Page 105 of The Billionaire's Timed Wife

I think about what she’s saying, and it makes sense. Kaled is possessive, too, but he doesn’t suffocate me. That means he trusts me.

It reminds me of the clause I insisted on putting in our marriage contract, and I feel my cheeks burn with shame.

“I did something terrible.”

Instead of looking shocked, she smiles. “Impossible, my dear. There’s no room for malice in your heart.”

“When Kaled proposed, I demanded a clause in the contract saying that if he betrayed me within the first three years of marriage, I’d receive a divorce with benefits. I want to remove it, but I don’t know how. I trust him. I don’t believe he’d ever cheat.”

I never told her about the Paris apartment, or anyone else, for that matter, but Jazmina said everyone in Rheadur talked about it for weeks after the wedding, how deeply the sheikh must love his wife to give her so much gold.

“Why did you do that?” she asks.

“I’ve never worked before. I didn’t want to end up like you did. I wanted a place for us to live. I was already determined to find you.”

I don’t tell the full truth, that I thought a man as powerful and handsome as Kaled would inevitably get tired of me.

“Talk to him, my daughter. If your heart tells you to remove that clause, do it. Don’t let my unhappy marriage poison yours.”

Her words are the push I needed. I promise myself that tonight, I’ll talk to him about it.

Hours later

I shift in bed when a tremor, followed by a wave of nausea, hits me hard.

I turn my head just to check if my husband has come to bed yet.

The clock reads ten fifteen. He never comes up before eleven. He’s been working like mad lately, saying he wants everything settled so he can be fully present for the final weeks of my pregnancy.

I sit up, and the room spins. Then a sharp cramp doubles me over.

Cold sweat breaks across my forehead as I fight not to panic.

I reach for my phone on the nightstand and press the number that dials Kaled.

He answers on the second ring.

“Please . . .”

“Adeela?”

“I’m in pain . . . please, I need you.”

Chapter 47

There are at least half a dozen other doctors around me, as well as my father, who was notified the moment we arrived at the hospital.

One of my helicopters is always kept ready because of the former sheikh, whose health requires attention. So it took less than ten minutes between my wife’s phone call and our being ready to fly. A palace physician had already begun first aid while we were en route to the hospital.

I have never been so afraid in my life.

When I heard Adeela’s voice asking me for help, the same desperation I felt when my mother died hit me again.

It was like being knocked out without even knowing I was in a fight.

When I scooped her into my arms, she was pale, her forehead slick with cold sweat, writhing in pain. It felt like my heart was being torn from my chest. There was nothing I could do except run as fast as possible to save them.

Life has been good, despite too much work. I’ve tried to organize things so I could spend more time with her from mid-pregnancy onward, but now I know I didn’t do enough.