The Forgotten Heiress novel Chapter 17

Lauren shook her head, tears started to form in her eyes but Jessica hardened her heart against them. The bitterness that she'd thought she'd manage to bury deep down came rushing back up like boiling water shooting out of a geyser. The earlier apology helped to salve the hurt but it didn't take it away completely and she'd been kidding herself to think otherwise.

Too little too late, Jessica thought and turned her sharp gaze towards James. "It was easier to let your wife trade her baby for a little girl that wouldn't remind you of a past lover, right?"

James shook his head and spoke through gritted teeth. "It wasn't like that."

"It wasn't." Lauren agreed, she closed her eyes and that long ago night replayed in her mind. She remembered it like it was yesterday.

It was a late warm summer night but the atmosphere in the room was thick with bone chilling fear.

She sat across from James, her husband of only months, at their round kitchen table. Her baby whimpered softly and Lauren began to rock her. She murmured sweet nothings to her, making her promises that she knew she would be unable to keep.

"Are you ready?" James asked her.

"No I'll never be ready," Lauren bent her head and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "But it has to be done."

The small wooden box, the one that Cade had urged her to take that unforgettable night, lay opened in front of her. Laurens gaze was held captive by its contents, mesmerized by them in a sick and twisted sort of way. She hated them.

She hated the needle with the swirling silver liquid within it. If she wasn't so desperate, so helpless, she would reach for it and send it shattering against the furthest wall. But she couldn't because it was her daughters' salvation.

That's what Cades letter told her. She'd memorized it word by word; every single letter was permanently etched in her mind. They were burned into her soul and with every breath she took she could feel the pain they'd brought.

James stood, drawing her gaze. He walked around the table and knelt in front of Lauren and the baby. Looking up at her he silently asked for her acquiescence which was given with a jerky swift nod.

James took a deep breath. With shaking hands he reached into the box for the needle and injected it into the three month old baby girl. He didn't know he'd been holding his breath until it came out in a great big whoosh.

It was finally done but it brought no relief.

The high pitch wails of the baby and the fast and steady beating of their hearts was all that was heard. Neither one of them was inclined to say a word. Each lost in their own thoughts, they did not hear the intruder opening the front door nor did they sense her standing at the kitchen entrance.

"Did you do it?"