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.

I shoved the door open. My whole body was shaking.

Warren hung up the phone and looked at me. Not a flicker of guilt in his eyes.

"The blessing charm?"

I raised my hand and held it out to him. He took it without ceremony and gave me a satisfied smile.

Then he turned and walked out, fastening it gently around Georgina's waist, his voice dripping with tenderness.

"Wear this, and you won't have nightmares anymore."

Georgina nodded happily and cast a victor's smile in my direction.

I couldn't stand watching them wrapped up in each other a second longer. I turned to leave, but Warren called after me.

"Eudora, move out of the master bedroom. Georgie's pregnant and fragile. The master bedroom gets the best sunlight. It's the most suitable place for her to rest."

I looked up at him. The pain in my chest had gone past hurting into something numb and hollow.

"Fine."

I went straight to pack. Everything connected to Warren went into a box.

Our photos together. The love letters I'd written him. Our wedding album.

I looked at all of it and felt nothing. I pulled out a lighter and tossed it in. The flame caught instantly, licking across every object that had once held the whole of my love and sincerity, reducing them to ash.

A soft laugh came from behind me. Georgina was standing in the doorway. I didn't know how long she'd been there. Her smile was radiant and venomous at the same time.

"Eudora Fox, you really are pathetic. You trailed after him like a dog for years, and in the end, you still couldn't measure up to me."

I looked at her gloating face and said nothing.

Hurried footsteps. Warren had smelled the burning and come upstairs.

The moment he saw what was in the flames, his face went white with fury. He crossed the room in two strides, seized my wrist, his voice shaking.

"Eudora Fox, you actually dared to burn these?"

Then he let out a cold, scornful laugh. "Are you done with the theatrics? Burning all this to guilt-trip me into going soft?"

I lowered my eyes. My voice was flat. No rise, no fall.

"They're all useless things anyway."

"Get out!" he snarled. "Get to the servants' quarters."

"Fine."

I dragged my suitcase behind me, spine straight, and walked to the servants' quarters.

The whole night, the hard mattress dug into my bones. Cold air knifed through the gaps in the window.

My lower abdomen seized and cramped where the procedure had been. My entire body was ice-cold, and I couldn't stop trembling from the pain.

I held on until dawn. I forced my weakened body upright, opened my phone, and saw that the trending page had exploded.

#EudoraFoxAndWarrenStephensTogetherForYears#

#GeorginaPruittIsTheRealHomewrecker#

The trending feeds were flooded with evidence of my relationship with Warren. Someone had even tracked down our wedding venue.

Every last piece of it proved that he and I had been in love for years, and that Georgina, who'd suddenly returned from abroad, was the one who'd inserted herself between us.

The door was kicked open. Warren stormed in, his face black with rage.

"Eudora Fox, you really are as vicious as you've always been. You got Georgie cyberbullied. If anything happens to her, I won't let you off."

I curved my lips. "Are you saying it isn't true?"

That pushed him over the edge. Something violent churned in his eyes, and he closed the distance between us in long, heavy strides.

Without a word, he pinned me down on the bed and crushed his mouth against mine. Rough. Frenzied.

He tore at my clothes, breathing hard.

"You're jealous that she's carrying my child, is that it? Fine. We'll have one too."

He was about to force himself in. In desperation, I bit down on his lip as hard as I could. The taste of blood flooded my mouth instantly.

"You disgust me."

He recoiled from the pain, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were terrifyingly dark.

"I disgust you?"

"Yes." I was panting. "You're filthy."

He laughed out loud, gripped my chin, and forced me to look into his eyes. Every word was a blade.

"Eudora Fox, haven't I already made you filthy too? I know every sensitive spot on your body. Don't ever dream of leaving me. No one else in this world would want you."

I held back the tears surging behind my eyes and stared at him, unmoving. Cold. Hollowed out.

His gaze dropped suddenly to the scar on my lower abdomen. Something trembled in his pupils.

I'd gotten that scar years ago, taking a knife meant for him. The doctor had said the wound was too deep; it had damaged my uterus. Getting pregnant in the future would be very difficult.

His pupils contracted sharply. For a fraction of a second, something shifted in his expression. A flash of panic. A thread of something raw and bitter.

But he crushed it down by force. He looked away, and every word he spoke was designed to destroy.

"Cover up your scar. Are you keeping it on display to remind me how much you've sacrificed? So I'll be grateful and obedient to you forever?"

"Face reality. You're the one who can't leave me. Everyone in Northbank knows I've used you up. No one else would want you."

The words landed, and my tears fell with them. I lifted my head, met his eyes, and smiled. It was a wrecked, unhinged smile.

"Yes, Warren. There was a time I truly believed I couldn't live without you."

He looked down at me from above.

"I'll ask you one last time. You really won't issue a denial?"

"No."

Warren let out a cold laugh. "Good. Don't blame me for showing no mercy."

He spat those words and walked out.

I pulled on my clothes. The pain across my body and the pain inside my chest braided together until everything went numb.

I threw a few of my only remaining clothes into a suitcase and dragged it toward the door, but Georgina blocked my path.

Her eyes were rimmed red. She seized my hand, dropped to her knees in front of me, and sobbed so hard she could barely speak.

"Eudora, Warren and I are legally married. We're husband and wife. Why would you slander me like this? Do you want me dead?"

I tried to wrench my hand free, but she only gripped tighter. Her nails dug in until they nearly broke skin.

The next second, her body pitched backward and a shriek tore through the room.

The same old trick. And Warren fell for it every single time.

Sure enough, he came charging in. He shoved me aside. My body was too weak to absorb the force, and I stumbled into the wall. A vicious cramp ripped through my lower abdomen. My vision went black.

"Eudora Fox, you've lost your mind." He scooped Georgina into his arms and roared at me. "Once wasn't enough, so you try again? Do you actually want to kill her baby?"

Before I could open my mouth, he snatched my phone, opened my social media, pasted in a statement his assistant had drafted, and hit post.

I'm the other woman. I'm the shameless one who threw herself at Mr. Stephens and refused to let go. Everything was my own doing. The woman he loves is Georgina. She is, and always has been, the rightful Mrs. Stephens.

After the post went through, he hurled the phone at my feet.

I crouched down and picked it up. A new message had come in. From my brother.

Dora, we've arrived in Northbank. Thirty minutes out. We're coming to take you home.

My nose stung. I didn't want to hear anything, didn't want to explain anything. I just wanted to leave.

The moment I turned to go, Georgina cried out from Warren's arms. "Warren, my stomach hurts so much."

His expression changed instantly. He forgot I existed, gathered her up, and rushed for the door.

At the threshold, he stopped and gave his bodyguards an order.

"Lock her in the chapel. Whip her. Don't stop until I get back."

Two bodyguards seized me and dragged me to the family chapel.

I fought with everything I had, but they forced me into a chair. The first lash landed across my back. The pain swallowed every other thought. I forgot how to breathe. Cold sweat rolled down my face.

The will to survive ripped something open inside me. I tore free of their grip, grabbed a bamboo splinter from the table, and pressed it against my throat.

"Get back."

My voice shook. My eyes did not.

"Take one step closer and I die right here. When Warren walks in and sees my body, every last one of you goes down with me."

The bodyguards froze. They had worked for Warren for years. They knew exactly what kind of person I was.

After a long, taut silence, they stepped aside.

I staggered out of the villa. The sky split open without warning, wind howling, rain crashing down in sheets.

I was soaked in seconds. My thin clothes clung to every wound, cold and burning at the same time. But I smiled. And I kept walking.

I pulled out my phone and loaded the videos I had recorded.

Georgina never imagined that after her first stunt, I had bought a hidden camera. Every word she said, every move she made, captured in perfect clarity.

I set them on a timer to send to Warren, then dropped the phone into the rain.

The downpour only grew heavier. I kept moving forward. My vision blurred, then blurred again, and just as my legs were about to give out,

dozens of black sedans pulled up in a perfect line and stopped in front of me.

The door of the lead car swung open. A familiar figure sprinted out and caught me before I hit the ground.

My brother.

He saw me drenched, battered, white as a ghost, and his eyes went red. His voice broke apart.

"Dora... Warren Stephens did this to you. This is my fault. All my fault for not finding you sooner."

I leaned into his chest and used the last scrap of strength I had to smile at him.

"It's okay. I just want to go home."

Then the darkness took me.

At the hospital, Warren sat at Georgina's bedside. Only after the doctor confirmed for the third time that she had merely been frightened and the baby was fine did he let himself exhale.

He took out his phone, expecting to find a message from me. An apology, maybe.

There was nothing. Not a single word. I hadn't even deleted the statement he'd posted from my account.

The silence was wrong. All of it was wrong. An irritation he couldn't name crawled under his skin.

It hadn't occurred to him that three hours had passed since he'd locked me in the chapel.

It hadn't occurred to him that the order he'd given his bodyguards was still supposed to be in effect.

His phone rang. The bodyguard's voice came through, trembling.

"I'm sorry, sir. We didn't carry out your orders regarding Ms. Fox. She held a blade to her own throat. We had no choice but to let her go."