I stumbled my way to the surgical ward, and just as I reached the doors, I caught sight of Bertram and his mother around the corner.
"She disrespected you, Mother. I simply gave her a small punishment."
"And now what? Alexis is your sister. All we had to do was wait for this third baby to be born and she'd finally be cured for good. The first two were useless; their hearts were too weak. If we keep dragging this out, Alexis's body won't hold."
"Don't worry, Mom. If there's no baby, we'll just take her heart instead. She owes Alexis that much."
So the killer he'd sworn to hunt down was himself all along.
He'd stolen my children under the guise of miscarriages and given their hearts to another woman.
I collapsed onto the freezing floor, both hands clamped over my mouth.
All this time, I hadn't thrown myself into love. I'd thrown myself into a game where I was the sacrifice.
Everything I was, everything I had, was nothing more than cold medicine to keep Alexis Pruitt alive.
I wiped my tears. With trembling hands, I dialed a number.
One week. In one week, this game would have a new player writing the rules.
...
"I'll marry you."