I Saw My Daughter Beg Me Not to Die

I sent Natalie a message, but I didn't get a reply right away.

Feeling anxious, I sent her another one. "Nattie, answer me. Don't jump!"

Natalie's feed was empty. The only things there were the few comments she had left.

I had created this account with my phone number, and the only person on her friends list was my main account.

There was no way that one of my friends had done this as a joke.

I turned to look at the crib.

Natalie had just finished feeding and rolled over. She clenched her tiny fists and smacked her lips.

She was small and delicate. Her rosy face peeked out of the cloud-patterned blanket that I had picked out for her.

Everyone said she was a little princess who had been born into a loving family.

But someone was convincing her to throw herself down the stairs to get Zane's attention.

There were only seven days left until she turned one month old.

If the comments were true, then I had to act now.

I immediately called my best friend, Yvonne Smith, who was a lawyer.

"Yvonne, I need you to look into someone for me. Her name's Wanda Levine."

Ten minutes later, my phone lit up. Yvonne's profile picture appeared on the screen.

I answered the call. Before I could say a word, I could hear the anger in her voice. "Simone, Wanda's something else. I almost can't believe what I found.

"She's one of the Graham Group's top scholarship recipients. They give her millions in funding every year, and every payment comes directly from Zane's personal account. None of it goes through the foundation."

My face hardens. "What else?"

"After she graduated, she got straight into the Graham Group's executive office. Zane also bought her a fully furnished apartment near the company. It cost 4.6 million dollars."

"When did he buy it?" I asked, my grip tightening on the blanket.

"Last March. When you were three months pregnant."

Last March, I was curled up on the couch. I vomited all day. I even vomited bile.

Back then, Zane sat beside me and gently rubbed my back. "You're going through so much, Simone. Once this project is finished, I'll spend more time with you."

He kept his promise by buying another woman an apartment.

I took a deep breath and ordered, "Keep the evidence. Draft me a divorce agreement, too."

I hung up and stared at the comments on Natalie's profile. My fingertips ran cold.

When Zane introduced Wanda to me, he made her sound innocent.

However, the money from his private account, the special treatment at the company, and the apartment proved that his support for her had gone far beyond just kindness.

With Natalie's comments replaying in my head, I called Dad. "Dad, I don't want to stay at the recovery center anymore. Can you have someone pick me up?"

If everything was true, I needed to protect myself before I could protect Natalie.