Chapter 6 - Premature Fractures
A dark, wet stain bloomed rapidly across the gray cotton fabric of Emilia’s maternity pants.
"Julian..." she gasped, her voice strangled with agony as her body bowed under an intense contraction. "The baby... it's happening. It's too early... it's only thirty-one weeks!"
The corporate dispute vanished beneath sheer, instinctual panic. Julian instantly dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around her waist, supporting her shuddering weight. "I’ve got you! Emilia, breathe! Look at me, keep breathing!"
Sofia pulled her smartphone from her pocket, her fingers moving with rapid, detached efficiency. "I'll call the private driver. We cannot take her to a public hospital. The media—"
"Get out!" Julian roared, turning on Sofia with eyes blazing with feral hatred. "Call an ambulance to St. Jude’s Emergency! If you step within five feet of my wife again, I will strangle you with my bare hands! Call 911 right now!"
Sofia hesitated for a single second, her calculating eyes lingering on Emilia's contorted, weeping face. With a cold nod, she dialed the emergency line, spoke three brief sentences, and turned toward the penthouse exit without looking back.
"Hold on, my love," Julian wept, pressing his forehead against Emilia’s sweat-soaked brow, disregarding the blood from her foot that now smeared against his trousers. "I am so sorry. I am so sorry for everything. Just stay with me. Breathe for our baby."
"Not your baby," Emilia whispered through gritted teeth, her nails digging into the flesh of his forearm until skin broke. "Never... your baby."
The pain hit her again, a violent surge that drove all air from her lungs. Julian gathered her frail, shaking frame into his arms, carrying her through the silent, wrecked apartment toward the foyer just as the red and blue emergency lights began dancing across the floor-to-ceiling windows.
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Down in the lobby, the sirens wailed like a death knell. But as the paramedics burst through the penthouse elevator doors with a stretcher, Julian caught sight of Sofia standing near the concierge desk downstairs on the building’s internal monitor.
She wasn't waiting for the paramedics. She was handing a crisp legal folder to a man dressed in a dark charcoal suit.
