I looked at him quietly.

The same face. The same voice. The same man who had carried Lara on his shoulders and called her his little princess. How could he sit here and lie so naturally? How could he look me in the eye after killing our daughter?

I wanted to scream. I wanted to ask him why. Why Lara? Why our little girl? Why me? But the words never came out.

I just stared at him.

My silence seemed to make him uneasy. He reached for my hand and held it between both of his. "Marianne, I know you're hurting. I know this is unbearable." His voice cracked slightly as he lowered his head. "Believe me, if I could've taken Lara's place, I would've done it without hesitation."

The lie was so perfect it almost sounded real.

"The doctors tried everything," he continued quietly. "We tried everything. I would give anything to bring her back."

I nearly laughed.

Tried everything?

No.

He had made sure Lara never had a chance.

Before I could say anything, a sudden burning pain exploded through my lower abdomen. I gasped as it ripped through me like a blade. The pain came so suddenly that my entire body curled up.

"D-darius..." My voice trembled.

The burning sensation grew worse. Hot. Sharp. Unbearable.

I felt wetness beneath me.

Blood.

My heart dropped. The pain became unbearable.

He slammed the emergency button. "Doctor! Get in here right now!" His voice echoed through the room. "She's bleeding. Hurry!"

Footsteps rushed toward the room.

The last thing I saw was Darius gripping my hand tightly as if he couldn't bear to lose me.

Then darkness swallowed me whole.

---

When I opened my eyes again, the room was quiet.

Darius was still there. He sat beside the bed holding a medical report. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes looked red and swollen. Anyone walking into the room would've thought he'd spent the entire day crying.

The moment he saw me awake, he stood up. "Marianne, the doctor just spoke to me. The bleeding was worse than anyone expected. The surgeons did everything they could to save you." He looked down at the report before meeting my eyes again. "But the damage was too severe."

My fingers tightened around the blanket.

Darius swallowed hard. "They couldn't stop all the complications." He reached for my hand and held it carefully. "Marianne, you won't be able to have children anymore."

The room fell silent.

I felt strangely calm. Maybe because he'd already broken me. Maybe because there was nothing left to break.

Darius lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I know how much you loved Lara." His thumb rubbed gently across my knuckles. "I know how much you wanted a family."

"Once you're discharged, maybe we can adopt. We'll find a child who needs a home." His eyes softened. "You've always had such a big heart. Maybe having a little one around will help us heal."

The performance was flawless. I wondered how many times he'd practiced those expressions.

After a long silence, I glanced at the report and nodded. Seeing how cooperative I was, relief flashed across his face. He pulled me into his arms and held me tightly.

"Thank you," he whispered. "So many people would've fallen apart after this. You're stronger than anyone I know."

I nearly laughed. Fallen apart? I already had. He just didn't know it yet.

…

Later that evening, a nurse came in to help clean me up.

Darius refused immediately. "I'll do it. You can leave. I'll take care of my wife."

The nurse looked hesitant. "Mr. Davenport, are you sure?"

"I said I'll do it."

She quietly left. Darius rolled up his sleeves and filled a basin with warm water. Then he carefully wiped away the dried blood from my skin.

His movements were gentle. Patient. Almost tender. The same hands that had signed away Lara's life were now cleaning my body.

The irony was almost unbearable.

By the time he finished, it was already late. The city lights glowed through the hospital windows. Outside, the Davenport Group continued ruling the business world. La Serpienten continued ruling the shadows. And their king sat beside me pretending to be a devoted husband.

"Are you still hurting?" he asked quietly. "Do you need anything? I can call the doctor back."

I shook my head. "You haven't slept at all, have you? You look exhausted."

"I wasn't leaving you. Not now."

I forced a small smile. "I'm okay. Get some sleep."

For a moment, he hesitated, then he kissed my forehead. "If you need anything, wake me up. I'll be right here."

I nodded. A few minutes later, he fell asleep beside the bed. Only then did I reach for his phone, opened it and went to Whatsapp.

And the first thing I saw was a photo of Verona holding Carson, their son. The picture had been taken inside this very hospital. Both of them looked healthy, happy and alive.

My kidney had saved him.

The more I scrolled through their messages, the colder I felt.

Back when I was pregnant with Lara, Darius was constantly traveling. Meetings. Business negotiations. Mafia affairs. At least, that was what he'd told me.

I never questioned him.

So I went to prenatal appointments alone. I sat in the waiting room alone. I listened to our daughter's heartbeat alone. Even after Lara was born, Darius was rarely home. I used to tell myself he was working hard for our future.

Now I finally knew where he'd been.

Verona.

He had been with Verona.

Photo after photo filled the screen and there were thousands of them. Her pregnancy. Her doctor visits. Her birthday celebrations. Family dinners. Holiday trips.

Every important moment was carefully documented and Darius was in every single picture.

There were videos too.

In one, Verona was leaving a prenatal checkup. Darius wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"You did great today," he said warmly. "Now tell me what reward you want."

Verona laughed. "Anything I want?"

"Anything, baby."

They both laughed.

I stared at the screen. Back then, I'd been sitting alone in another hospital. Waiting for him to call. Waiting for him to remember I existed.

After every one of my appointments, I'd received the same message.

“Marianne, thank you for understanding. I have an important meeting today.”

Then I found an entire album dedicated to Carson.

His first smile, his first birthday… Every memory, every precious moment.

And Lara? My little girl was lying cold in a morgue.

Forgotten by the man who was supposed to love her most.

I slowly put the phone down. The difference between being loved and not being loved had never been clearer.

And for the first time in years, I finally understood something.

Darius Davenport had never chosen me.

…

The next morning, while he was out handling “business,” I moved without thinking too much. I called a lawyer and told them to prepare a divorce agreement.

After that, I called her.

Mrs. Davenport answered on the second ring, her voice sharp and unimpressed. “What now, bitch?”

I swallowed hard and forced myself to speak. “I agree to divorce your son, Darius. I don’t want your money or his money. I just want a favor.”

There was a pause, then a cold little laugh. “So even you finally got tired of pretending. Poor woman. Okay, fine. Speak. What do you want?”

My fingers tightened around the phone. “If you don’t want your son chasing me again, if you don’t want him losing his mind looking for me…” I took a breath, “Then help me disappear. Make it look like I’m dead. End it completely.”

Silence stretched on the other end.

“Fine. But if you’re playing games with me, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“I’m not,” I said quietly. And I meant it more than anything I had ever said in my life. “I’m done.”

Over the next few days, I discharged myself from the hospital. I claimed my daughter’s body from the morgue, placed her ashes in a small pink urn, and brought her home.

Darius wasn't with me when I laid her to rest. He said he was busy, but I knew exactly where he was. He was with Verona and Carson.

When Darius finally returned to the mansion days later, he acted as if nothing was wrong. He even had the nerve to try and be gentle.

He noticed I had been quiet, so he cleared his schedule and took me out himself. He booked an entire restaurant, filled it with roses, like flowers could fix what was already rotting between us.

For a while, I just sat there and watched him try.

Halfway there, his phone started ringing nonstop.

His jaw tightened when he saw the name, and something in his expression changed instantly. “Fuck!” he muttered under his breath, already pulling the car over.

He answered fast, and I heard the panic before I even understood the words.

“Darius, please help me,” a woman’s voice cried through the speaker. “President Dunnington is drunk, he’s trying to take me away, I can’t—ah!”

The line cut off.

Darius didn’t even hesitate. He turned to me immediately, already unbuckling my seatbelt. “Marianne, something came up! Get a taxi. Go to the restaurant first. Wait for me there, I’ll handle this shit and come right back.”

I didn’t move.

I just looked at him.

“Darius,” I said quietly, “it’s raining.”

He blinked like he had just remembered I was even there. Then annoyance flashed across his face. He shrugged off his coat and shoved it toward me. “Take it. Don’t argue, just listen for once.”

His hand brushed my head like I was a child he didn’t have time to fully deal with. “Be good, okay? I’ll handle the board shit later, just go.”

Before I could respond, he pushed the door open and pushed me out. My forehead slammed hard against the pavement and dirty rainwater rushed into my mouth. I coughed, choking on it, and for a second I just lay there, stunned, like my body forgot how to move.

My suit jacket was completely soaked, heavy against my skin.

I stayed there for a moment longer before pushing myself up. My hands were shaking slightly, but I didn’t reach for the coat Darius had thrown at me. It lay there on the wet ground, getting ruined, and I just looked at it.

Tears started to fall but I stopped them.

Getting a taxi in the rain was almost impossible. Cars passed without stopping, lights blurring through the downpour like I didn’t even exist so I just walked. By the time I finally reached the restaurant, I was soaked through.

But the restaurant was empty.

Completely empty.

No Darius.

I stood there for a long time, just listening to the silence of a place that used to mean something to me.

How many times had I come here believing things would be different this time?

The rain outside slowed, then came back heavier again, like it couldn’t decide whether to stop or keep punishing me. I stayed anyway, waiting, because some stupid part of me still thought he might walk through that door.

He said he would come. He always said he would come.

I don’t know how long I waited before I finally called a waiter over.

“Serve the food,” I said quietly.

The waiter hesitated, glancing toward the empty entrance. “Mrs. Davenport… Mr. Davenport hasn’t arrived yet. The dishes are already cooled down. We can reheat them, but it won’t taste the same.”

“He’s not coming,” I said.

The waiter didn’t know what to say after that, so he just left.

I sat there and watched the plates get served anyway. The food used to be my favorite. Now it tasted like salt and nothing else. I kept thinking, how did something so warm become so empty?

By the time I finally left, my body was already burning up. The fever hit fast, like my body had been waiting for permission to break down. The world blurred around me, and every step home felt heavier than the last.

I remember thinking, is this what it feels like to disappear slowly while still being alive?

Somewhere between waking and sleep, I felt a hand on my forehead.

“Mommy… are you sick? I’m here… I won’t go away…”

My breath caught. “Lara, my baby…”

My body reacted before my mind did.

I reached out and grabbed it tightly, clinging like I was drowning. I don’t remember falling asleep after that.

...

When I opened my eyes again, morning light was spilling through the room.

I flinched and pulled away immediately, my hand pushing against whoever was sitting beside me.

“Miss Marianne… did I wake you?”

I blinked, confused for a second, before I saw her. One of the household maids.

My chest tightened instantly.

“Were you here all night?”

“Yes, madam,” she said quickly. “I tried calling the master, but he didn’t answer. I couldn’t leave you alone like that. You were holding my hand the whole time.”

I stared at her for a moment.

Darius hadn’t come, not even once.

The maid hesitated again. “Should I try calling him again?”

Before I could answer, my phone lit up with notifications. My fingers moved on their own. And the moment I opened it, I already knew.

The messages weren’t from Darius.

They were from Verona Stuart.

And inside were hundreds of photos and videos.

Darius.

Verona.

A night that didn’t end.

From what I could see, it started at the entrance of some high-end place, then a private room, then a balcony. Laughter, bodies too close, his hand on her waist like it belonged there. The kind of closeness that didn’t need explanation.

“Isn't it romantic?” Verona texted.

I stared at the screen for a long time. Strangely, I didn’t cry right away.

I just felt tired.

I turned the phone off and placed it face down.

“No need,” I said quietly when the maid looked at me again. “Just get my package ready.”

The divorce agreement.

My lawyer had already prepared everything. All that was left was my signature, and maybe my last mistake finally turning into something permanent.

Later, I signed it without hesitation.

My name looked unfamiliar on the paper, like it belonged to someone who still believed in love.

I took the folder and went to Davenport Group.

That was when I saw Verona, standing at the front desk like she owned the place.

I tried to walk past her without stopping, but her voice cut through the air immediately.

“Hey! Do you have an appointment? You can’t go in without one.” Her expression changed the moment I stepped closer, turning cold and sharp.

“Verona, everyone in this company already knows who I am."

She tilted her head and smiled, like she had been waiting for this moment for a long time. “So what if you’re the president’s wife? That title doesn’t change a single thing for me. I still won’t let you go upstairs, and I still won’t let you have anything you came here for. I gave you five years, Marianne, and you still failed as a mother of Lara. Pff! What a loser."

For a moment, everything inside me went completely silent, then something inside me snapped forward without permission.

SLAP!

My hand hit her face.

The sound echoed through the lobby.

“Maybe if your mouth wasn’t so filthy, you wouldn’t need to cling to this job just to feel like you exist in the same world as me.”

She slowly touched her cheek, then let out a short laugh. “You really think that changes anything, Bitch? That little slap doesn’t erase the fact that you’re standing here desperate and exposed in front of everyone,” she said, stepping closer with her voice dropping. “We both know how this works. I build my future while you protect a marriage that’s already cracked beyond repair. You are not getting past me today.”

She snapped her fingers at security and gave a simple order. “Take her out. I don’t want her lingering here like a mistake someone forgot to clean up.”

I didn’t move right away. I just stood there, unsure if I still had the energy to fight or even care what happened next. But before anyone could reach me, the elevator doors slid open behind them.

The entire lobby seemed to change temperature.

Darius stepped out.

“What the fuck is going on here?” he said, his voice cutting through the space so sharply it made even the air feel heavier.

Verona straightened instantly, shifting into something softer, almost careful. “Darius, she assaulted me without reason! I was just doing my job, trying to stop her from causing a scene in your building—”

“Shut your mouth,” he snapped without even glancing at her properly.

His eyes found me immediately, and the entire intensity of him changed in a way that was almost disorienting.

“Marianne,” he said, stepping closer, "Tell me what happened. Did she touch you, did she say anything to you, are you hurt anywhere at all?”

His hand lifted slightly like he wanted to check for injuries, but I didn’t move toward him. My eyes had already locked into the faint red mark on his neck.

His brow tightened when he noticed my stare. “What are you looking at like that? Talk to me, Marianne. Why do you look like I just became someone you don’t recognize?”

I almost laughed.

“I’m fine. You should go handle your meeting. Don’t worry about me, just do what you came here to do.”

For a moment, he looked caught off guard, like I had stepped out of a version of myself he had gotten used to controlling.

“Marianne,” he said again, softer now, “I have a partner meeting upstairs. Go ahead first, wait in my office like usual. I will join you after I’m done, alright?”

Wait again.

That word landed heavier than it should have.

How many times had I been told to wait, to understand, to stay patient while he disappeared into rooms I was never invited into?

I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and gave a small nod. “Alright. I’ll wait.”

Something in him relaxed immediately. He even gave me a faint smile before turning away.

“Good girl.”

The elevator doors closed between us, and the sound felt final in a way I wasn’t ready to name.

I stood there for a moment, then pressed the elevator button, realizing I didn’t even have access anymore. Of course I didn’t. I let out a slow breath and pulled out my phone to ask the secretary to escort me upstairs instead.

My hands didn’t shake.

That was the part that unsettled me most.

As I turned to leave, voices drifted from the emergency exit hallway. Darius’s voice first, low and irritated, followed by Verona’s softer tone, and almost amused.

“What were you thinking pulling something like that in front of her?” he said sharply. “I told you not to make things messy when she’s around. Lara just died because of our son, Carson. Stop messing around with her!”

“Relax,” Verona replied, her voice carrying a teasing edge. “She hit me first, so I just returned the favor in my own way. Besides, you’re not really going to act like this is a big deal, are you? So tell me, how exactly are you going to make it up to me?”

There was a pause before he answered, voice dropping into something looser, less controlled. “Make it up to you? Fine. I’ll give you what you want, my time, my attention, even my name if that’s what you’re after. Just stop making this more complicated than it needs to be.”

Verona gave a soft laugh. “That still doesn’t sound like enough.”

His voice turned rougher at the edges. “Damn fine! I’ll give you everything if that’s what it takes. My entire life if you really want it. We can even build whatever future you’re imagining, I don’t care anymore.”

A soft giggle followed, and I heard the faint shift of movement between them, too close, too familiar.

I stood frozen in the hallway shadow, unable to step forward or back, like my body had forgotten how to belong anywhere.

Because I had heard those words before.

I remembered him once kneeling in front of me, blood on his hands, his voice breaking as he held a ring.

“I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” he had said back then, staring at me like I was the only thing holding him together. “Marianne, I swear on everything I am, I will give you my whole life. Just stay with me, don’t walk away from me.”

I had believed him.

I had thought that kind of devotion only broke or built empires.

Now I wasn’t sure what I had actually married.

Because the same man who once spoke like I was his entire universe was now laughing softly in a stairwell, offering the same life to someone else like it had no weight at all.

I stepped back slowly, one step at a time, until the sound of them faded.

My chest felt tight, like something inside me had finally reached its limit but didn’t know how to collapse yet.

So this is what I am now?

A place he returns to when nothing else is interesting enough?

...

The secretary led me up without much conversation, like I was just another file being moved through his world. By the time I reached Darius’s office, my hands had gone cold and my chest felt strangely empty.

He looked up the second I entered.

His face softened instantly, that switch in him I used to mistake for tenderness.

“What’s that?” he asked, nodding toward the folder in my hands. He stepped closer, took it from me without waiting, already opening it.

“For whatever you need, just take it to my study, get it stamped,” he said, flipping the pages without real focus. “Don’t come to me for small things. You know I’ve got enough shit to deal with.”

My throat tightened, but I forced my voice out anyway. “It’s not something you can just stamp and forget.”

That made him pause for half a second. Before he could respond, the door behind him opened.

A secretary stepped in, “Mr. Davenport, the rooftop setup is ready. Verona said everything’s prepared. We can go up now.”

Darius didn’t even turn fully.

“Yeah,” he muttered, already distracted by the papers. “Give me a minute.”

He signed the last page without reading it properly, a quick scratch of ink that meant nothing to him in that moment.

My words got stuck in my throat again.

I tried anyway. “Darius, this is a di—”

“Later,” he cut in, already putting the folder down. “Whatever it is, just leave it. I’ll handle it after this.”

After.

Always after.

I stopped fighting for the sentence and just held the folder tighter. “Go ahead,” I said quietly. “I’m leaving too.”

I turned toward the door but his hand caught my wrist.