Chapter 40

Tessa's POV

I didn’t even realize my legs had gone numb from kneeling on the cold floor until Ethan’s voice cut through the air like a blade.

“Get her out of here!” he barked, his voice hoarse, raw with something between grief and rage. His eyes were bloodshot, the veins around his temples standing out.

Lauren stayed frozen in my arms, her cheek pressed against my shoulder, her tears soaking through the fabric of my shirt. I could feel the faint, hollow tremor of her sobs as she kept whispering the same words over and over under her breath, “My baby… my baby…”

At first, she barely seemed to hear Ethan. But then he came closer, his footsteps heavy and angry on the tiled floor. His shadow fell over us, and even before I looked up, I could feel the heat of his anger radiating like fire.

“I said get out!” he shouted, his voice cracking at the end, as though grief had tightened its grip around his throat.

Lauren didn’t even flinch. It