For the next few days, I never left my daughter's bedside.

Not until the scheduled date of my mother's bone marrow transplant did I finally step away.

She'd been sick since she was young. Fifteen years searching for a match, and they'd finally found one.

Once the surgery was done and both my mother and Lily were discharged, I would destroy Thomas Gilbert's reputation.

Then take my family abroad.

Leave this place forever.

Maybe it was knowing the surgery was finally happening.

My mother was still bedridden, but the color in her face looked better than it had in months.

When I arrived, the TV happened to be tuned to the news.

Gilbert Group CEO Thomas Gilbert has publicly announced a paternity recognition banquet for his son...

After a long silence, my mother took my hand. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Whatever you decide to do, I'm behind you."

"If you're tired of it, get the divorce. I'll help you raise the baby."

My nose stung. I barely held back the sob building in my throat.

She always supported me, no questions asked.

When I got married. And now, when I was ready to end it.

I said a few words to reassure her, then got up to find the doctor.

The scheduled surgery time had already passed, and no one had come in.

My mother had been resuscitated multiple times before. She'd had several critical condition notices issued.

Today was the deadline. There was no more room for delay.

I went to the nurses' station and explained the situation.

Several nurses stood up immediately and wheeled my mother into the operating room.

A short while later, one of them came back out.

"The patient has been given anesthesia. I'll go get the lead surgeon right now."

I nodded gratefully, thanking her again and again.

But minutes passed. The anesthesia had already taken effect, and the surgeon still hadn't appeared.

Then the operating room doors swung open.

Every nurse inside filed out and headed for the stairwell.

I didn't understand. I grabbed one of them at random.

"Where are you going? My mother is still waiting for her surgery!"

"Please don't leave. The doctor said her condition can't wait any longer..."

The nurse shook me off and kept walking.

"Please wait. Ms. Harding sprained her ankle, and Mr. Gilbert is furious. He ordered all staff to go treat her."

I froze. My mind went blank.

Thomas knew. He knew my mother's surgery was scheduled for today.

He did this on purpose.

Behind me, the operating room doors stood wide open. My mother's agonized moans carried out into the hall.

I shot to my feet and ran inside.

She was lying there, her face drained of all color.

I grabbed her hand.

"Mom!"

On the monitor beside her, every vital sign was plummeting.

Panic seized me.

"Mom! Are you okay? Doctor! Nurse! Is anyone there?!"

I slammed the call button over and over.

No one answered.

My mother's face had gone purple. The oxygen mask fogged in rapid, shallow bursts, and her hands were clawing at the air.

My knees buckled. I stumbled out of the operating room.

The first person I saw in a white coat, I lunged at them.

"Please, save my mother!"

"She's alone on the table with no one treating her, please..."

But one doctor after another waved me off.

Their faces were tight with discomfort.

"Mr. Gilbert gave the order. Everyone has to go attend to Ms. Harding."

Then a shrill, continuous tone cut through the air from inside the operating room.

My breath stopped. I forced myself back inside.

The line on the heart monitor had gone flat.

Her hand was stiffening in mine. No new fog appeared in the oxygen mask.

Her eyes were wide open. A single tear sat at the corner of one.

I had no strength left. My hands shook as I closed her eyes.

My brain nearly shut down.

On autopilot, I texted my assistant.

I need all the hospital surveillance footage from this morning.

Then I opened the voice recorder on my phone.

I forced myself to follow the crowd toward that room.

Tracey was sitting up in bed, surrounded by a swarm of doctors.

And Thomas was kneeling beside her, cradling her foot, rubbing ointment onto her ankle.

What a joke.

The great Thomas Gilbert, who couldn't even be bothered to hold his own daughter once.

Now those hands, the ones that commanded empires, were cradling Tracey Harding's foot.

He saw me and the corner of his mouth curled up.

"Vivienne. This is what happens when you go against me."

"Don't worry. Once Tracey's ankle heals, I'll send the lead surgeon over."

The doctor beside him jumped in, practically falling over himself to please.

"Mr. Gilbert, of course Ms. Harding's ankle takes priority. Everything else can wait."

My pupils contracted.

That doctor was the same one who had extracted Lily's bone marrow.

They were all in it together.

My face went blank. The pain in my chest had numbed itself into nothing.

"No need. My mother is already gone."

Thomas laughed.

"Trying to lie your way into getting a doctor? You can't fool me."

He closed the distance, step by step.

"If something really did happen to her, it's your fault, Vivienne. You're the one who refused to back down."

My throat locked. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I rushed forward and raised my arm.

My palm was inches from Thomas's face.

But Tracey, the woman with the supposedly injured ankle, shot to her feet and threw herself between us.

She shoved me. Hard.

I wasn't braced for it. The back of my skull cracked against the doorframe and my body flew backward.

Before I blacked out, I heard Thomas's panicked shout.

"Vivienne!"

When I opened my eyes again, every inch of me screamed with pain, except my abdomen. My abdomen felt nothing at all.

The doctor and Thomas were both standing at my bedside.

Memory flooded back. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to look at either of them.

But the doctor delivered the news anyway.

"The prolonged stress and the delay in treatment allowed the cancer cells to spread."

My eyes snapped open. "Cancer...?"

The doctor sighed. "Uterine cancer."

"The fall also caused severe trauma to the uterus."

"The surgery went well. We removed the uterus and saved your life."

"But you will never be able to bear children again."

I stared at nothing. The agony in my chest arrived on a delay, crashing over me all at once.

Tears slid down before I could stop them.

Thomas grabbed my hand, gripping it so tight his fingertips trembled.

He bowed his head, pressing his forehead against mine.

A long silence. Then his voice came out broken.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

"I thought we could have another child..."

"But I was so caught up with Douglas's bone marrow transplant..."

Another child.

That would never happen now. Not in this lifetime.

And Lily would never have anything to do with Thomas Gilbert again either.

"Vivienne, once Douglas is formally adopted into the Gilbert family, we'll start fresh. A real life together."

"I mean it this time. I'll send Tracey away."

He paused, then scrambled to his feet.

"I'll go take care of it right now."

The door clicked shut, and a sharp cramp tore through my abdomen.

The anesthesia was wearing off.

So was everything between us.

I ignored every instruction the doctor gave me, dragged my post-surgery body out of bed, and made my way to my daughter's room.

She had been bright-eyed and alert that morning. Now she lay unconscious.

I asked the nurse. Tracey had been here.

She was the mother of the young Gilbert heir.

The future "Mrs. Gilbert."

So no one had dared stop her.

I clenched my jaw until my teeth ached.

Tracey Harding.

Mrs. Gilbert.

If she wanted Thomas so badly, then fine.

I'd give her exactly what she wanted.

It took only a few hours.

Thomas Gilbert's affair hit every major news outlet.

I released everything I had.

The report proving he had kidnapped Lily and forced her into surgery for his illegitimate son's sake.

Photos and audio recordings of him and Tracey together inside the hospital.

Surveillance footage of the hospital staff bowing to Thomas's orders, leaving my mother to die on the operating table.

Within thirty minutes of the story breaking:

The hospital was under full government investigation.

Gilbert Group stock went into free fall.

Reporters swarmed Thomas's front gate.

Even Tracey and her son weren't spared.

My phone rang nonstop.

Every call was from Thomas.

I pulled the SIM card out and dropped it in the trash.

My private physician carried Lily aboard the jet.

I stood on the rooftop of our company building, looking at the tower next door.

My assistant followed my gaze.

"The Gilbert Building. You designed those blueprints for Mr. Gilbert yourself."

"Would you like to say goodbye, ma'am?"

Every sweet memory surfaced at once.

Now each one was just a needle lodged under my skin.

I let out a cold laugh and handed my assistant the envelope I had prepared.

Inside was the custody ruling I'd just obtained.

And the fake marriage certificate from our so-called remarriage.

"No need. Just make sure he gets this."

I turned and walked onto the plane without looking back.

My daughter in my arms. The wheels lifting off the tarmac.

The chaos behind me.

None of it was mine to carry anymore.