Chapter 1 - YOU’RE GOING TO REGRET IT
Emily Dawson knew something was wrong with Ryan before he touched her.
Not because he looked angry.
That would have been easier.
He looked happy.
The cliffside resort behind them glowed white against the blue Pacific, all glass balconies and wedding flowers and champagne tables waiting for the evening reception.
Emily stood near the overlook holding a bouquet of white roses in one hand and resting the other against the curve of her six-month pregnancy.
She had been crying ten minutes earlier.
Happy tears.
At least she thought they were.
Ryan had brought her to the resort for what he called “one last quiet weekend before the baby changes everything.”
He had kissed her forehead at breakfast.
Held her hand along the path.
Told a stranger taking their photograph that he was “the luckiest man alive.”
Then, when they reached the private cliff overlook, he stopped smiling with his eyes.
Emily noticed.
“Ryan?”
He stepped behind her.
His hands landed on her shoulders.
Too hard.
She twisted.
“RYAN—STOP!”
His fingers tightened.
Emily grabbed his forearms.
“What are you doing?”
For one second he said nothing.
Then he shoved.
Her shoes scraped over stone.
The bouquet fell.
Emily screamed.
“MY BABY!”
She caught the edge with both hands.
Her body slammed against the cliff face.
Pain burst through her arms.
Below, the ocean hammered black rocks.
Emily looked up.
Ryan stood above her.
She had never seen his face look like that.
No panic.
No horror.
No regret.
Only calm.
“Please,” she sobbed. “Ryan, please. I’m pregnant!”
His mouth curved.
A smile.
Emily’s blood went cold.
“Ryan…”
He crouched.
She reached one hand toward him.
He stared at it.
Then knocked it away.
Her remaining hand slipped.
Emily screamed as she fell.
Sky.
Rock.
Ocean.
Wind tearing the sound out of her throat.
Above her, Ryan leaned over the cliff.
Then he started laughing.
Not nervous laughter.
Not shock.
Wild, open laughter.
“HAHAHAHAHA!”
Emily fell past a ridge of stone.
Ryan’s face disappeared.
For one terrible second there was nothing beneath her but air.
Then her body crashed onto a narrow rocky ledge jutting from the cliff wall.
Pain exploded through her hip and shoulder.
The breath left her lungs.
She rolled once—
stopped inches from the edge—
and went still.
Above, Ryan looked down.
He could not see the ledge from where he stood.
He waited.
No scream.
No movement.
No Emily.
Then he picked up her white bouquet.
He threw it over the cliff.
“Goodbye, Emily.”
The flowers tumbled past.
He turned away.
His footsteps faded.
Far below, Emily did not move for several seconds.
Then her eyes opened.
She gasped.
Her hand flew to her stomach.
“Baby…”
She waited.
Terror.
Nothing.
Then—
a flutter.
Small.
Faint.
But there.
Emily started sobbing.
Her left hand searched for something solid.
Fingers closed around a crack in the rock.
Her shoulder screamed when she moved.
She looked upward.
A thin line of sky.
Ryan was gone.
He thought she was dead.
Emily pressed her palm against her belly.
Her fear began changing.
Not disappearing.
Hardening.
“You tried to kill us…”
May you like
Her fingers tightened against the rock.
“You’re going to regret it.”
