1. Promised forever

Roxanne Reid endures a brutal labor and finally delivers by C-section. Between pain and delirium she swears she will cherish this child for the rest of her life — the baby becomes the promise that will define her future.

2. The baby is gone

When she wakes from surgery, the baby is nowhere to be found. Panic spikes through her like a physical blow: all the relief and tenderness she expected after birth vanish the moment the cot is empty.

3. The betrayal revealed

Her husband Stanley Frey calmly informs her the baby has been given away — not to a charity, not to an adoption agency, but to Macy, Oliver’s fiancée. The news lands like betrayal: he made the decision without her consent.

4. Roxanne fights through pain to demand answers

Bruised and exhausted from two days of labor, Roxanne forces herself up and demands to know where their child is. Her voice trembles with pain and fury; this is a mother’s instinct colliding with the realization of being overruled.

5. Stanley’s cold justification

Stanley explains — almost mechanically — that the Frey family “owes” Macy because Oliver died, and giving her the baby is repayment or compensation. He frames it as kindness, family duty, and social obligation rather than theft.

6. Anger, disbelief, isolation

Roxanne is stunned and rage fills her. The rationalizations infuriate her: Macy “sacrificed” for the family, so she should have a child. Roxanne realizes she’s been isolated — even her husband now treats her like an obstacle, not a partner.

7. Flashback to their courtship

The chapter flashes back: Stanley once pursued Roxanne relentlessly for two years, learned her likes, and won her heart. She loved him enough to cut ties with her own family. Their marriage once seemed unbreakable — he had promised she was the one line he’d never cross.

8. The line crossed

Everything shifted after Oliver’s death and Macy’s arrival. The man who vowed constancy now crosses the line and makes decisions that betray Roxanne’s trust. What was once devotion turns into cold calculation under family pressure.

9. A desperate ultimatum

When Stanley prepares to rush to Macy’s side — “she’s a first-time mom, she needs help” — Roxanne, through pain, grabs his sleeve and threatens divorce if he doesn’t bring the baby back. It’s a raw, vulnerable demand born of love and righteous fury.

10. Threats, power, and a cliffhanger

Stanley sneers and seizes control of the phone; he belittles her concerns as romantic-novel dramatics and warns her not to push him. He reminds her, chillingly, that he’s capable of taking action against her. The chapter ends with Roxanne reeling from betrayal and the reader left on a tense cliff — will she fight him, or be crushed by the family machinery?