Chapter 429

Tanya suddenly shook her head. “I don’t care! I need an answer, Jace—are you going to marry me or not?”

Jace’s jaw tightened. He could have easily said yes just to calm her down. But nope. Instead, he hit her with the truth. “Tanya, I told you, I’ll compensate you, but marriage? That’s not happening.”

Even the firefighters gave him a ‘Dude, seriously?’ look.

Tanya’s eyes filled with desperation, and she practically screeched, “The only thing I want is—”

“You set me up, and you’re responsible for Desmond’s death. The fact that I’m not holding you accountable is because you’re carrying his kid,” Jace said, his voice as cold as ice.

Yeah, Jace was never one to back down from a fight, not even as a kid. His mom always said he was stubborn as a rock.

“The child? It’s always about the child!” Tanya pressed a hand to her belly. “So that’s it? I’m just some baby factory to you?”

“You care about this baby, don’t you?” “If you don’t agree, I’ll end this right now!” and she started hitting her stomach.

My heart practically stopped. Who does that?! Even wild animals protect their babies, but this woman? She was straight-up scary.

No wonder she kept using the baby to play her twisted games.

“If anything happens to that kid, I’ll personally make sure you regret it,” Jace growled.

Now I got it—Jace was drowning in guilt over Desmond’s death, and he was stuck trying to protect what was left of his legacy.

This mess? Yeah, it was his to deal with, no way around it.

But Jace’s words only pushed Tanya further. She hit her stomach harder, and just as she totally lost it, one of the firefighters crept up and grabbed her.

She fought back, though, flailing and panicking. They were already way too close to the edge, and her wild movements made the firefighter lose his footing.

They both started to fall backward.

“Ahhh!” Tanya screamed, her hands grasping at nothing.

I gasped, covering my mouth, eyes wide as I watched the nightmare unfold.

Then I saw it—a hand clinging to the edge of the rooftop. Tanya’s voice was pure panic. “Help me! Please! Someone help!”

Her earlier dramatics about wanting to die? Yeah, total act. She was freaking out now.

No one was laughing. It had gone way beyond that.

Chapter 124

People rushed over to help the firefighter hanging on for dear life. He was strapped to a safety rope, but it was obvious—if he let go, only he’d be safe. Tanya? She’d be a goner.

He was hanging on with one hand, the other arm gripping Tanya’s pregnant body. But he was losing his strength.

Several firefighters sprawled on the ground, reaching to help pull them up, but it wasn’t easy. The guy was basically holding two people’s weight.

Jace jumped in, grabbing the rope, pulling with everything he had. I just stood there, useless, too scared to do anything but watch.

More hands grabbed the rope, and slowly, I saw the firefighter’s grip steady. Tanya and the firefighter started inching upward, bit by bit.

Tanya, who’d been screaming her head off, was now eerily silent, her face pale as she clung to the firefighter.

Finally, they were pulled back onto the rooftop. Tanya collapsed, trembling, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

Then I noticed it—a dark red stain spreading across her white dress.

Blood.

“She’s bleeding!” I shouted, pointing at her. “The baby… she’s losing the baby!”

Jace saw it too. He rushed over, his face all panicked, grabbing her shoulders and lifting her a little. “Is your stomach hurting? Tanya, talk to me!”

But she was out of it, her eyes totally unfocused.

“We need to get her to the OR, now,” I said, fumbling with my phone as I dialed Lena.

Chapter 430