Chapter 7: The Mother and the Monster
Hailey hadn't cried.
Not when she was snatched from the street.
Not when James hit her.
Not even when he laughed while talking about Jason's "death."
But now… alone in the cold silence of her cell, with her wrists chafed and her stomach empty, something changed.
She felt it.
A tiny flutter deep inside her.
At first, she thought it was hunger.
But then it happened again. A soft ripple beneath her ribcage. Subtle, but real.
Her hand moved shakily to her abdomen.
No.
It couldn't be.
Could it?
---
Six Weeks Earlier.
It was that night on the rooftop — the one that never happened.
She had been nervous. Excited. Curious.
She'd worn his hoodie, snuck into his apartment, and stayed until sunrise. They had talked. Touched. Shared more than bodies.
That night, Hailey had given Jason something she hadn't given anyone before:
Complete trust.
Now, as she crouched in this cold prison, everything came rushing back. She wasn't alone anymore.
Jason hadn't just left her with love.
He had left her with life.
A baby.
---
The door banged open.
James strolled in, holding a small glass of whiskey.
"You look pale," he said, pretending to care. "You miss your lover boy?"
Hailey didn't look at him. She was too focused on keeping calm. On protecting the life inside her.
"I'm pregnant," she said softly.
James blinked.
The room shifted.
He laughed once — sharp, confused. "What?"
"I said I'm carrying a child. Jason's child."
Silence.
Then, he threw the glass against the wall. It shattered like thunder.
"You lying—!"
"I'm not lying," she said steadily. "I don't need to."
James paced like a caged animal, breathing hard.
"You're not keeping it."
Hailey's spine stiffened.
"I will. Even if it's the only thing left of him, I'll keep it."
James turned slowly. "So you're ready to die for a dead man's child?"
She looked him in the eye.
"I'm ready to live for it."
---
Meanwhile...
Jason stared at the blueprints of the estate.
Four guards at the front. Two behind. One surveillance room. One master keycard.
"Extraction window?" he asked Briggs.
"Four minutes max. We hit during shift change, 2:13 a.m."
Jason's fingers hovered over a photo of Hailey. Not a surveillance shot — a real one. From campus. She was holding a cup of mango smoothie and laughing at something he said.
The memory was sunlight.
But his mood was thunder.
"She's pregnant," Briggs said quietly, looking at the infrared drone scan from earlier. "We saw her touch her stomach three times in the same motion. Lab confirms it through remote vitals."
Jason closed his eyes.
His child.
His family.
"I'm going in," Jason said.
"Sir, you shouldn't. We have people trained for this."
"I trained them."
Briggs sighed. "This is personal. You go in too hot, she could die. You could die."
Jason opened his eyes, calm now.
"If I don't go in… what's left of me already has."
---
At the villa...
James sat alone in his office, watching an old video of him and Hailey from years ago. They were dancing in the rain — young, happy, blind.
He replayed the smile on her face over and over.
Then he zoomed in on Jason's face from the drone shot.
He held the photo to his lips.
"You stole her."
He whispered, "Now I'll take everything."
---
But across the city, somewhere in the dark...
Jason was already on his way.
Not with roses.
Not with apologies.
With rage, bullets, and a silent warpath.
Because tonight wasn't about saving her.
It was about ending him.