The shrill cry of the ambnce cut through the night as Tara, unconscious and ghostly pale, was rushed into surgery.


    The hospital corridor was thick with the smell of disinfectant. Zach leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair, nerves stretched thin.


    "Zach!"


    Footsteps thundered from down the hall. Dylon and Rosie burst in, breathless, eyes wide with panic.


    "How''s Tara? And the baby? What did the doctors say?" Rosie grabbed Zach''s arm, her voice shaking, her face crumpled with worry.


    But more than the baby, she was desperate to see how Zach was taking all of this.


    "I heard Reese shoved her at the conference. What happened between them? Did they fight?


    "Why would Reese do that?" Rosie pressed, searching Zach''s face for answers. "Is she still mad at us? Is this her way of getting back at our family?


    "But what''s any of this got to do with Tara? Why drag her and the baby into it? Tara didn''t even know what happened back then!"


    "That''s enough, Rosie." Dylon stepped forward and pulled Rosie into his arms, her eyes red and swollen. He patted her gently, trying to calm her down.


    Zach stayed where he was, Rosie''s words echoing in his mind. Tara had no idea about any of it. Was that true? Had she really been in the dark all these years?


    "Let''s not rush to conclusions." Zach''s mom, Wendy, hurried in, worry etched all over her face. "Zach, I just heard Reese pushed Tara. There has to be some mistake, right?"


    Wendy had known Reese since she was a child. She just couldn''t believe Reese would do something like this.


    Zach dropped his gaze, reying the scene from earlier in his mind.


    He''d wondered if Tara had set Reese up, if she''d risked everything just to make Reese look bad. But if Tara honestly didn''t know about the past, then all the things she''d done couldn''t have been an act. She wouldn''t put her own baby in danger just to frame Reese.


    There was only one exnation left.


    "It was probably an ident," Zach said quietly. "Reese pushed her harder than she meant to, and Tara lost her bnce."


    "But why would Reese push her at all?" Wendy demanded, her eyes wide with disbelief.


    Zach hesitated, then quickly exined how Reese and Matthew had shown up at the conference together.


    "Maybe she thinks we''re meddling in her business."


    Wendy staggered back, shock on her face. "How did Reese turn out like this?"


    "I know, right?" Rosie dabbed at her


    eyes. “Wendy, you''re practically family to her. You''ve got to stand up for Tara She''s been so careful ever since she got pregnant. Just yesterday she was picking out baby clothes. Now she''s in surgery. If she loses the baby, how is she supposed to go on?"


    Wendy nodded, her face set and serious. She turned to Zach. "So what are you going to do?"


    Zach stared at the operating room light, his jaw clenched.


    "You can''t just let this go," Wendy pushed, her voice suddenly cold and hard.


    "Tara is your fiancée. That was your child. No matter what, she deserves justice."


    Zach''s hands curled into fists at his sides. His voice was low and tight. "Let''s wait for the doctor. If something happens to Tara or the baby, I won''t let Reese get away with it."


    Just as he finished speaking, the light above the operating room switched off.


    Everyone hurried forward. The doctor stepped out, pulling off his mask, lines of exhaustion carved deep into his face.


    "I''m sorry. We did everything we could."


    "The baby didn''t make it. Ms. Ramos lost a lot of blood, and her uterus was severely damaged. I''m afraid... she won''t be able to have children again."


    "What?!"


    Rosie''s knees buckled, the world spinning around her.


    She''d thought that losing a baby who never got the chance to live would be enough to make Zach resent Reese and ignore what the Ramos family did. She nev


    ever


    imagined the price would be this high.