Lauren Simmons. Gavin Delgado's first love. One week ago, she'd made a high-profile return to Kingsford.

Since then, Gavin had barely come home. The few times he did, he carried her perfume on his clothes.

“Ms. Simmons, that cup is mine.”

I came downstairs and said it calmly.

Lauren's hand trembled. Scalding coffee spilled across the back of her hand, and she let out a sharp cry, her eyes instantly reddening.

“I'm so sorry, I didn't know. I just wanted to make Gavin a cup of coffee……”

The master bedroom door opened upstairs.

Gavin stepped out in his robe. One glance took in Lauren with her reddened eyes and me standing expressionless beside her.

His face darkened instantly. He came down the stairs in long strides and seized Lauren's hand to examine it.

“What happened?”

Lauren sniffled, glancing at me timidly, wanting to speak but holding back.

“It's fine, Gavin. I'm just clumsy. I used Ms. Henson's cup by mistake, and she wasn't too happy about it.”

Gavin's head snapped toward me, his gaze sharp enough to cut.

“Eudora, it's a cup. You're throwing a fit over a cup?”

“Go get the burn cream. If Lauren scars, you're answering for it.”

I stood where I was and watched him cradle Lauren's hand, blowing gently on the burn. That gentle look—five years beside him, and I had never once seen it.

Five years ago, when I threw myself in front of him and the blast wave left my left ear streaming with blood, all he did was frown, hand me a check, and tell me to take myself to the hospital.

“President Delgado, the burn cream is in the medicine cabinet. Second shelf.”

I pointed toward the TV console. I didn't move.

He clearly hadn't expected me to refuse a direct order. Surprise flashed across his face, then fury swallowed it whole.

“Eudora, you've gotten bold. Since when do you ignore what I tell you to do?”

“I have somewhere to be. I'm heading out.”

I picked up my bag, didn't spare either of them another look, and walked out of the villa.

Behind me, Gavin's voice erupted, raw with fury：

“Walk out that door and don't bother coming back! Cancel her card—let's see how long she keeps up the attitude!”

Outside the gates of Hillside Manor, I drew in a slow breath of cool morning air.

Gavin, you've probably forgotten.

In five years, every cent I spent, aside from Grandma Stella's medical bills, came from my own salary.

I loved money, sure. But I valued my own neck more.

The OB-GYN corridor was packed.

I sat wedged into a corner wearing a mask and a baseball cap, the appointment slip clenched tight in my hand.

“Eudora Henson.”

My name flashed on the call screen.

I stepped into the examination room. The doctor was a kind-faced woman in her forties.

“Congratulations. Four weeks along. The fetus is developing well.”

The breath I'd been holding finally left me, and in its wake came a complicated ache, bitter and sour all at once.

It was real.

Last month, Gavin had come home drunk. It was the only time he'd forgotten protection, and the only gamble I'd ever taken.

“However, you're somewhat malnourished. And your left ear……”

The doctor studied my chart, concern creasing her brow.

“Make sure you rest during the pregnancy. Your body's run-down—you don't have much in reserve.”

“I know. Thank you, Doctor.”

I touched the tiny hearing aid hidden behind my left ear and smiled bitterly to myself.

This ear was the price I'd paid saving Gavin, and the biggest thing keeping me tethered to him now.

Gavin despised imperfection. He had no idea my left ear was nearly deaf.

Late at night he always leaned close to my left side to talk, and all I could do was murmur back at the right moments, pretending I'd heard every word when I couldn't make out a single one.

Outside the hospital, my phone rang. The care facility.

“Ms. Henson, your grandmother's account balance is running low. Could you top it up in the next couple of days for next quarter's fees?”

“Of course. I'll transfer it right away.”

I hung up and stared at my mobile banking balance.

Gavin had been generous over the years, but most of what he gave me had been swallowed by Grandma Stella's medical bills—a pit that never filled. The rest I'd set aside, bit by bit, for exactly a day like this.

Now, with a baby on the way, the expenses would only grow.

I was still running the numbers in my head when a red Ferrari pulled up beside me.

The window slid down, revealing Connor Harding's irreverent grin.

“Well, well. If it isn't our very own Secretary Henson. What are you doing out here alone?”

Connor pulled off his sunglasses, and his gaze dropped to the hand I'd pressed over my lower belly without thinking. The playfulness left his eyes in an instant.

“Are you sick?”

Connor and I had been high school classmates. Back then he was the school's resident troublemaker, and I was the scholarship kid who did nothing but study.

Neither of us would have guessed we'd cross paths again years later in circles like these.

“No, just visiting a friend.”

I shoved the lab report deeper into my bag.

Connor clearly didn't buy it. He pushed the door open and stepped out, his tall frame casting a shadow over me.

“Eudora, you can't even look at me when you lie.”

He moved closer. He smelled faintly of tobacco, though it wasn't unpleasant.

“Did that bastard Gavin do something to you?”

The mention of Gavin's name sent a small, sharp tremor through my chest.

“No.”

“Get in.” Connor pulled the passenger door open without waiting for an answer.

“Cabs don't come through here. I'll give you a ride.”

I couldn't argue my way out of it, so I got in.

In the car, Connor kept up what sounded like casual conversation, but his eyes never really left me.

“Heard that green tea Lauren is back. Has Gavin lost his mind? He'd throw away someone like you just to crawl back to an old flame?”

I watched the scenery blur past the window and said quietly：

“He never wanted me to begin with.”

Connor slammed the brakes. The car jerked to a stop at the curb.

He turned to face me, staring hard, eyes full of the kind of frustrated anger that has nowhere to go.

“Eudora! What is it you even want from him? His money? Name a number, I'll cover it. Him? His heart is made of stone. You spent five years trying to warm it and it's still cold. How is that not enough?”

I lowered my head, heat prickling behind my eyes.

Five years.

I'd told myself that if I was obedient enough, considerate enough, one day he'd finally see me.

But the moment Lauren came back, I knew. A stand-in is always a stand-in.

“Connor, I'm leaving.”

My voice was barely above a whisper.

Connor froze. The anger drained from his face, and something close to raw, unguarded relief took its place.

“Where to? I'll take you.”

“I haven't decided yet, but……as far away as possible.”

Connor held my gaze for a long moment, then put the car back in gear.

“Done. Wherever you want to go, end of the earth, I've got you.”

By the time I got back to Hillside Manor, it was already dark.

Gavin sat on the living room sofa with a laptop open in front of him, his expression cold and remote.

He didn't look up when the door opened.

“Oh, so you can bear to come home. I thought you were spending the night out.”

Every word dripped with a sneer that scraped.

I changed my shoes and said nothing. I didn't want to fight with him.

“Go make dinner. Lauren wants sweet and sour ribs.”

He closed the laptop and issued the order like a man accustomed to being waited on.

My feet stopped mid-step.

I was his secretary, not his housekeeper.

Before, I'd done it willingly, because I loved him, because I wanted to take care of him.

But now……

“President Delgado, the chef has already left for the night. You can order delivery.”

Gavin shot to his feet and closed the distance in three strides, towering over me.

“Eudora, what the hell is wrong with you today? Are you actually trying to defy me?”

He reeked of liquor. Clearly not in a good mood.

“I'm tired.”

I pushed past him toward the stairs.

He grabbed my wrist, fingers clamping down hard enough to grind the bones together.

“Tired? You weren't tired out there messing around with some stranger?”

He shoved his phone in my face. On the screen was a photo of Connor dropping me off earlier today.

I had no idea who had taken it, but the angle was vicious. It looked like we were kissing inside the car.

“Explain.”

Gavin's eyes burned with the rage of a man whose possession had stepped out of line.

“I ran into him. He gave me a ride.”

I looked at him, steady.

“Gavin, you brought Lauren home. So you get to do whatever you want, but I can't even accept a ride?”

“You think you compare to Lauren?”

He sneered.

“She's a proper lady from a real family. You're……”

He stopped himself. As if even he found the word too ugly to finish.

“I'm what?” I finished it for him.

“An orphan. A gold-digger. Your bed-warming tool. Right?”

Gavin pressed his lips together. He didn't deny it.

Something sharp drove through my chest, and whatever warmth was left went cold for good.

“Since President Delgado thinks so little of me, let's end the contract.”

I finally said the words I'd kept locked inside for so long.

Gavin stared, like he'd just heard a joke.

“End the contract? Eudora, don't forget—your grandmother's still in that care facility. Without me, how are you paying those bills? Going to sell yourself?”

The slap cracked through the empty living room before I even registered my hand moving.

My palm was numb, my whole body shaking.

Gavin's head snapped to the side. A red handprint rose fast across his cheek.

He turned back slowly, disbelief in his eyes, a storm gathering beneath.

“Eudora. You hit me?”

“That was for the Eudora who was stupid enough to love you for five years.”

I pulled my hand back, nails digging into my palm.

“Gavin. We're done.”

I turned and walked upstairs without looking at him again.

Behind me, a vase shattered against the floor, and Gavin's roar followed：

“Eudora! If you walk out that door today, don't ever come crawling back to me!”

I closed the bedroom door, leaned against it, and slid to the floor.

One hand on my stomach, I whispered：

“Don't be scared, baby. Mama's taking you away.”

Over the next two days, as if to punish me, Gavin paraded Lauren to every high-profile event he could find.

The headlines were everywhere: “Delgado Group president and childhood sweetheart—happy news imminent.”

I packed inside the manor.

There wasn't much to pack.

The designer bags, the jewelry, the clothes Gavin had given me. I left every piece behind.

All I took were my documents, my bankbook, and the pregnancy report.

The day I left, it was raining.

Gavin wasn't home. Neither was Lauren.

I'd arranged Grandma Stella's transfer to a care facility in a small southern city.

It wasn't as luxurious as the one here, but it was quiet, and the fees were something I could manage.

Before I walked out, I placed a resignation letter and a signed “breakup agreement” on Gavin's desk in the study.

The terms were simple: every cent he'd given me over five years, counted as salary and compensation for what he'd put me through. After that, we owed each other nothing.