Chapter 2: The Hallway Confrontation
The double doors of the VIP maternity ward swung open, and I was rushed inside a private suite that looked more like a five-star hotel than a hospital room. A team of top-tier obstetricians, personally summoned by Lucian’s chief of staff, was already waiting.
"The babies are under stress, Mr. Blackwood, but the labor is manageable," the chief medical officer reported, her hands shaking slightly as she reviewed my chart. "We are administering a localized block to slow the contractions. She needs absolute quiet."
"She will have it," Lucian commanded, standing by the window, looking out at the rain-slicked city like a king surveying a battlefield.
But quiet was a luxury the universe wasn't ready to give me.
Less than twenty minutes later, a loud, arrogant commotion echoed from the heavy oak doors of the VIP corridor. I could hear Nathan’s voice—sharp, demanding, and utterly devoid of empathy—reverberating through the hallway.
"I don't care about your private manifests!" Nathan shouted at the nursing station. "I am Nathan Drake! That is my ex-wife in there, and she is carrying my children. I have a court-ordered emergency guardianship petition signed by a family law judge twenty minutes ago. Move aside, or I’ll buy this entire wing and fire every single one of you by morning!"
Beside him, Chloe Matthews’ shrill laugh cut through the tension. "Darling, just have the lawyers handle it. We need to get the babies into the car before the paparazzi arrive. The press release about our 'instant family' is already scheduled for the morning news cycle."
I pulled the hospital blanket up to my chin, my heart hammering against my ribs. The phantom pain of Nathan's emotional abuse over the past five years flashed through me. He was going to take them. He was going to use my children as a public relations prop for his new life with Chloe.
The door to my suite clicked open.
Nathan strode in, looking immaculate in his navy blazer, flanked by three lawyers in dark suits. Chloe followed him, wearing a cream trench coat and an insufferable, triumphant smile.
"Ava," Nathan said, not even looking at my face, his eyes dropping instantly to my swollen stomach. "Sign the guardianship addendum. You signed the divorce papers, so don't make this difficult. You don't have the money to raise triplets, and Chloe and I have already prepared the nursery at the estate."
"Get out, Nathan," I whispered, my voice trembling. "You threw me out with a few hundred dollars. You didn't want them until you found out there were three."
"It’s business, Ava," Chloe purred, stepping forward, leaning her hands on the edge of my bed. "A single mother from the suburbs with no income? The judge will hand them to us in a heartbeat. Be smart. Take a settlement and walk away."
"The only people walking away," a voice rumbled from the shadows near the bathroom door, "are the ones who entered this room without my permission."
Nathan froze. The three lawyers behind him instantly went pale, their leather briefcases suddenly feeling very heavy.
Lucian Blackwood stepped into the light. He had removed his suit jacket, his white dress shirt rolled up to his forearms, revealing the lean, powerful muscles of a man who had fought his way up from the streets before inheriting an empire.
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"B-Blackwood?" Nathan stammered, his arrogant posture collapsing into a frantic, stuttering mess. "What... what are you doing here? This is a private family matter."
"Ava Bennett is under the protection of the Blackwood Group," Lucian said, walking over to stand directly between Nathan and my bed. He tower'd over my ex-husband, his silver eyes flashing with a predatory intelligence. "And as of five minutes ago, your emergency guardianship petition has been vacated by the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. Your lawyers have exactly sixty seconds to leave this floor before I liquidate the Drake Group’s prime brokerage accounts at Blackwood Trust."
