Chapter 1 - The Chime Before Birth
The contraction hit before Ethan finished adjusting his gold cufflinks. I slid from the edge of the bed, my gown darkening as my water broke across the polished floor of Vance Maternity Center. "Our daughter's heart rate is dropping," I said. Dr. Keene reached for the emergency button, but Ethan blocked her hand. Down the hall, the brass birth chime sounded four soft notes for a woman who had not delivered yet. Serena Vale, his college first love, waited in the VIP suite beneath a wall of sponsor flowers. Ethan looked at the monitor, then at the cameras gathering outside her room. "Move anesthesia and NICU to OR-3," he ordered. "Serena comes first." Caleb, the youngest nurse on shift, stared at him as if he had spoken another language. Then he quietly rolled my crash cart closer, not away. Ethan noticed. "That's not a suggestion," he said. Caleb obeyed, but his face showed something stranger than fear: relief. At the doorway, Serena watched from a wheelchair and mouthed one word: "No."
