Chapter 2
A suffocating tension enveloped the luxurious living room as the seconds ticked by like lead weights in the stifling air.
Lucas took two slow, deliberate steps forward, his leather shoes clicking sharply against the polished hardwood floor.
"Stay away from my wife!" Lucas roared, his voice dropping into a terrifying register that shook the crystal chandelier above them.
Chloe took an involuntary step back, her nude high heels sliding slightly on a stray shard of sparkling glass.
"You don't understand, Lucas, she slipped and fell during our argument," Chloe stammered, her manufactured panic looking increasingly desperate.
Lucas ignored her entirely, dropping to his knees beside Sarah with urgent, trembling hands that betrayed his outward composure.
"Sarah, look at me... stay awake, stay with me, sweetheart," Lucas whispered, gently brushing blonde hair away from her pale forehead.
Sarah winced in agony, her small hands clutching her swollen stomach as she fought against waves of overwhelming darkness.
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"The baby... Lucas, protect our baby," Sarah managed to gasp out before her eyes fluttered shut in sheer exhaustion.
A surge of white-hot rage pulsed through Lucas's veins, but his facial expression hardened into an impenetrable mask of cold fury.
