Chapter 3 - "I Am"
The silence between Adrian and Madison was razor-sharp, heavy with toxic revelation. Madison took two steps backward, smoothing her cream blazer dress with shaking hands, her smirking glamour completely shattered.
"Your child?" Madison hissed in a furious whisper. "You told me you haven't seen that woman in two years! You lied to me, Adrian!"
"I didn't know," Adrian spat out, his fist slamming hard against the reinforced glass door frame of the surgical suite.
THWACK!
The heavy glass vibrating loudly under the force of his blow. Madison jumped back, covering her mouth in genuine fear at his uncharacteristic burst of violence. Adrian leaned his forehead against the cool frame, his heavy breathing fogging the glass as he stared into the sterile operating hallway beyond.
Thirty seconds later, the surgical doors burst open again.
An ER doctor hurried out into the hallway, his blue scrubs stained with liquid, his blue surgical gloves covered in fresh droplets. He looked exhausted and frantic, his eyes scanning the corridor urgently.
"Which one of you is the baby’s father?" the doctor shouted, his voice echoing authoritatively down the empty hall. "We have a severe uterine hemorrhage! The mother is slipping into a coma, and we need immediate consent for an emergency C-section to save the infant!"
Madison stood petrified, staring at the doctor as if he were speaking a foreign language. She looked at Adrian, expecting him to hesitate, expecting him to protect his legal standing and his new life with her.
May you like
Instead, Adrian didn't hesitate for a single microsecond. He stepped past Madison, striding straight up to the physician with absolute determination, his dark eyes locked onto the doctor’s face.
"I am," Adrian said, his voice a firm, resolute whisper that left zero room for argument.
