The wedding rehearsal was over. Warren Stephens knelt at my feet, massaging my swollen toes, and spoke without looking up.

"Georgie's back. She's pregnant, and there was no wedding first. I have to protect her reputation."

"The rehearsal counts as your ceremony. I won't be attending the banquet in three days."

"Let Georgie wear the ring for now. She is, after all, my legal wife."

"But you're still the one I love most. Once the baby's born and registered, I'll divorce her and give you a real home."

It took me a long time to process what he'd said.

I didn't make a scene. I slipped the pigeon-egg diamond off my ring finger and placed it in his palm.

It was the Stephens family heirloom, passed down to each bride. He'd taken ninety-nine lashes in the family chapel just to claim it for his proposal to me.

Warren looked at the ring, then at me, and nodded with satisfaction. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips.

"I knew you'd be good about this. Ten more months. I promise I'll marry you with all the fanfare you deserve."

Four years ago, he said to wait until he'd secured every share of Stephens Group. Two years ago, he said to wait until his mother accepted me.

I'd lost count of how many times I'd waited.

I watched his back as he walked away.

I drew a deep breath, took the pregnancy test results I'd planned to surprise him with, and tore them in half.

My goal had always been to marry by twenty-eight.

Warren, this time I wasn't going to wait.

Because one month ago, my memories had come back.

I was the long-lost daughter of the wealthiest man in the Capital.

In three days, my eldest brother's private fleet would come to take me home.

...

The moment I stepped out of the wedding gown, the event coordinator rushed over to confirm the venue setup and itinerary one last time.

I didn't look up. I dropped the gown into the trash.

"The wedding's off. Don't worry, Mr. Stephens will cover the deposit and the cancellation fee."

I turned and walked out under the stunned stares of everyone in the room.

I'd barely made it through the door when a message from my brother lit up my phone.

Eudora, the private clearance has been approved. Three days, and I'm coming to bring you home. Every wrong the Stephens family did to you, every ounce of pain Warren caused, I will make them answer for.

The words blurred. Tears flooded my eyes before I could stop them.

I lifted my hand, wiped the corners of my eyes, typed three words, and hit send.

I'll be waiting!

But before I left, there was one more thing I had to do.

Get rid of the baby.

After I submitted the appointment request, I went home.

The house was blazing with light. The smell of wine and the hum of voices spilled through every window.

Warren was throwing a celebration banquet for Georgina Pruitt. They'd just signed the marriage certificate, and he was introducing his lawful Mrs. Stephens to every guest in the room.

I pushed the door open. The living room fell silent in an instant.

Every pair of eyes turned to me. They were all waiting for the spectacle, waiting for me to lose it so Warren could throw me out.

I ignored them and kept walking.

A notification chimed on my phone, cutting through the silence.

Warren stepped in front of me immediately, brow furrowed, eyes sharp with warning. "Don't make a scene."

He blocked my path, certain I was about to go after Georgina.

The old me would have. Without question, I would have made her pay.

When a young model had tried to crawl into his bed, I'd plastered her photos across every trending page for three straight days until she was finished in the industry for good.

When his personal secretary slipped something into my drink at a birthday party, I'd sent her photos to every major firm in the city and destroyed her career beyond repair.

But this time I didn't move. I just glanced down at my phone.

The appointment for tomorrow's procedure had been confirmed.

The last thread of attachment inside me snapped clean. I smiled, quiet and free.

Warren stared at me, his expression blank with confusion. He had never seen me like this. It was as if he were looking at a stranger.

He reached for my phone on instinct, but the screen went dark just before his fingers touched it.

I stepped back, opening a cold distance between us.

His face darkened. He was about to erupt.

Georgina hurried forward, raising the hand that now wore the heirloom ring, her voice silk-soft. "Eudora, thank you for stepping aside so Warren and I could be together."

She reached out and pulled me into a hug, the picture of sisterly warmth.

But the moment she was close enough, her lips grazed my ear, dripping with triumph and venom:

"Seven years by his side, and what did it get you? Everything you had, everything I wanted, it all ends up mine."

When she released me, her gaze drifted to my neck. "Eudora," she murmured, "Warren and I are married now. That unity locket around your neck... it's not really appropriate anymore, is it?"

My chest tightened. I looked down at the necklace.

This locket. Years ago, when Warren's enemies came for him, I'd stepped in front of the bullet. I'd flatlined more than once on that hospital bed.

He'd told the doctors that if they couldn't save me, every last one of them would follow me into the ground.

Then this man who had never believed in God or fate dropped to his knees, bowed three times, and climbed a mountain temple to beg for it.

One locket for each of us, binding our lives together.

Heaven saw his devotion and couldn't bear to take me.

From the day it was clasped around my neck, I had never once removed it.

My eyes burned. I said nothing.

Georgina suddenly toppled backward, hitting the floor hard, her eyes instantly red with tears.

"Eudora, if you didn't want to give it up, you could've just said so. Why did you push me..."

The room erupted.

Warren's pupils contracted. He lunged forward, shoved me aside, scooped Georgina into his arms, and roared at me.

"Eudora Fox! She's carrying a child! How can you be so vicious?"

Vicious.

I looked at the undisguised hatred in his eyes and swallowed the explanation rising in my throat.

It wouldn't matter what I said. He would never believe me.

Once, he'd trusted me without question, stood in front of me, shielded me from every whisper and rumor. Now all he saw was Georgina, and all he felt was heartache for her.

So nothing I said would make a difference.

Georgina nestled against his chest, sobbing in small, pitiful hiccups.

"Warren, don't blame her. She just doesn't like me, that's all. I don't need the locket."

I steadied myself. A dry, bitter laugh slipped out before I could stop it, and I pressed down the tears clawing their way up.

Under every contemptuous stare in the room, I reached up, gripped the unity locket at my throat, and yanked. The red cord snapped.

I held the locket out to Georgina. My voice was flat, stripped of every last trace of warmth:

"You're right. It should be yours. I wish you both eternal devotion."

Warren stared at my outstretched hand holding the unity locket. His pupils contracted sharply, and for a long moment he looked too stunned to speak.

The veins on his clenched fists bulged. He was about to turn his fury on me when Georgina let out a soft whimper in his arms, her face draining of color.

"Warren... my stomach hurts so bad... I think it's the baby..."

His expression flipped in an instant. Every trace of anger dissolved into panic. He scooped her up and rushed for the door, footsteps frantic, without sparing me a single glance.

He didn't see that his shove had sent me stumbling backward, the edge of the table slamming into my lower back hard enough to leave a wide red welt.

The sharp pain shot through my entire body.

He cradled Georgina, his voice trembling with urgency. "Hold on. We're going to the hospital."

The door slammed shut.

The contempt and ridicule of every guest in the room crashed over me like a wave.

"She really doesn't know her place. An orphan with no parents, no power, no connections, and she actually thought she could become Mrs. Stephens?"

"Kept as a pretty little pet for a few years and started believing she was royalty."

"Mr. Stephens never forgot Georgie. The second she came back, this one became nothing."

"She even dared to push a pregnant woman. She'll be thrown out soon enough. Probably end up as nothing more than a bedwarmer."

Every filthy word burrowed into my ears.

I kept my face blank, picked up a glass of champagne from the table, took a sip, then raised my hand and threw the rest straight into the nearest socialite's face.

"Your husband's mistresses could circle the city. Maybe worry about your own house before you come for mine."

The woman shrieked and lunged at me.

I loosened my grip and let the glass shatter against the floor. The room went silent.

After all, everyone here knew what I was capable of. I'd walked through fire beside Warren for years.

I dusted off my hands, turned, and walked straight upstairs.

Behind the closed door of my room, I ran into the bathroom and let ice-cold water pour over my head.

The pain and the memories surged up together.

Seven years ago, the Fox family was targeted by old enemies. I was kidnapped. A car accident gave me a chance to escape in the chaos, but I fell into a river. Warren was the one who pulled me out and brought me home.

When I opened my eyes, I couldn't remember a thing. Back then, nightmares jolted me awake every single night.

He would hold me tight and murmur softly against my hair.

"Don't be scared. If you can't remember, don't force it."

After that, I stood by his side as he secured the Stephens family inheritance and helped him destroy every last enemy.

Then a member of a rival branch of the Stephens clan disguised himself as a server and came for Warren's life, determined to seize control.

In that split second, I threw myself in front of him.

He held me, drenched in my blood, shaking, crying like a child.

"Why would you do something so stupid? What am I supposed to do if something happens to you?"

Afterward, he tracked down every person who'd hurt me, broke their hands and legs, and tossed them into an underground fighting ring.

He swore to me he would give me the grandest wedding anyone had ever seen.

Back then, he truly loved me down to the bone.

I rinsed off quickly and stepped out.

Warren was back.

The moment he saw me, he pulled me into his arms without a word, resting his chin in the curve of my neck.

When he spoke, his voice carried the relief of someone who'd just exhaled.

"Georgie and the baby are fine, thankfully. Don't cause a scene like that again."

I let out a quiet laugh. I didn't answer.

Then he bit down on my earlobe, a flash of anger in it.

"Why did you give her the locket? You know how much it means to us."

"Isn't this what you wanted? For me to be good and understanding." My voice was barely above a whisper. "I did exactly that. You're still not happy?"

Warren went rigid. Something complicated flickered through his eyes.

He let out a low sigh and tried to explain.

"You're the only one I love. But Georgie was captured trying to save me all those years ago. They locked her up and brutalized her for three days and three nights. She was too afraid to come back for eight full years. Now she's pregnant and unmarried. I have to protect her reputation. I have to take care of her."

"Just trust me. Once the baby's born, I'll send her away. The ring, the locket, everything comes back to you."

Wait. Again.

Wait for him to take power. Wait for his mother to accept me. Wait for him to finish dealing with someone else.

He always used love as a leash, keeping me in place, wringing out every last drop of my devotion and patience.

But the truth was, I'd stopped mattering to him a long time ago.

His phone rang, cutting through the silence.

He frowned and answered.

A frantic voice came through the other end. "Mr. Stephens, Ms. Pruitt is having night terrors. She won't stop crying and keeps asking for you."

Warren released me instantly and stood, his face tight with worry, already heading for the door.

At the threshold, something seemed to occur to him. He turned back and looked at me, his tone solemn.

"Someday, we'll have children too."

One sentence. That was all it took, and he expected it to keep me tethered to him.

I lifted my gaze to meet his eyes, searching for even the faintest trace of love.

There was none. Not even a flicker.

I watched his retreating back, then lowered my head. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

I picked up my phone and sent a message to the hospital:

Move my surgery to the earliest available slot.

The next morning, I drove to the hospital alone.

After finishing all the pre-procedure tests, I sat waiting. Two nurses recognized me.

Their eyes swept over me, dripping with contempt, their voices sharp enough to cut.

"Well, well. Isn't this the little canary who's been clinging to Mr. Stephens? No ring, no title, just a homewrecker."

"Yesterday Ms. Pruitt took a little fall and Mr. Stephens summoned every top specialist in the hospital for a consultation. Then she had nightmares, and he stayed by her side the entire night, coaxing her back to sleep."

"And look at this one. Here all by herself to get an abortion. Thought she could use a baby to climb her way up, but Mr. Stephens doesn't want some illegitimate child. What a joke."

Every word drove into me like a needle. My chest seized, a dull ache spreading outward until even breathing felt raw.

I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms, and held myself still.

My name was called. I was wheeled into the operating room.

I lay on the freezing surgical table, the cold seeping straight into my bones, my body trembling.

The instruments entered me, ice-cold and merciless, and pain tore through my lower body.

I felt it clearly. The tiny life inside me, slipping away. Dying.

I bit down on my lip until the taste of blood filled my mouth. Tears slid down my temples without a sound.

I lost track of time. Then, finally, it was over.

The doctor looked at me, sighed, and listed the post-operative instructions.

I nodded numbly and walked out on legs that barely held me.

I had just reached the main lobby when I saw Warren walking toward me with Georgina in his arms.

Our eyes met. The tenderness on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a hard, guarded look as he pulled Georgina closer against his chest.

"What are you doing here?"

I said nothing. I just stood there, steadying myself.

He must have noticed something was wrong. His gaze lingered on my chalk-white face, and his brow creased, a flicker of concern surfacing in his eyes.

"Are you sick? You look terrible."

He started to step toward me, but Georgina lifted her head from his shoulder, eyes rimmed pink, the picture of wounded innocence.

"Eudora, are you upset with me because my nightmares pulled Warren away from you last night? Is that why you came to the hospital today, pretending to be sick so he'd feel sorry for you?"

The concern on Warren's face dissolved the moment she spoke.

He looked at me with disappointment and anger hardening his features. "Eudora Fox, can you stop being so difficult? Georgie's health is fragile. Do you have to compete with her over every little thing?"

I pulled my lips into a thin smile. It tasted like ashes.

"I already handed you over to her on a silver platter. That's not enough?"

I turned and walked away before he could answer, and drove home.

But Warren brought Georgina back to the house.

He stood over me, his tone brooking no argument.

"Give Georgie your blessing charm. She's been having nightmares every night and can't sleep. She can wear it to calm her nerves."

My head snapped up. I stared at him, disbelief flooding through me, my entire body going cold.

That blessing charm. My mother had it blessed for me right before I was kidnapped all those years ago.

Later, when I took a knife for Warren, when I followed him into one danger after another, that charm was what kept me alive.

When I didn't move, his brow furrowed, his expression that of a man who couldn't fathom why anyone would refuse.

"It's not like it's some priceless treasure. What's the harm in letting her wear it?"

A bitter laugh scraped out of my throat. The pain in my chest was so sharp I couldn't draw a full breath, and my vision blurred at the edges.

After a long silence, I gave in. A slow, defeated nod.

"Fine. I'll give it to her."

I knew him too well. If I refused, he would simply find a crueler way to take it from me.

I dragged my body upstairs on legs that wanted to buckle.

I pulled the blessing charm from beneath my pillow and ran my thumb across its surface. A single tear fell into my palm, so hot it made me flinch.

After a long while, I went back downstairs. As I reached the study door, I heard Warren inside on the phone.

His friend's voice carried through the gap, laced with amusement.

"You actually married Georgina and Eudora didn't put up a fight? Do you really like Georgina that much?"

Warren was quiet for a few seconds. "She suffered too much trying to save me back then. I have a responsibility to take care of her."

"But Eudora's been by your side through life and death all these years too."

Warren hesitated. But then his voice came again.

"Once Georgie's baby is born and registered, I'll marry her."

Laughter from the other end.

"Eudora's stubborn as hell. Aren't you worried she'll come after you?"

Warren let out a low laugh, his tone soaked in contempt.

"Come after me? She doesn't have it in her. Besides, after all these years, I've got her completely broken in. I'm all she has. She can't survive without me."

"Even if she did leave, where would she go? A woman I've already used up. Who in this world would want her?"

My blood stopped moving. Every limb, every joint, shook with a tremor I couldn't control.

I couldn't believe it. The man I had loved for all these years had just said those words. Words that stripped me down to nothing.

Something warm and metallic surged up my throat. I clenched my teeth and forced it back down. My eyes burned red, but not a single tear would come.

Warren Stephens, I am not yours to own.

And when I leave you, there will be someone who loves me.