On their third wedding anniversary, the gift Madison Maddox received was a video of her husband and his secretary going at it in a car, trending number one across every platform.

Every guest in that banquet hall had their eyes locked on her, waiting for the notoriously fierce Mrs. Delgado to shatter, to scream, to make a scene worthy of the headlines.

Instead, she calmly arranged for the guests to leave. Then she drove straight to the Delgado estate and said the words she'd been holding inside.

"I want to divorce Joel. I'm pregnant, and I need you to keep it from him."

Phyllis Delgado was struck by equal measures of heartbreak and shock. The woman who had loved her son so fiercely was now carrying his child, asking for a divorce, and refusing to let him know.

Madison let out a bitter laugh. She had loved Joel. When his car accident left him broken, she'd abandoned her own future and career to walk that long road beside him.

But after the wedding, Joel's "amnesia episodes" became routine. He'd forget her, forget their marriage, and lose himself in one woman after another.

She'd thrown away her dignity and her pride. She'd fought, she'd wept, she'd threatened. He'd come back to his senses and apologize, and the very next day he'd be kissing someone else on the street.

She kept telling herself he was sick. Then, the day before, she'd heard the truth.

The voice on the other end of the phone had been teasing, amused. "You really found yourself a brilliant excuse. But seriously, you don't love her anymore?"

Joel had scoffed.

"I used to. But I got bored. She's not young anymore, and she's suspicious of every little thing. Besides, what man can love just one woman his whole life?"

In that single moment, her mind went blank, and something inside her died.

Fine, then. She would leave. And she would take the child growing inside her with her.

But after the divorce, when Joel learned the truth, he would lose his mind and drop to his knees, begging for her forgiveness.

——

Their third wedding anniversary. Madison Maddox received a very special gift.

A video of Joel Delgado and his secretary tangled together in the back of his car, rocketing to the top of every trending list online.

Half an hour earlier, he had been holding her hand as they cut the anniversary cake together. His voice had been tender. "Every year from now on," he'd murmured. "Just like this."

Now every pair of eyes in the banquet hall was fixed on Madison. Curiosity, mockery, pity, all braided together. They were waiting for the famously fierce Mrs. Delgado to crack, to crumble, to give them a show.

"Ma'am, should I pull up his location?"

Spencer's expression was strained, his voice dropping lower with every word. "I'm sure it's just Mr. Delgado's amnesia flaring up again."

The old Mrs. Delgado had given strict orders: nothing was to upset the young madam today. All Spencer could do was invoke Joel's condition and hope she'd stay calm.

Madison's face showed nothing at all.

"Don't bother. The footage is grainy. Just get it taken down."

Spencer stood frozen, unable to believe what he'd heard.

The murmurs among the guests erupted like a kicked hornet's nest.

"She's not going after him? Did I hear that right?"

"Last time Joel was spotted on a date with some influencer, she'd just come out of surgery. She literally dragged herself out of bed and threatened to end herself if he didn't come home."

"And on her birthday, when he brought that little starlet? She blacklisted the girl from the entire industry and had their wedding photos playing on loop at the venue to mark her territory."

"But it's just his post-accident condition acting up. He forgets the marriage, forgets her. And every woman he goes after looks at least seventy percent like Madison."

"Exactly. That proves she's the one he really loves. But does she care? No. She makes a federal case out of every little slip. Zero compassion for what he's going through."

Every cruel word, every mocking laugh, landed in Madison's ears without missing a syllable.

They all assumed the same thing: she'd finally learned that making scenes risked losing her Mrs. Delgado title, so she was swallowing her pride at last.

Madison didn't argue. Her gaze had drifted to the wedding portrait hanging nearby, and for a moment, she lost herself in it.

Back then, his eyes had been full of love. But now she finally understood that love and vows were the most fragile things in the world. The most easily broken.

One day ago, she had overheard Joel on the phone with his best friend.

There was no intermittent amnesia. There never had been. He was simply tired of loving one woman. He wanted novelty, excitement. He remembered everything.

He remembered they'd grown up together. He remembered she was his wife.

He remembered her hysteria, her red-rimmed eyes, her begging him to come home. He'd watched her forgive him like a fool, over and over again.

Countless nights she had cried herself into exhaustion, unable to sleep.

Now she was done crying. And she was finally ready to let go.

When the dinner ended, Madison drove straight to the Delgado estate.

Phyllis had already seen the trending story. She looked at Madison with aching eyes, her hands trembling with fury.

She'd sent people to bring Joel home.

Within minutes, the phone rang. The household aide's voice came through shaking.

"Ma'am, the young master's episode has passed, but he says he's busy. He threw our people out. He asked us to pass along a message to the young madam. He says he feels terrible that his episode exposed the girl publicly, and he needs to stay and make it up to her."

"He also said the young madam handled it well, very sensible, getting the story taken down so the girl wouldn't be embarrassed. He said she's finally starting to show some—"

Phyllis hurled the phone to the floor. Her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"That ungrateful boy! When is this so-called illness of his ever going to end? What you've endured, Madison... it's beyond what anyone should bear."

Madison stepped forward and steadied Phyllis by the arm. When she spoke, her voice was calm, but threaded through with a bone-deep weariness.

"Mom, I came tonight because I need you to agree to something. I want to divorce Joel."

"Five years ago, the Maddox family went bankrupt. My father was critically ill. The Delgados stepped in and saved us. Your family will always be our benefactors."

"Then Joel had his accident, and he changed completely. He was reckless, self-destructive, impossible to control. You asked me to stay, to be by his side, to pull him out of that pit and help him settle down."

"I agreed. I turned down my acceptance to one of the best schools in the country. I gave up my career, my education. I gave him everything I had. And just when I thought things were getting better, the relapses started. He kept forgetting me."

"I fought. I screamed. I tore myself apart trying to hold on. But I can't keep him anymore, and I'll never make him remember me for good."

Phyllis's eyes went red. She pulled Madison into a tight embrace, her voice breaking.

"Our family has wronged you. When your parents entrusted you to us, I promised them I'd keep you happy for the rest of your life. I never imagined..."

"After the accident, he didn't recognize a soul in this world except you. He searched for you like a man possessed. He refused to marry anyone else. And now this condition of his flares up and the only person he forgets is you."

Madison opened her mouth. He never lost his memory. The words rose to the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them back down.

She just smiled, a small, self-mocking curve of her lips.

"Mom, I'm just... so tired."

Phyllis let out a long, heavy sigh.

"All right. I respect your decision."

Madison lifted her hand and rested it against her lower belly.

"There's one more thing. Please help me keep this from him. I'm pregnant."

Phyllis froze. Her eyes went wide, dropping to Madison's stomach, and then the tears came in a flood.

"You foolish girl. You're pregnant, and you still have the heart to talk about divorce?"

A mist rose in Madison's eyes, but she held the tears back by sheer force of will.

"Mom, this baby isn't a bargaining chip. I don't want my child born into a family with no love. I don't want him growing up looking at his father and learning to regret. I can protect him. I can give him a future. Don't tell Joel about the baby. After all, he can't even remember me."

Phyllis looked at the resolve carved into every line of Madison's face. Her tears fell harder. She nodded, firmly.

"I'll handle the divorce. Don't worry. I will keep the pregnancy hidden. This is what our family owes you. What Joel owes you."

Madison dipped her head in a small nod and turned to leave.

Behind her, she heard Phyllis's choked sigh drift through the hallway:

"How did everything go so wrong..."

Madison's steps faltered for just a fraction of a second.

How did it go so wrong?

She would never forget the Joel from before the accident. Eyes full of nothing but her, treating her like she was the center of his universe.

After the crash, he'd become someone twisted. Cold and obsessive. During his episodes, he would hurt her. When he came back to himself, he'd slap his own face over and over, drop to his knees, beg her to forgive him, swear he hadn't meant it.

She had never blamed him. She had loved him with unwavering certainty.

Now she knew the truth. And her heart would never beat for him again.

She had barely made it down the front steps when her phone lit up with a massive wire transfer from Joel and a string of voice messages.

In the background, she could hear faint, breathless panting.

"Babe, you actually didn't make a scene tonight. Good girl. Keep that up."

"My headache hit again just now, and I mistook the girl for you."

"Send over that 'Only You' set, will you? The girl says I was too rough, and nothing I do is calming her down. She's obsessed with that jewelry collection of yours."

Madison listened to the voice message without a flicker of expression, then lowered her gaze to the diamond ring on her finger—the matching piece to the "Only You" perfume.

Joel had designed it himself. His proposal gift to her.

He'd been hiding behind his so-called amnesia, giving away things that belonged to her—things meant only for her—to someone else. Again and again. Then he'd watch with cold detachment as she broke down, as she screamed and raged, before tossing her just enough sweetness to pull her back in line.

The cycle had repeated so many times she'd lost count.

But not this time. She didn't want the ring anymore. She didn't want Joel, either.

Madison didn't reply. She slipped the ring off her finger and dropped it into the trash.

Then she had someone take the jewelry away.

The next morning, Joel came home before dawn.

He changed into fresh clothes, scrubbed away the scent that didn't belong to him, and climbed into bed. His arm curled around Madison from behind, his chin nestling into the curve of her neck, fingers tracing lazy circles along her waist. His voice was low and tender.

"Madison, I'm sorry. My amnesia flared up yesterday, and the whole thing went viral. I know it must've hurt you."

A pause, then: "But she's young. Spending a little time with her is the decent thing to do. Don't take it to heart."

Madison gave a calm nod. "Okay."

Joel froze. The carefully rehearsed words he'd prepared to coax her died on his tongue.

"Babe, you're really being good about this?"

Madison offered a faint smile. "Isn't this what you wanted? Obedient and proper."

Joel smiled, looking pleased. He produced a bottle of perfume and held it out to her, as though it were a reward for good behavior.

But the cloying sweetness hit her nostrils, and her brow creased instantly.

Less than an hour ago, Alexis Pruitt had posted this exact bottle on social media.

"My darling boss bought me perfume. Hate it. Making him take it back to his frumpy little wife as punishment."

There was a time Joel would have scoured the world for the finest things just to see her smile. Now he was handing her another woman's castoffs.

Madison bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted copper.

"I don't want something that's been dirtied."

Joel's brow twitched, barely perceptible. He tossed the perfume into the trash without hesitation and pulled her into his arms, his voice soothing.

"If my good girl doesn't like it, we throw it away. I've got a full physical booked at the hospital later. Madison—it's time we had a baby of our own."

A baby?

A sharp ache bloomed behind her ribs. She dropped her gaze, hiding the storm in her eyes.

Once, they had both longed for a child with everything they had. But now she would never tell him.

A long silence stretched between them. Madison was just about to offer the excuse she'd rehearsed when Joel's phone rang.

"Joel, I twisted my ankle. It really hurts."

Joel glanced at Madison, then spoke into the phone, his tone clipped and cold.

"Can't you get yourself to the hospital?"

He hung up.

Then he turned back to Madison, all smiles, and helped her gather her things.

"Today, wifey comes first!"

The car pulled away from the house. Minutes later, the phone shattered the quiet again.

Joel answered. Madison couldn't hear what was said on the other end, but he slammed the brakes so hard her seatbelt locked. He threw open his door, rounded the car, and yanked open the passenger side, pulling her out.

"Babe, just grab a cab to the hospital."

He was gone before she could blink, tires screaming against asphalt.

Madison watched the car shrink into the distance. A bitter laugh escaped her.

She'd actually believed, for half a second, that there was a shred of sincerity left in him. In the end, the only fool here was her.

She went to the hospital alone. After her prenatal checkup, she turned a corner and walked straight into Joel and Alexis.

Alexis was curled against his chest, eyes red-rimmed, a cartoon Band-Aid plastered across her ankle.

The moment she spotted Madison, Alexis lifted her face from Joel's embrace.

"Mrs. Delgado, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I just twisted my ankle, and I shouldn't have bothered Mr. Delgado to come all the way here. He should have been with you for your checkup. I feel terrible."

The sight sent Madison's stomach lurching. She gagged, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth.

"Secretaries are a real bargain these days. The job even comes with a side gig as a mistress."

Joel's jaw tightened at her words, anger flashing across his face—but then he saw her. The color had drained from her skin. Her lips were bloodless. She was swaying on her feet.

Something twisted in his chest. He reached for the papers clutched in her hand, thinking she was sick.

"What's wrong? Are you ill?"

His fingers had barely grazed the report when Alexis let out a sharp whimper.

"Joel, my foot—it hurts so much…"

Her voice snapped his attention back like a leash. He released Madison's hand immediately and turned to fuss over the woman in his arms.

"Shh, it's okay. We'll get it checked right now."

He let go so abruptly that Madison, already unsteady, stumbled backward. Her legs buckled, and she nearly hit the floor.

Her palm caught the wall just in time. She steadied herself against it, fingers pressed white against the cold surface.

By the time she looked up, Joel was already walking away with Alexis in his arms.

Her heart clenched with a pain she couldn't contain. She dug her nails into her palm, hard enough to draw crescents into the skin, forcing herself to stay composed.

She didn't look back. She turned and left.

The moment she stepped outside the hospital, a message from Phyllis lit up her phone.

"Madison, the divorce papers will be ready in a week."

After leaving the hospital, Madison drove straight to the jewelry studio.

Joel had opened it for her after the wedding. He'd felt guilty that she'd given up her career to care for him while he recovered from the accident, so he'd set this place up as a gift.

She wouldn't take a single cent of Joel Delgado's fortune in the divorce. But this studio she would claim. Every piece inside it was born from her own hands, her own sleepless nights, her own talent. She needed it to build a future for herself and the baby.

She hadn't been there long when her assistant handed her an outgoing inventory log.

Her necklaces. Her bracelets. Her archival collection pieces. Every last one of them had been transferred out, gifted to Alexis Pruitt on Joel's orders.

Rage surged through her chest. She reached for her phone to call him.

Then she saw her own name trending online.

The video was already everywhere. In it, she sat alone in the hospital waiting room. And there was Joel, cradling Alexis in his arms, murmuring to her like she was something precious.

The comments section had erupted.

"So even Madison Maddox knows when to keep her mouth shut. Guess she's terrified of losing her Mrs. Delgado title."

"Alexis is clearly the one Joel actually loves. Did you see how panicked he looked holding her?"

"Madison only married him because she nursed him after his car accident. She leveraged a favor into a wedding ring, and now reality's catching up."

The words were sharp as needles, but they couldn't pierce a heart that had already gone cold.

Joel saw the trending video too. His response was a seven-figure wire transfer and a single message.

[Alexis had nightmares and needed me there. Be good.]

Madison stared at the number on her screen. Nothing stirred behind her eyes.

She dialed his number. When he picked up, her voice was ice stripped of every last trace of feeling.

"Joel, you gave my designs to your mistress. Did you think to ask me first?"

On the other end, Joel sounded utterly unbothered, even irritated, as though she were being unreasonable.

"Isn't the money I sent you enough to cover it? You were so well-behaved yesterday. What happened?"

Madison laughed. She hung up without another word and went back to packing.

She didn't leave the studio until the following day.

Once she finished gathering her things, she would never set foot in that place again.

But when she pushed open the front door of the house, she found Alexis curled up on the sofa, nestled against Joel, cooing up at him. They looked every bit the picture of a devoted young couple.

Alexis heard the door and turned. The moment she spotted Madison, her expression shifted into something small and frightened, and she shrank deeper into Joel's arms.

"Hey, sis."

Madison's body trembled before she could stop it. She looked at the scene and let the words fall, razor-edged.

"How thoughtful of you, Mr. Delgado. Bringing your mistress home to convalesce. Was the house feeling too big and empty? Needed a little extra warmth?"

Joel's expression darkened in an instant. He straightened, his gaze locking onto Madison, disappointment heavy in every syllable.

"Madison, I actually thought you'd learned your lesson. And here you go again with the passive-aggressive nonsense. Alexis's foot hasn't healed. I don't feel comfortable leaving her out there on her own. I brought her back to rest for a few days. What's the problem?"

His words snuffed out the last faint ember of anything she'd still been holding onto.

She looked at the man in front of her, the man who had once loved her down to the marrow of his bones, and felt nothing. Not anger. Not grief. Just a vast, hollow indifference.

She didn't argue. She swept one cool glance over the two of them, turned, and walked toward the bedroom.

The door closed behind her, sealing out Alexis's soft, theatrical sobs. Sealing out the last fragile thread that still connected her to Joel Delgado.

Madison slid down against the door until she was sitting on the floor. Her hand drifted to her stomach, and she whispered into the quiet.

"You won't blame Mommy for not giving you a whole family, will you, little one?"