Eight months pregnant, and Thomas Gilbert had me committed to a psych ward fifteen times. I had him hauled to a police station sixteen.

All because whenever I leaked footage of him and his first love getting intimate, he'd have me institutionalized.

A few days of "treatment" later, I'd inevitably drag him right back to the precinct.

After ninety-nine rounds of filing for divorce, both sets of parents finally cracked under the chaos and stepped in to mediate a reconciliation.

He burned the betrothal gifts the Shen family had sent for me. I shredded the marriage contract the Liu family had drawn up for him.

At the courthouse, he held me so tight I could barely breathe.

"No more fighting."

"If you don't want her around, I'll make her leave."

"From now on, it's just us and our baby. We'll be a real family."

His voice was soft as water. My eyes burned red.

We remarried. Tracey Harding vanished without a trace.

Until the day of our daughter's first birthday party, when Lily Abbott was snatched right out from under us.

I called in every connection I had, searching everywhere like a woman gone mad.

Twenty-four hours later, I finally found my daughter in a hospital bed, barely clinging to life.

Thomas was standing right beside her.

He had another child in his arms, the same age as Lily. His tone was casual.

"Douglas has a congenital bone marrow deficiency. Our daughter happened to be a perfect match, so I had them extract a little."

The air locked in my chest. My gaze dropped to the patient chart at the foot of the bed.

Name: Douglas Gilbert.

Father: Thomas Gilbert.

Mother: Tracey Harding.

So getting rid of Tracey had been a lie.

He'd kept her. And for the sake of their illegitimate son, he'd drained our daughter's bone marrow.

I forced the corners of my mouth up. The expression on my face twisted into something unrecognizable.

Good thing the marriage certificate from our remarriage was fake too.

We were even.

...

The hospital room was dead silent.

Then Lily let out a weak, agonized whimper.

I snapped back and rushed to her side.

Her tiny body was threaded with tubes, her face white as paper.

I reached out to touch her, but my fingers shook too badly to make contact.

Thomas was still over by the other bed, murmuring softly to that bastard child like nothing in the world was wrong.

Something hot and corrosive ripped through my chest. I wanted to scream at him, but no sound came out.

The door swung open. A team of doctors filed in.

Every single one of them went straight to Thomas, crowding around the child in his arms.

I lost it.

"That bastard is fine! My daughter is the one who had her bone marrow ripped out of her!"

The doctors froze mid-step. Only Thomas glanced my way.

He set the boy down on the bed with exaggerated care, then looked at me with open irritation.

"After all these years, you still have no class."

"Douglas just came out of surgery. He's fragile right now. What's the rush?"

I stood there, stunned.

By what he said. By what he did.

From the day Lily was born, he had never once shown this kind of devotion.

I could count the number of times he'd held her on one hand.

I'd always assumed he just didn't like children.

Or that, like he used to say when we were young, he loved me more than he could ever love a kid.

Turns out he'd built an entire family on the side.

Turns out he was perfectly capable of tenderness. Just not for us.

I almost laughed.

"Thomas Gilbert, you kidnapped our daughter and had her bone marrow harvested for your bastard son!"

"You want to lecture me about class? Where's your conscience? Did you feed it to the dogs?"

Behind me, Lily whimpered again, the sound thin and raw.

I whipped around and screamed at the doctors.

Not a single one moved.

They stood there until Thomas gave a slight nod. Only then did they drift over, running through a perfunctory check on Lily.

"Your daughter is fine. She just needs rest."

The doctor's tone was offhand, dismissive.

Even someone like me, with half a medical degree under her belt, could see that was a lie. It was nowhere near that simple.

My fists clenched on their own, nails digging crescents into my palms.

"She's one year old. She just had bone marrow extracted from her body. And you think a visual exam is enough?"

"Get me different doctors. Now."

The doctors in front of me didn't so much as blink.

I bolted into the hallway and found the entire floor deserted.

After a long silence, the lead physician finally spoke.

"Ma'am, please calm down."

"Mr. Gilbert reserved every room on this floor. Without his authorization, no one gets in."

"Now if you could step aside, we need to continue the young master's treatment."

I stared the doctor down and didn't move.

Behind me, a cluster of nurses whispered among themselves, every word carrying in the stillness.

"Everyone knows Mr. Gilbert only cares about the young master. She's just the mother of some illegitimate daughter, and she has the nerve to throw a fit?"

"Exactly. If she can't even leverage her own child for status, what kind of mistress is she?"

I bit down on my lower lip until I tasted iron, then forced myself to look at Thomas.

He acted as though he hadn't heard a word. Completely unbothered.

No correction. No defense.

He was just watching the child on the other bed, his gaze lingering with a tenderness I'd never once been given.

"Stop making a scene. Douglas just fell asleep."

"No wonder God made you wait all those years before giving you a child. You don't have the first idea how to be a mother."

My eyes went wide.

My hand moved before I could think. The slap cracked across his face.

A sharp sound split the quiet. Half his face swelled red, and his brow furrowed.

"Thomas Gilbert. You know exactly why I couldn't get pregnant all those years."

He stiffened. The crease in his brow slowly relaxed into something blank.

"Enough. That was forever ago. How long are you going to hold onto it?"

I was going to hold onto it for as long as it took.

"When your company was just getting off the ground, I was the one they poured drinks into at those business dinners. I ended up with alcohol poisoning."

"When your rivals kidnapped you and threw you into the ocean, I traded myself to get you back. I nearly died."

"And then, two years ago, the first time I caught you with Tracey Harding."

I locked onto his eyes and did not look away.

"I had just found out I was pregnant. But you were so afraid it would upset her that you forced me to abort. And after that, I could barely conceive again."

Thomas couldn't meet my eyes.

I let out a bitter laugh, the taste of it like ash.

"If I'd known it would come to this, I never should have remarried you."

He finally lowered his head.

"I... You're right. I owe you for all of that."

I closed my eyes.

"You've owed me for years, Thomas. Every single one of them."

"And you owe our daughter just as much."

"Since the day she was born, you never once cared about her. Not when she was sick. Not when she cried."

"But that bastard child of yours? Him you dote on."

Thomas said nothing.

I scoffed and turned to look at the two children.

My daughter was gaunt and sallow, her tiny brow furrowed even in sleep.

The other child was plump and rosy, visibly healthier in every way.

The bitterness spilled out before I could stop it.

"You really do play the devoted husband for Tracey and her son."

"Too bad a mistress will always be a mistress, and a bastard will always be a bastard."

That hit a nerve.

"Do you have to be so vile? What do you mean, bastard?"

"If you'd been able to conceive, do you think I would've gone to her for a child?"

My eyes went wide.

"What are you saying..."

He lifted his head and stared straight into my eyes.

"I'm telling you, Douglas is not a bastard, and he will never be called illegitimate."

"What can a girl accomplish? The Gilbert family name, the legacy, the empire — all of it needs a son."

The room fell silent. I stared at him, unable to process what I'd just heard.

He frowned, impatient.

"If Douglas hadn't gotten sick, if the bone marrow match hadn't led back to her, do you think you would've ever found out?"

"Just think of it as your daughter doing a good deed. Building up karma. Once she's discharged, we go back to normal. We move on."

The sheer absurdity of it pulled a cold laugh from my throat.

My daughter had been kidnapped at her own first birthday party and drained of her bone marrow. I'd tracked down the culprit, only to discover it was her own father.

Thomas Gilbert didn't give a damn whether his daughter lived or died, yet somehow I was the one being unreasonable.

I made a phone call. My assistant arrived within minutes, people in tow.

Thomas's bodyguards moved to block them. I shut that down myself.

My lawyer handed me the custody relinquishment agreement. I took it and threw it at Thomas.

"If this hospital won't treat her, I'll find one that will."

"Since you can't stand the sight of your own daughter, you can have exactly what you want."

"Sign it."

Thomas stared at the document, stunned for half a second, then erupted.

"What the hell are you doing? Who gave you permission to draw this up?"

"I'm telling you, there's no way I'm signing—"

I raised a hand and cut him off before he could finish.

"When I was eight months pregnant and agreed to remarry you, you promised you'd be good to me and our daughter."

"That was the last time I ever believed you."

"Three days. Whether you sign or not, I'm taking my daughter."

I turned and walked away, ignoring his frantic shouting behind me.

Once I was past the hospital doors, I stopped, leaned close to my assistant's ear.

"Get Lily's surgical reports. I'm not swallowing this. I'm going to make him pay."

My daughter's condition was serious.

Her already frail body had been drained of bone marrow. She needed rest and careful treatment more than ever.

I stayed at the hospital for days. Not a word from Thomas.

He didn't visit her once.

My assistant told me why: Tracey's brat had fallen ill again, and Thomas was at his bedside around the clock.

It wasn't until Lily's condition finally stabilized that I went to collect the agreement in person.

I went straight to that hospital room myself.

But the moment my fingers touched the door handle, I heard voices inside.

"Mr. Gilbert, your wife has been at the hospital with your daughter for days."

"Her assistant asked that you please sign the agreement as soon as possible."

Thomas's voice was flat, dripping with contempt.

"She's a Gilbert by blood. Why would I hand her over?"

"This whole mess is Vivienne's fault to begin with. Let her stew a few more days, and she'll come crawling back to apologize."

His assistant hesitated, then ventured carefully.

"And if... your wife pushes for divorce again?"

Thomas let out a derisive laugh, voice brimming with certainty.

"Even if she tries, she can't leave me. She can't leave the Gilbert family."

"Forget how much she loves me. Even if we divorced, who'd want her? Damaged goods dragging a kid around."

"Besides, with Douglas's condition... we might still need Lily."

The sound of my daughter's name knocked the air from my lungs. My hand clenched around the door handle.

Another voice rose from inside, syrupy and soft. Tracey.

"Thomas, I still... want to give Douglas a real place in the family."

Thomas's voice softened immediately.

"Alright, if that's what you want, I'll make it happen."

"Douglas deserves to be recognized. We'll hold a paternity recognition banquet and formally welcome him into the Gilbert family."

Tracey beamed, then put on a show of concern.

"But… won't your wife be angry? What if she takes Lily and leaves?"

Thomas shook his head without a shred of doubt.

"The marriage certificate is in my hands. No matter how angry she gets, she can't take our daughter anywhere."

I drew a long breath.

Forced every ounce of rage back down my throat.

Barging in now wouldn't do anyone any good.

I released the door handle and slipped away in silence.

One thing was clear: I needed custody settled as soon as possible.

I didn't waste a single hour. By that afternoon I had every document and appeal prepared, and I delivered them to the courthouse myself.

The ruling would take time, but I was certain the outcome would be in my favor.

After all, when we'd remarried, Thomas had rushed through the registration at the courthouse and left me standing there alone.

Back then, I'd assumed he was too busy with work.

Now I could see it was probably Tracey pulling his strings again.

And thanks to her little stunt, Thomas hadn't had time to look closely.

He never noticed the marriage certificate was fake.

But before the final ruling came through, Thomas called first.

"Vivienne, I don't care how many days you plan to keep this tantrum going. Bring me Lily's lucky charm necklace."

"Douglas has always been in poor health. I'm going to put it on him myself."

The moment his words landed, a new message flashed across my screen.

A headline: the Gilbert family's young heir to be formally recognized at a paternity recognition banquet.

I recognized the number. Tracey had sent it.

On the other end of the line, Thomas was still pressing.

I stared at the message and let out a cold laugh.

"Thomas, have you forgotten what you said when we prayed for that necklace?"

Lily had been frail and sickly from the day she was born.

Thomas was the one who took me to the chapel to pray for a lucky charm necklace.

But the priest said Lily was marked by too much illness and misfortune, and refused to bless one for her.

We knelt and bowed our way up all 999 steps, one for every prayer, before the priest finally relented.

And now he wanted to take his own daughter's blessed necklace and pin it on that bastard child at a banquet.

Thomas went quiet for a moment, then spoke again, just as resolute.

"Bring it."

I bit down on my lip until I tasted copper.

"And if I don't?"

A careless laugh drifted through the receiver.

"Then I'll come get it myself."

"Douglas still needs Lily's bone marrow anyway. I'll collect both tomorrow."

I froze, then lost all control.

"You heartless bastard! She's your own flesh and blood!"

"I will never give in! The necklace and my daughter, you're not taking either one!"

Silence on the other end.

When he spoke again, his voice had gone ice-cold.

"I'll bring the Gilbert security detail with me. Try me."

The line went dead.

I stood there, phone clenched in a white-knuckled grip, unable to move.

The Gilbert security detail.

Back when Thomas and I had been at each other's throats in the early years, I'd seen what they were capable of.

Gilbert Corp had poured everything into building that unit from the ground up.

They were top-tier professionals and absolute thugs in equal measure.

If they showed up…

The thought snapped me back. I grabbed my phone and dialed my assistant.

"Move Lily to another hospital. Now."

The next day, Thomas came anyway.

A wall of towering bodyguards in black crowded the hallway outside the hospital room, radiating menace.

Thomas stood at the front, Tracey clinging to his arm.

He raised an eyebrow, cutting straight to the point.

"Vivienne, be a good girl. Hand over the necklace and Lily."

"Unless you want to find out how many hospitals in this city would still dare admit you and your daughter."

I didn't acknowledge him. My gaze went to the far end of the corridor.

Thomas's expression hardened at being ignored.

"Do it."

"Who dares lay a hand on my daughter?"

Thomas turned toward the voice and went still when he saw who it was.

Then he looked back at me.

He clearly had no idea that this hospital's majority shareholder was my father.

The color drained from Thomas's face.

It was dawning on him that against a large enough force, even the Gilbert elite security detail had no choice but to stand down.

After a tense exchange, he could only take Tracey and leave, humiliated.

But just before he walked away, he leaned in close and smiled for no apparent reason.

"I didn't expect you to have a card up your sleeve."

My expression didn't change.

"And I didn't expect you'd use Gilbert's security force against your own wife and daughter for the sake of your mistress."

His lips curled, and he looked past me toward the hospital room.

I shifted, blocking his line of sight without a flicker of reaction.

Thomas pulled his gaze back, amusement still in his voice.

"Why would I ever go after my own wife and daughter?"

Before I could respond, he had already stepped back and turned to leave.

Something about it didn't sit right.

Every instinct I had was screaming that something was wrong.

That same day, I had my assistant double the security outside the hospital room.

I even brought in my father's people.

After a moment's thought, I ordered my assistant to copy every frame of the hospital's surveillance footage.

Proof that Thomas had shown up with his mistress trying to take my daughter by force.

Only then did I let myself breathe.

"That should be enough. For now."