Anger engulfed her face. “Makin’ it up? Does the name Oliver Bartholomew sound familiar? You dated him, didn’t you? An earl’s son? Then when that didn’t work out, you came over here and sank your nails into Rome as soon as you could, you gold-digging whore! You knew he was rich and you convinced him to be with you, didn’t you? He was meant to be with her!” She pointed at Shelly, who was now pacing in the doorway, playing with her hands, seeming increasingly distressed.

“Oliver and I were friends. We dated briefly, but I didn’t want anything more. He was a teaching assistant too, we worked together, but that was it. He was a good friend and a sweet guy. Don’t make out that what we had was sordid or calculated, because it wasn’t. The fact that he was rich didn’t mean a bloody thing!”

She gripped my chin and jerked my head to her face. “Just like it doesn’t matter that Rome is rich too? Give me a break! He shouldn’t be with you, whore! You need to leave him alone so he can do his duty to this family and stop being such a f**kin’ failure for once in his pathetic life! Or else you’ll be sorry!”

My anxiety faded as the urge to defend Romeo powered through. I smacked away her hand. “Sorry how? He has dreams, you know. He wants to play football… will play football professionally, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Do you even know how talented he is? How he’s regarded as the best player in all college football? He loves me and I love him, and nothing you do will tear us apart!” I leaned in and said in a low voice so only we could hear, “I know everything. He told me everything about you, Mr. Prince, his childhood, the beatings… everything. And I mean everything. You have no power over him anymore and never will again. Do you even know what you’ve done to him? How he struggles to contain his anger through years of hearing he was unwanted, useless?”

I marched around the table, leaving her seething on the spot, and hurried towards the door where Shelly pre-emptively shuffled to the side to let me pass.

As I approached the end of the long table, I heard a loud screech and sharp nails dug into my arm, spinning me around. Kathryn’s curved backhand sliced across my face, knocking me off balance, and with a hard push, caused me to slam, stomach first, with huge force, against the edge of the antique solid mahogany table.

At first I was dazed, my movements slowed, and I tried to stand, but a white-hot searing pain stabbed at my stomach, causing me to scream out loud.

My vision blurred as unbearable jagged pangs racked my body, and I collapsed to the floor, trying to grip onto something to help me, to ease the hard cramps. I lifted my head to ask for help and saw Shelly gasping with her hands over her mouth, staring in horror at my legs.

I looked down and my white dress was covered in blood.

A tsunami of grief took hold of me and loud sobs tore from my body as agonising spasms knifed up my spine, in my stomach and legs, prohibiting me from moving. I lifted my hand and placed it between my thighs and when I pulled it back, it was coated in a wet glaze of scarlet. Shelly, seeing my distress, flew out of the room, screaming for Rome.

I crawled to the table edge and tried to hoist myself up, but I couldn’t bear the agony of the convulsions.

“You’re pregnant?!” Kathryn shrilled. “You little bitch!” She struck my face again, harder the second time, the strength of it knocking me flat on the floor, and I was met with my own dark pooling blood. I laid my cheek against the carpet, curling my legs into my chest, trying to pant through the pain.

A commotion sounded at the entrance of the library and when I lifted my head, hordes of people were staring at me in alarm.

“Move the f**k outta my way! MOVE!!!” Romeo’s deep voice boomed as he burst into the room. The tormented expression that swamped his face almost made my broken heart rip completely apart.

“Mol! Fuck! Baby, I’m here! I’m here.” Romeo dropped to the floor next to me, his hands shaking, trying to work out what to do.

He was helpless, as was I.

I looked at him, salty water blurring my vision. “Romeo, our baby, our baby… I-I think I’m losing it. Help me… please,” I cried and broke down uncontrollably.

An anguished scream ripped from his chest. “Somebody call 9-1-1. She’s losing our baby!”

“They’re on the way, man. They’ll be here soon.” I recognised Jimmy-Don’s Texan twang.

I watched numbly as more and more people ran into the room and when I turned my head, Cass, Lexi, Ally, Austin, Reece, and Jimmy-Don were staring at me, distraught. The girls had their arms around each other, openly crying as they witnessed me writhing in pain, covered in my own blood.

Romeo reached for me, gently pulling me to his lap, and held me securely in his arms, rocking me back and forth, his wet cheek pressed on my head. “Shh, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

I reached up, my blood leaving thick tracks on his cheek. “I think our baby’s gone. It hurts so much. I think our baby’s gone…” A high-pitched whine cut from my throat as another spasm gripped my womb.

Floods of tears fell from Romeo’s eyes, and I grew weaker, my slow-motion vision registering that most of the team now stood around the room, heads dipped, watching the scene, some staring unseeing at the floor, some praying to God for help.

“Where’s the f**kin’ ambulance?! She’s pregnant, goddamn it… She’s pregnant… Our little angel…” Romeo screamed in anguish and his broken voice trailed off to a despairing whisper as his shaking hands lifted my blood-soaked dress.

His thumb pawed at my cheek, ghosted over my lip, and his eyes widened. He tilted my head slightly to the side. “Baby? Why’s your lip bleedin’? What the hell happened to you?”

I stared at him blankly, unfocused, distantly. I felt disconnected from my body, like I was hovering above, watching the horror unfold. I felt increasingly sleepy and my energy drained away with every new gush of blood down my thighs.

“Mol?” he pleaded, clutching to me as if he could stop my fading. “Mol! Stay with me. Mol!”

“Y-your… mother hit her and she fell against the table. W-we… I-I didn’t know she was pregnant… We were just trying to scare her off. Things just spun outta control…” I recognised Shelly’s guilt-ridden voice.

Romeo stiffened, fury possessing his body on a loud roar. “Where is she?”