Fairview Hospital, Cleveland

Although she had been jumpy and nervous the hours before and hadn't thought about sleeping at all, exhaustion and fatigue caught up with her and she fell asleep. When she woke up again, the sun shone through the window, and she realized that she was no longer alone in her room. "Daniel..." she whispered, only audible for her ears. He sat in an armchair next to the bed, or better, lay rather in it, his eyes closed and breathing evenly. Obviously he had fallen asleep, while he had been waiting for her to wake up, which was probably hours ago. When he was here, he apparently knew about everything, it crossed her mind. Charlotte had probably told him about the note. But she couldn't be angry with her sister. She obviously had assumed that she had suffered a miscarriage, which she had thought herself as well. And after Charlotte had already experienced such a sad fate, it was only understandable that she wanted to share the sorrows and worries with someone. But as much as she was happy that he was by her side now, she was also afraid of his reaction. The last days and hours had taken a toll on him, she could see as she looked more closely at him. Under his closed eyes, she could clearly see dark circles, and he was unshaven and uncombed. Rather untypical for him, because when he was in the public he was always styled and proper dressed. But the last hours had turned his whole life upside down. No wonder he didn't have the sense of pretentious appearance. She didn't know if she had been the trigger, but suddenly he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Hi!" She said shyly, slightly smiling. She had also expected a greeting, but he was frozen in place, just gazing at her. Slowly she straightened up and wanted to grab his hand as he shrank back as if he was afraid to burn himself. She leaned back and took a deep breath to give herself the courage to start the conversation. "Charlotte probably told you what I wrote in my note?" She began reluctantly, noting that her voice was slightly trembling. "You... you should know that I'm not..." He interrupted her before she could finish the sentence.

"Yes, I know," he said coolly, making a dismissive hand movement. "I've talked to your doctor. She informed me about everything."

Emily's eyes widened. She didn't expect that. What was that again with medical confidentiality? But perhaps it didn't pertain for spouses. "She told you... everything?"

Daniel nodded. "Everything. Including the smallest detail. Unlike you, she felt that the husband and father of the baby should also be informed about everything."

It felt like a punch to the stomach! Emily felt her cheeks flushing. She could hear the sarcasm in his tone and knew he had a right to be mad at her. Since she was in the hospital, her bad conscience had piped up more than once. "I... I didn't want to keep it a secret from you," she said hesitantly." Actually, I wanted to tell you immediately after I returned from Paris."

"Why didn't you do it?"

"I was about to tell you, but then... everything came quite differently," she sighed. "Meeting you again was so... so..." She searched for the right expression, but he interrupted her.

"A shock? Do you want to say that?" He waited for her answer.

"Yes, that too," she admitted. "But that wasn't all. I was just so happy at that moment that I didn't want to think about what you had done before."

"What I had done?" He repeated questioningly, then remembered with shame. "Oh, you mean the beach house or the empty threats regarding divorce or custody trial?"

Emily shook her head and bit her lower lip. She hadn't planned to tell him that she knew about his affair with Sara. But since he already wanted honesty, she should give it to him. "I'm talking about you and Sara," she said quietly, then lowered her head. But if she had expected him to show remorse, she got disappointed.

"Sara?" He echoed. "I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, come on Daniel! I read the article and saw the pictures that were made on the occasion of your birthday," she told him. "There are even gossip magazines in France. What do you think how I felt when my roommate showed me the article?" She didn't give him a chance to speak but continued quickly. "I felt so humiliated! My own husband cheated on me with his ex-slut!"

"That's just terrific!" He laughed sarcastically and jumped up. "Now I'm suddenly your husband again. May I remind you that you left me and not vice versa? And on the subject of sincerity... You withheld the truth of your pregnancy for weeks until it was almost too late!"

"And you slept with me, even though you had been in bed with your slut shortly before!" she snapped at him.

"Sara is not a slut!" He retorted.

"I see that a bit differently. The only thing that differentiates her from a whore is that she doesn't take any money for her services from you!" She glared at him furiously.

With one step he was next to her and took hold of her arms. "Stop it, Emily!" he demanded, looking straight into her eyes. "I didn't sleep with Sara, even though you probably don't believe me!"

"You're right, I don't believe you!" She defied his gaze.

Abruptly, he let go of her. His anger had suddenly turned into resignation. "Yes, that's exactly the problem," he said in a low voice. "We don't trust each other." He stepped back from the bed. "But without trust, a relationship can't work. We've lied to each other for a long time, so we don't believe when the other one is telling the truth." He cast her a sad glance. "I swear I ended the liaison with Sara before it could even start again."

"Why?" The question had slipped out before she could stop it. She had seen the pictures, the amorous looks that they had exchanged. At least Sara still had feelings for him. It was obvious. And yet she believed him at that moment that he told her the truth.

"Because..." He stepped closer again and then sat down beside her on the edge of the bed. "Because I had to admit to myself that I can't live without you!" He confessed to her reluctantly while reaching for her hands. "The separation made me realize how much I love and need you! And when I saw you again, I was overwhelmed with emotion that I couldn't hold back any longer. I swear to you, Emily, I would never have slept with you if I had had sex with another woman before!"

She hadn't noticed the tears at first, only when Daniel gently wiped them away with his finger, she noticed that she was crying. "I love you, too!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked deeply into his eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier about the baby!"

"It's okay." He lifted her chin up and kissed her tenderly. When he released her, his gaze fell to her stomach. "May I?" When she nodded, he pushed the blanket aside and placed his hand carefully on her barely visible baby bump. "I've already lost my parents," he said in a husky voice. "I couldn't bear if I had lost my baby, too."

"Our baby," she corrected him, smiling, and then made room for him to lie down beside her.

When a nurse entered the patient's room a short time later, she found the two of them asleep, lying side by side, tightly embracing each other.

Fairview Hospital, Cleveland

Two days later

Emily was relieved when the doctor told her that the bed rest had been ended and she could be released. She had tried to reach Daniel to tell him the good news, but she had just caught the mailbox from his cell phone. She had no choice but to leave him a short message. But the one who was entering her room now was not Daniel but Charlotte. And Emily immediately noticed that something had happened. Charlotte's eyes were red and swollen as if she'd been crying for hours.

"Daniel asked me to pick you up," she said in a low, shaky voice. "He couldn't come because..." She broke off and began to sob helplessly.

Emily quickly walked up to her and took her into her arms. "It's about your parents?" she asked hesitantly.

Charlotte nodded. "They... they've found the jet with... with my dad... or what's left of him..." She broke off again because her voice faltered.

Emily stroked her back helplessly. "Shhh, everything will be fine," she muttered, though she knew it was just a hollow promise. What could be more terrible than losing one's parents in such a tragic way!

Charlotte disentangled herself off Emily's arms while tears were still running down her cheeks. "Daniel is in the... morgue," she said in a trembling voice. "They asked him to identify Dad's body."

"Oh no!" Emily's stomach twitched. The thought that he had to do this alone was almost too much for her. She should be with him now!

"He... he didn't want me to come along. He said that I should keep Dad... as I remembered him... " Her voice faltered again, then leaned helplessly against Emily's shoulder. "Now... now they're looking for Mom," she continued, as she had cleared her throat. "She was not in the smashed jet..."

Emily pushed her gently away and looked at her with wide eyes. "Do you know what that means, Charlotte?" She asked excitedly. "If she wasn't in the jet, she might be able to save herself."

Charlotte shook her head. "The jet was completely destroyed. No one could've gotten out alive."

"But if she wasn't in the jet, where can she be?" She looked at her sister, frowning.

"I don't know." Charlotte wiped the tears from her eyes. "But they're still looking for her."

Emily went to the door. "Before you take me to the hotel... can you bring me to the morgue?"

"I don't know if this is such a good idea," Charlotte said after a brief hesitation. "You're just coming out of the hospital and you need rest and no stress again. Daniel will never forgive me if something happens to you or the baby."

"The doctor said everything is fine now," Emily said, "I can even fly again. And it's my decision, not yours. Besides, I'd like to be with him. This is what you always vow before the wedding altar, for better or for worse. I just want to be there for him. Do you understand that?"

"Fine," Charlotte gave in, sighing. "But if it's becoming more than you can cope with, you need to tell me immediately!"

Emily nodded. "I promise." She took Charlotte's arm, and together they left the hospital room.

Grayson Manor, Hamptons

A few days earlier

"How long does it take?" Conrad paced in Victoria's bedroom nervously back and forth while he was looking at his watch. "Victoria!" He shouted again.

She came out of her dressing room and smoothed down her dress. "Why the hurry? I thought the event wouldn't begin until afternoon."

He nodded. "That's true, but they have announced bad weather. And I'm not so fond of flying in storm and rain."

Victoria stepped onto her turret and looked frowning in the distance. "The sun is shining. It doesn't look like a storm at all. I don't think it will rain."

"I rather trust the weather report than your intuition." He rolled his eyes.

"That wouldn't be the first time," she murmured, pulling at her hair. "Speaking of flying... Did you know Emily is coming back today?"

"Yes, Daniel told me." He looked down at the beach house and smiled. "I'm so glad that our son has finally realized what big mistake he made by letting Emily go."

She raised her head and looked at him indignantly. "Are you serious? Well, I see that quite differently. He makes a big mistake by forgiving her. But you're all the same." She rolled her eyes. "You only think with the heart, not with the mind."

"True," he said thoughtfully. "Otherwise I wouldn't have married you back then."

"A mistake we can very quickly rectify," she said coolly.

"What do you mean?" He frowned confused.

She took a deep breath before she told him what she had been thinking about for a long time. "This charity event in Chicago will be the last I'll visit with you, Conrad," she said firmly. "I've thought about it for a long time and I've come to the result that it's best to go separate ways."

For a moment he was too stunned to respond, but then he began to sneer cynically. "You've threatened me so many times with divorce that it's getting ridiculous, and yet you've always come back to me ruefully."

"Not this time." She shook her head emphatically. "You overstepped the mark when you tried to rape me!" She thrust out.

"For what I apologized more than once." He gave her a meaningful look. "We are like the match and the striking surface. We belong together, Victoria!"

She raised her eyebrows amused. "And I've asked myself for years, from whom Daniel has this interest in poetry. I had no idea that a thing like that was slumbering inside of you."

"I mean it." He took a step towards her and reached out for her, but she backed away from him. "I didn't want to hurt you then," he said softly. "I was jealous of David. I wanted to get what you had refused to give me."

She closed her eyes for a moment. The retrospection of that day, when he had tried to rape her, still made her tremble inwardly. "This is no excuse, Conrad! Our marriage had long been broken. David had nothing to do with it."

"I wanted to show you that you belong to me," he clarified.

She shook her head. "I'm not your possession and never was." She turned away from him and went back to her room. "Now let's go to the hangar. I want to get this over and done with. And after that..." She looked him straight in the eye. "After that I'm going to file for divorce!"

He hadn't responded, but simply followed her silently. But when they were on the road in the car, she doubted whether she was doing the right thing. They would appear as a married couple at this charity event, which they hadn't been for a long time. And since she was going to leave him anyway, it made no sense to accompany him at all. They had almost reached the hangar where the company jet was placed as she laid her hand on the steering wheel. "Stop the car, Conrad," she said in a steady voice.

He looked at her bewildered. "How so? We're almost there. "

"I'm not going with you." She waited until he steered the car to the side edge of the street.

"Stop your silly behavior, Victoria! We have already given notice that we both would attend, and they are expecting that we appear as a couple." He twisted his mouth annoyed. "Buckle up again and let's continue driving!"

She shook her head. "I don't want to appear in the public as a loving wife, when our marriage is broken," she insisted stubbornly.

"Why didn't you think of that earlier?" he growled indignantly.

"Better late than never," she replied, opening the door.

"How do you get home? Walking by foot?" He laughed contemptuously after he had looked at her high-heeled pumps.

"I'm calling a taxi." She got out and leaned towards him. "We're talking about everything else when you're back. Have fun on the charity ball and a pleasant flight!" She slammed the door and then watched the car with mixed emotions until he had disappeared from her view. Had she just ended her marriage? She still couldn't believe that she had at last mustered the courage to do so. She was finally free! She was about to pick up her mobile phone from her purse and dial the number of the taxi office, when next to her a black delivery truck stopped. When two dark, masked men jumped out of the car and approached her, she was too shocked to react. She wanted to flee, but it was already too late. She could feel someone grabbing her and then pressing a cloth, soaked with some liquid, on her nose. An anesthetic! was the last thing that flashed through her mind before darkness surrounded her...