, she pulled him toward her.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, brushing her lips against his. He returned her kiss easily, his eyes widening in surprise.

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For answering your dad’s call and being here.”

  He gave her a half-smile and nodded.

  “You’re going to have to get used to that the same way I am,” he replied softly.

  “What’s that?”

  “Not going at it alone anymore.”

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  “…little piggy stayed home. And this little piggy went to the market—” Irene sang, counting Bailey’s little toes as she giggled.

  “You know what ‘went to the market’ means, don’t you?” Marcus interjected dryly, turning to stare at his mother-in-law with amusement. “The pig went off to slaughter.”

  Irene gaped balefully at him and scowled at her daughter who snickered from where her head was bent over her school texts.

  “He’s not wrong,” Elyse agreed. “Nursery rhymes are morbid.”

  “Don’t you have studying to do?” Irene demanded, narrowing her eyes at Marcus.

  “Actually,” Marcus replied lightly, dropping a kiss on Elyse’s cheek. “I’m going to see my mom.”

  The women tensed and looked at him in unison.

  “Is that a good idea,
babe?” Elyse asked softly. “What did the doctors say about visitors?”

  Marcus nodded, sensing the worry in his wife’s tone.

  “I’m allowed to go now,” he replied. “They’ve worked on integrating her personalities over the last six months and her psychoanalyst thinks that it’s important to introduce familiar surroundings to her now, just to see if she regresses.”

  “That doesn’t sound promising,” Elyse mumbled and Marcus laughed.

  “I’d be apt to agree with you if this wasn’t the best psychiatric hospital in California,” Marcus replied, grabbing a dishtowel to wipe his hands from where he stood at the kitchen sink.

  “It better be,” Robert added, striding into the room. “For what they’re charging me for her care…”

  Marcus eyed his father contemptuously. To his credit, Robert had the good sense to look contrite.

  “I’m just saying, I’m sure their treatment is above par.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Elyse said, jumping to her feet.

  “No!” The word echoed from all three mouths and she looked at them sheepishly.

  “You’re already a year behind,” Irene reminded her daughter. “You can go next time, preferably not near midterms.”

  She eyed Marcus meaningfully and he nodded.

  “I’ll be back to study too,” he promised. “But I want to see how she’s doing.”

  His eyes fell on Elyse and she gave him a loving smile, the expression warming him fully. It had been a long haul over the last year and there had been times when he wasn’t sure he was going to make it.

  It hadn’t been Elyse’s pregnancy that had him worried but the rapid deterioration of his mother who had sunk into a psychotic pit. If it hadn’t been for Elyse who had taken a stand against her mother and Robert, Marcus had no idea where Lucy would be at that moment.

  Certainly not in an all-expense paid facility getting the care she desperately needed.

  It was still difficult to believe that his father had come through for Lucy. But in spite of his reservations about their connection, Marcus had to admit that Irene brought out a softer side of his dad.

  “I’ll pay for your mother’s care but there are conditions attached,” Robert had told him after Elyse had confronted him and Irene about it.

  “Of course, there are,” Marcus growled back.

  “The conditions are that you and Elyse need to move in with us until the baby is born and finish your schooling.”

  Marcus hadn’t been expecting that and as he accepted the offer in disbelief, he thought about all the other times he’d misjudged a situation by rushing to conclusions.

  I spent my whole life thinking that Elyse was a snob. It never occurred to me that she was suffering too. Now she’s my wife…and my stepsister. Ew.

  He tried not to put too much thought in the latter idea. After all, they had eloped before Irene and Robert had their destination wedding in Costa Rica.

  “Tell Lucy that Hedy Lamar says hello,” Elyse called out as he turned to kiss his infant daughter. He paused to give her a quick wink.

  “She’ll love that,” he replied, grabbing his keys off the kitchen table and making his way to the front door.

  As he stood in the foyer, he strained to hear the conversation he had left behind in the kitchen.

  “…a good idea for him to go,” Irene was saying. “Are you sure about this, Rap?”

  “He misses his mother, Irene,” his father replied. “And I’m certainly not the one to tell him not to go.”

  There was a slight pause.

  “You must be joking if you’re looking at me!” Elyse snapped. “Emotionally unstable or not, Lucy was the only constant in his life until recently. I would never tell him not to visit her.”

  “You’re right,” Irene interjected quickly. “Let him go.”

  A bemused grin fell on his face and Marcus quietly let himself out of the house.

  Now I have many constants, he thought, relishing the familiar feeling of happiness that he’d come to accept as part of his daily routine. A wife, a baby and a real family.

  And he knew he had no one but Elyse to thank for it all.

  If I’m a bully, then she’s definitely a pitbull-y.

  And I’m so damn lucky to have her.

  The REVENGE Series by Chloe Fischer

  THREE BILLIONAIRE FRIENDS TURNED REBELS…

  Luke, he’s exactly where he wants to be - until Meredith storms into his life and f**ks it all up.

  Revenge Forsaken

  Sold by my own father!

  My dad is a scum-of-the-earth con man who happens to owe a whole boatload of money to rich, tattoo TV personality Remy Anders.

  Yeah, I get that Remy is scary, and an ex-soldier, and a monster of a man, but how could my dad use me for collateral?

  I mean, really??

  No one is giving me the details of this little arrangement they’ve made - and there doesn’t seem to be any rules.

  If my dear old dad wasn’t holding my mother as blackmail to make me go with Remy, I would have told both of them where they could stick their deal.

  Because, sure Remy is drop-dead gorgeous, but he’s also very big and very intimidating.

  And when my father takes off without fulfilling his side of the bargain, will Remy forget that I’m the innocent part in all of this?

  Or will he take out his revenge on me?

  Revenge Revealed

  Rachel is the sister of my greatest enemy…

  …so that makes her my enemy too.

  She wasn’t innocent in the tragedy that killed my sister.

  So she’s step one in my plan to destroy the whole Vaughan family.

  But ruining her was harder than I thought it would be -

  She’s got those eyes…and that witty humor…and a body that starts with her radiant smile and ends with every damn, perfect part of her.

  But I did it. Broke her, and walked away.

  Now I just have to forget her…even though it’s damn near killing me.

  Then her brother storms into my office…with a secret that shatters my world…

  Goddammit! It wasn’t supposed to happen like that…

  Do you enjoy Enemies-To-Lovers stories? Check out Chloe Fischer’s 5-star rated book “Blackmail”!

  (Now available for only 99c or free on Kindle Unlimited.)

  BLACKMAIL

  By Chloe Fischer

  Diren is rich, gorgeous, charming…and a total A$$.

  Ayla is stunning, innocent, loyal…and she’s being used.

  No one believed there was a woman out there who would be able to break through Diren’s jaded walls. Until Ayla proved everyone wrong and did the unimaginable.

  But then Diren discovers that Ayla is hiding a big secret, that she’s just like everyone else who tries to use him, then betray him.

  Now those walls are stronger than ever, and Diren vows to make Ayla pay.

  He refuses to see it, but Ayla had no choice, and her secret is forcing her to choose…between the rock…or the hard place.

  Can she get Diren to see that…before he destroys her, and himself too?

  To connect with me, you can sign up for my Readers Club. In the club I notify readers of upcoming new releases, post contests and giveaways, and sometimes I vent a wee bit - everyone needs an outlet, right? Lol

  Readers Club Link

  I’d love to hear your feedback, thoughts, and advice.

  Thank you for reading!

  ***I’m always looking for excellent character names, so keep them coming! (Thanks to all my readers who have named their own heroes in my books.)

 

 

 
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