Bertram's secretary came sprinting toward him, face drained of color.

"Mr. Delgado, Miss Pruitt has been kidnapped!"

In an instant, all the blood left Bertram's face.

Before I could even react, he was already tearing past me. I looked up and caught a flash of his dark eyes, wild with panic.

But his gaze barely grazed me before he bolted past, heading for the stairwell behind me.

In that split second as our paths crossed, his shoulder slammed into me and sent me crashing to the floor.

The bodyguard trailing him stepped on the back of my hand without breaking stride.

I winced against the sharp bite of pain and watched Bertram's retreating figure, stumbling in his desperation, growing smaller down the hallway. Something inside my chest seized and went still.

I'd already heard the panic in his voice over the phone. I'd known. But seeing it with my own eyes still sent a blade twisting through my heart.

After a moment, I tugged weakly at the corners of my mouth.

Of course. Bertram had always been this way.

The second anything involved Alexis, nothing else in the world existed for him.

On the hospital rooftop, a man with a savage, contorted face held Alexis hostage. A knife gleamed at her throat, the blade pressed flat against her skin.

Alexis was sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.

As more people crowded onto the rooftop, the man retreated toward the edge, his agitation spiraling into something feral and unhinged.

His bloodshot eyes locked onto Bertram.

"Bertram Delgado! All I wanted was one heart to keep me alive. But you'd rather give this bitch heart after heart after heart than spare me a single one. Fine. Then don't blame me for taking it with my own hands!"

Bertram's burning gaze fixed on the thin line of blood trickling down Alexis's neck. His face was a mask of composure, but his hands trembled at his sides.

He drew a slow breath. "A heart from someone with cardiac disease. How long do you think that would keep you alive?"

I stood in the corner of the crowd, watching the scene unfold.

Then, in the next instant, a pair of familiar eyes found mine through the press of bodies.

Before I could process what was happening, Bertram had pulled me into his arms.

"Only a heart from someone healthy would be worth anything to you."

His voice rang out, clear and deliberate, right beside my ear. My body went rigid. I lifted my gaze to his cold, hard face, and every drop of blood in my veins turned to ice.

He knew. He knew the kidnapper wanted a heart to save his own life, and he'd shoved me forward anyway, painting a target on my back.

All of it, every last bit, just to save Alexis.

The betrayal crashed over me like a wave, so massive it nearly dragged me under.

The kidnapper's frenzy only intensified. "You think finding a compatible heart is that easy?! You're trying to trick me into swapping hostages so you can save this bitch. Dream on!"

Bertram's expression didn't waver. "Her heart won't keep you alive for long. But if you take her instead..." His gaze dropped to me for a fraction of a second. "You'd have leverage over the person I love. I can find you a compatible heart."

The kidnapper hesitated, suspicion flickering across his face as his eyes settled on me.

And Bertram, catching the shock in my eyes, looked away with something almost like guilt. His voice dropped to a murmur only the two of us could hear. "Prue, you've trained in self-defense. I know you can hold out until the police arrive."

I stared at him, eyes wide.

I'd already braced myself to be used as a shield. But I never imagined he'd say it to my face with such shameless audacity.

Before I could fire back a single word, the kidnapper barked his command. "Fine! Bring her over. We trade, one for one!"

Bertram pushed me forward. There wasn't a flicker of hesitation in those deep, dark eyes.

I took it all in, and a bitter laugh echoed somewhere inside me.

A sacrificial pawn who could be discarded at any moment in this game had no right to hope for even a scrap of genuine feeling.

Just as the exchange was about to happen, the kidnapper threw his head back and let out a jagged laugh.

"You'd throw away your own wife to save this bitch, and you call her the one you love? What a joke! Today, I'm killing HER!"

Before the last word left his mouth, he kicked Bertram aside and raised the knife high.

Laughing like a man possessed, he lunged for Alexis's chest.

"Alexis—!"

Bertram's pupils contracted to pinpoints. He shoved me away with all his strength and threw himself over Alexis.

And I lost my balance completely, pitching backward off the edge of the rooftop.

The wind screamed louder and louder in my ears. Above me, the man with terror blazing in his eyes for the woman he loved grew smaller and smaller, shrinking into nothing.

A single tear slipped from the corner of my eye.

Even now, all he cared about was whether my heart was still usable.

I didn't know how much time passed before I woke to the sharp sting of antiseptic.

Bertram stood by the window. I blinked, momentarily stunned.

"You're up. How do you feel?"

He crossed the room when he saw my eyes open, pressing the back of his hand gently to my forehead.

My heart leapt into my throat.

The warmth of his touch was so real it made everything inside me twist tighter.

"If you're feeling alright, get up and pick a dress. I need you at an event with me."

His voice landed somewhere deep in my chest and sent a tremor through me.

A row of dresses in different styles already hung along one side of the room.

I pressed my lips together, suddenly greedy for this moment. For the illusion of it.

Everything felt the way it used to. He was still him, the man who bent the world to his will and no one else's.

But when his car pulled up in front of a prenatal school, I froze.

Wasn't he taking me to an event?

Bertram said nothing. He strode inside without a word.

The receptionist at the front desk hurried over, practically bowing.

"Mr. Delgado, everything you requested has been arranged. Your wife is inside, in class."

Wife? Class?

I looked at Bertram, frowning.

He didn't offer a single word of explanation. Not until I saw her through the glass partition: Alexis Pruitt, sitting attentively in a parenting class.

The air left my lungs.

Three pregnancies. Three times I had asked him to come to parenting classes with me.

And every time, the same answer: "Prue, I just took over the company. All my energy needs to go into the projects."

To make things easier for him, I had swapped out the parenting classes for massage techniques and cooking courses instead. Every day I stayed home like a good wife, waiting for him to walk through the door so I could cook for him, knead the tension from his shoulders.

Ten years. Ten years I kept that up.

I couldn't stop myself from looking at him, and the dull ache in my chest deepened into something unbearable.

Bertram's gaze was locked on Alexis. The faint smile curving his lips, the tenderness spilling from his eyes, was so thick it was almost obscene.

I suddenly felt ridiculous. Pathetic, even, for daring to hope he might come back to me.

"Hey, doesn't that dress she's wearing look familiar?"

Two receptionists whispered behind me.

"I knew something was off about her the second she walked in. Now it makes sense."

"That's hilarious. Trying to copy Mrs. Delgado's style to seduce Mr. Delgado, and he won't even look at her."

"See the snagged thread on the hem? Last time Mr. Delgado brought his wife to parenting class, Mrs. Delgado was wearing that exact dress and caught the fabric on something. Mr. Delgado didn't even blink, just bought her a dozen limited-edition dresses on the spot."

Their voices weren't loud, but they were loud enough.

I turned to look at the man beside me. His sharp, cold profile hit me like a slap I couldn't hear.

The taste of blood lingered between my teeth. My fingers clenched the fabric of my skirt until my knuckles went white.

So that was it. To Bertram, I was only fit to wear Alexis Pruitt's hand-me-downs.

"Bertram!"

The next second, Alexis burst out from behind the glass partition, beaming as she ran toward us.

She slammed into my shoulder as she passed, then threw herself into Bertram's arms.

The impact sent me stumbling sideways. My lower back cracked against the corner of the wall, and cold sweat broke across my skin.

Bertram's voice drifted over, impossibly gentle. "You're pregnant. Don't run around like that."

"I just missed you so much." Alexis pouted, clinging to him. Then her eyes widened with theatrical surprise. "Oh? Prudence, you're here too!"

I glanced at that guileless, butter-wouldn't-melt expression of hers and felt my stomach turn.

"I certainly am. And imagine my surprise, finding out the Delgado family's foster sister gets to be called 'Mrs. Delgado' around here."

The color drained from Alexis's face.

"Wait, what does she mean? Alexis is the fake wife?"

"Sounds pretty convincing to me. But if that's true, why does Mr. Delgado always come here with her?"

I looked at the happy couple, my gaze dripping with contempt.

But beneath it, my heart was still waiting. Still stupidly hoping for Bertram's choice.

After a long silence, he reached out and pulled the woman beside him into his arms. The pressure radiating off him crashed over me like a wave.

"Prudence, do you really have to drag Alexis down just to feed your pathetic little need for attention?"

Of course.

I watched them and let out a bitter laugh.

"Fine. I'll keep my distance."

I turned to leave, but in that same instant, my feet stopped.

Not far away, a mascot costume stood propped up, perfectly still.

Ten years ago, on my birthday, I had worked until well past midnight. When I finally stepped outside, there was a ring-toss booth set up in front of the building. The vendor was someone in a big brown bear suit.

I tossed ten rings. Missed every single one.

Then the bear pulled off its head.

Bertram's hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. His usually stern face was flushed pink from the heat.

Under the moonlight, those eyes, brimming with love and bright as stars, made my heart skip a beat.

I would never forget the way he caught his breath, teasing me with a voice that was careful and tender all at once: "How about you just take me home instead?"

I found out later that he had stood in that sweltering costume under the blazing sun for five hours, all to surprise me on my birthday.

The memory hit me, and the heart I thought had gone numb stirred again, aching with something I couldn't name.

Then a hand seized my arm and yanked me back.

"Do you have to humiliate me like this?"

"Humiliate you?" My eyes burned red as my palm cracked across his face. "Do you even know the meaning of the word?"

Bertram clearly hadn't expected that kind of reaction. His expression froze.

I seized the stunned silence and walked out without looking back. Another second in that place and I swore it would shave years off my life.

But the man recovered fast. He caught up to me at the corner.

His eyes were dark and dangerous. He seized my arms and pinned me against the wall, every word dropping from his lips like shards of ice. "Prudence, what the hell is wrong with you?"

His grip hurt enough to make me wince.

Before I could speak, my gaze caught something on his neck. A flush of red just above his collar.

A fresh kiss mark. It drove into my eyes like a thousand blades.

The cheap perfume clinging to him was unmistakably Alexis's. I thrashed harder.

"Don't touch me. You're filthy."

The words were barely out before I regretted them.

Bertram's already cold expression turned black as ink, radiating the kind of chill that cut through skin and settled in bone.

After a beat, he looked at me and let out a derisive laugh. "You want to talk to me about filthy, Prudence?"

What he said next plunged my heart into an abyss.

"If you're so clean, why did you throw yourself at me when you were nineteen?"

"If you're so clean, explain how you spent six or seven hours locked in a warehouse with over a dozen men. Who knows whether you lost that baby from a beating or from something else entirely? What right do you have to call me filthy?"

I stared at him, frozen. It wasn't his unhinged fury that terrified me. It was the fact that those words had come from his mouth at all.

So when he'd gone to find those kidnappers, he'd already known what they might do to me. He'd left me with them anyway. He'd convicted me before he ever came to get me.

After venting the rage inside him, Bertram noticed my trembling body and softened slightly.

"Fine. I'll admit Alexis went a little too far about some things. I'll let that slap go. Now come back, put on the mascot costume, and help celebrate her birthday. She said she wants both of us there to wish her well."

Alexis again. I opened my mouth to refuse, but he cut me off.

"The hospital just called. Your father is still in the ICU. If nothing goes wrong, he should wake up in the next day or two."

I stared into those deep, unreadable eyes. My voice came out raw. "Are you threatening me?"

"That depends on what you decide."

He dropped the words like stones and walked away.

Watching his retreating figure, I felt something sharp lodge behind my eyes.

Ten years. I hated that I could decode every unspoken meaning in his words. I hated even more that he'd always known exactly which strings to pull.

By the time I appeared in the lobby wearing the mascot costume, the birthday party was in full swing.

Everything that had just happened might as well have been a minor interruption. No one cared.

Alexis had her hand on Bertram's shoulder, rising on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek.

The pain of watching it ground my bones to dust like a millstone. All I could do was gulp down the thin air inside the costume, fighting to stay calm.

Every breath felt like swallowing a thousand razor blades.

They weren't even pretending anymore.

"Hey, what are you standing there for? Go deliver the rings!" Someone beside me jabbed their elbow into my side.

Rings?

Instinctively, my hand went to the pocket on the costume's belly, because ten years ago, when Bertram had confessed his feelings, he'd hidden his gift in that exact spot.

Through the tiny mesh eyeholes, I saw an elegant red velvet box.

My fingers found the ring on my own left hand. The one whose color had long since worn away. I rubbed it without thinking.

The bitterness wouldn't leave.

Under everyone's gaze, I silently chanted my father's name like a prayer and walked forward like a bridesmaid, presenting a ring to my own husband and his so-called foster sister.

But when Alexis reached for the velvet box, Bertram snatched it away first.

"Don't touch it. God knows how many germs are on that thing. I don't want you getting hurt."

The disgust in his eyes nailed my feet to the floor.

Ten years ago, when Bertram had confessed to me, I'd laughed and told him he actually looked pretty good in that costume. He'd kept those words close to his heart.

From that day on, the man who commanded boardrooms and crushed rivals had personally washed this mascot costume on a regular schedule.

Because he believed it was the token of our love. The keepsake of everything we were.

And now he found it too dirty to touch.

Maybe it was the airless heat trapped inside the costume, but every inch of my skin felt like it was being scorched alive with nowhere to hide.

So this was how obvious love and its absence could be.

When he loved you, everything about you was a treasure. When he didn't, everything about you was just filthy garbage.