The door slammed open hard enough to rattle the metal tray beside the bed.

“Where is he?”

Even through another contraction, Chloe recognized that voice instantly.

Vivian Chen.

Ethan’s mother.

Elegant as always in a cream wool coat and pearl earrings, she looked wildly out of place in the labor ward. Her lipstick was perfect. Her fury was not.

Linda blinked. “Ma’am, you can’t just—”

But Vivian’s eyes had already landed on Chloe’s swollen belly.

And then on Ethan.

And then everything changed.

For a moment, the room became deathly silent except for the rhythmic beep of the fetal monitor.

Vivian’s face drained of color.

“No,” she whispered.

Ethan stepped forward immediately. “Mom, you need to leave.”

But Vivian ignored him completely.

She stared at Chloe with naked disbelief. “You’re pregnant?”

Another contraction tore through Chloe before she could answer. Pain exploded down her spine, forcing a cry from her throat.

Ethan moved instinctively beside the bed. “Breathe. Come on, Chloe. Look at me.”

She hated that his voice still worked on her. Hated that somewhere beneath the wreckage of their marriage, her body still trusted him.

When the pain finally eased, Vivian spoke again.

“You trapped him,” she hissed.

Linda looked horrified. “Ma’am—”

“You got pregnant on purpose because you knew the marriage was failing.”

Chloe laughed weakly, exhausted beyond anger. “Trust me, Vivian. If I were trying to trap your son, divorce papers would’ve ruined the strategy.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened.

“Enough,” he said sharply.

But Vivian was spiraling now, years of bitterness spilling loose.

“You poisoned him against his own family! You made him choose between us—”

“No,” Chloe interrupted quietly. “I asked him not to let you walk into our apartment with your own key at midnight.”

Vivian’s face twisted.

“That apartment belonged to our family.”

“And your son belonged to me,” Chloe said. “At least he was supposed to.”

The words landed like a slap.

Ethan looked like someone had driven a blade straight through his ribs.

Another contraction surged.

This one was worse.

Far worse.

Chloe screamed.

The monitor suddenly erupted in rapid alarms.

Linda’s expression changed instantly. “Baby’s heart rate is dropping.”

Everything in the room accelerated.

Ethan snapped into doctor mode immediately.

“Turn her slightly left. Oxygen now.”

Nurses rushed in.

Machines beeped violently.

The room blurred around Chloe as panic clawed through her chest.

“Is my baby okay?” she gasped.

Ethan looked at the monitor, and for the first time since walking in, genuine fear crossed his face.

“We may need an emergency C-section.”

Vivian went completely pale.

And suddenly, for the first time all night, she looked less like a controlling mother—

and more like a terrified grandmother.

The operating room lights were blinding.

Cold air scraped across Chloe’s skin as nurses moved around her in swift practiced motions. Somewhere beyond the surgical drape, instruments clinked softly.