Chapter 6 - The Appointment No One Should Have Known
Savannah did not want to talk about the clinic.
Rhett understood why the moment she began.
“It was supposed to be private,” she said. “I used a women’s practice across town where I’d never gone before. I gave them strict instructions not to contact anyone but me.”
“Did anyone have my name listed as father?” Rhett asked.
“Not at the first appointment.”
“Why not?”
Savannah held his gaze. “Because I wasn’t sure I could find you.”
That landed like a blow he had earned.
She continued anyway.
“At the second appointment, I added your name on a sealed emergency-contact card in case something happened and I was unconscious. I still hadn’t reached you, but I wanted there to be a record.”
Rhett went still.
“And after that?”
“Two days later, Celeste was outside my building.”
No one spoke for a second.
Then Rhett said, very carefully, “Tell me exactly.”
Savannah remembered it with terrifying clarity. Celeste had arrived alone, in dark sunglasses, carrying no bag. She had looked elegant and almost calm.
She said, You need to stop trying to find him.
Savannah had asked how she knew where she lived.
Celeste smiled and said, Because you don’t understand how easy you are to keep track of.
Then Celeste had looked directly at Savannah’s stomach and added, It’s still early. Don’t ruin your own life over a man who already chose someone else.
Savannah did not mention the emergency contact, did not mention Rhett’s name, and yet Celeste continued as if she knew everything. She even said, If you’re smart, you’ll make sure that child never becomes leverage.
Rhett’s expression hardened beyond recognition.
“Why didn’t you report that?”
“To whom?” Savannah asked. “The police? Say your fiancée appeared outside my apartment and made vague threats without touching me? By the time I understood how deep this was, Gavin’s people had already started shutting doors.”
“Gavin’s people?”
“Men in suits. One at my office building. One outside the clinic once. Not every day. Just enough for me to know I was being watched.”
Rhett paced once to the fireplace, then back.
There was only one way Celeste could have known the due date so soon.
Someone at the clinic had leaked it.
He called his attorney, then his head of private security, then the women’s practice directly. Not to accuse. To preserve records.
Before midnight he had an answer.
A receptionist named Kira had accepted a cash “discretion fee” from a man matching Gavin’s description to confirm whether Savannah was a patient and what week of pregnancy she was in. Kira admitted it once legal pressure was mentioned. She claimed she thought it was a domestic matter between concerned relatives.
Rhett ended the call and stood motionless.
Savannah watched him with something almost like pity.
“Do you believe me now?” she asked.
He turned slowly.
“Yes.”
It was the first simple, complete answer he had given her.
But belief was only the middle of the story.
The more urgent question now was: what exactly had Celeste intended to prevent?
A scandal?
A broken engagement?
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Or something even more personal—something that explained why she had been willing to monitor a pregnant woman for months just to keep her out of Rhett’s reach?
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