The regional director finally answered the question Edward had been asking with his eyes.
“Mrs.
Vale is Clara Vale.”
Edward stared blankly.
The name meant nothing to him at first.
Then the director continued.
“Her late father founded the regional carrier that became the backbone of this company’s domestic network.
The Vale family trust remains the airline’s largest voting shareholder.
Mrs.
Vale serves as trustee and has a standing seat in corporate oversight meetings.”
Edward’s mouth opened.
No words came out.
The flight attendant covered her lips with one hand.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
I hated this part.
Not because the truth embarrassed me.
Because I knew exactly what everyone was thinking now.
Suddenly the shove mattered more.
Suddenly I mattered more.
And that was precisely what was wrong.
Edward recovered enough to laugh nervously.
“Well, obviously, if I’d known—”
I opened my eyes.
“If you’d known what?”
He stopped.
The entire cabin seemed to lean toward him.
I kept my voice calm.
“If you’d known my family owned shares, you wouldn’t have shoved me?”
Edward glanced at the officers.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
He adjusted his jacket again, but now the movement looked less like confidence and more like panic.
“I mean this was a misunderstanding.”
The man with the phone laughed once.
“Your misunderstanding has video.”
Edward shot him a look.
The regional director stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Then he turned to me.
“Mrs.
Vale, the medical team recommends taking you off the aircraft for evaluation.”
The medic nodded.
“I’d like to get you somewhere private and check the baby’s heartbeat.”
The word heartbeat made everything else disappear.
Edward.
The airline.
The witnesses.
The family trust.
None of it mattered.
“Do it,” I whispered.
They brought a transport chair onto the aircraft, but I refused to move until the medic was satisfied my spine hadn’t been seriously injured.
As they carefully helped me up, something fluttered inside my stomach.
I froze.
The medic noticed.
“What is it?”
I pressed my palm against my belly.
