"Water... I need water..."

Maria Rodriguez jolted awake with her body burning up, the thirst dragging her back to consciousness in the worst way. In the moonlight filtering through a small window, she took in her surroundings—a cluttered storage room. It wasn’t just thirst tormenting her; the cold had seeped deep into her bones. She braced a hand against the wall, pushed herself to her feet, and started toward the door. Every step left her breathless.

When she tried the handle, it was locked from the outside—just as she’d suspected. Maria knew screaming for help would only waste what little strength she had left. Silence was her only option. Instead, she focused on finding something—anything—that might take the edge off her thirst.

In a shadowed corner, she found a dusty crate of bottled water. She had no idea how long it had been sitting there. She had just cracked open a bottle when the door swung open.

She expected Mrs. Rodriguez. Instead, she was caught off guard by her sister-in-law, Piper Rodriguez.

Piper sneered, her voice dripping with mockery. "Did you really think Grandma’s protection would keep you safe here? When you plotted to marry my brother, did you ever imagine this day would come?"

Piper had just gotten home from a night out, and she relished the chance to torment Maria—who had defied her mother-in-law and was now paying for it.

"What are you waiting for?" Piper snapped at the servant behind her. "Look at the water in Maria’s hand—it’s expired! We can’t have her drinking that, can we? What if it hurts the baby?"

The servant rushed to snatch the bottle from Maria’s grasp. Maria knew Piper was doing this on purpose, but her strength was already fading. "Piper, please... just one sip."

"Thirsty, are you?" Piper crouched until they were eye level. "But begging requires the right posture."

Maria clenched her fists. "What do you want?"

Piper smiled. "Get down on your knees and beg. Maybe then I’ll let you have a drink."

"Piper, you’re going too far..."

"If you don’t want to, then forget it." Piper gestured to the servant. "Pour it out—all of it!"

"Yes, Miss Piper!"

Faced with a choice between pride and survival, Maria chose survival. If she died, who would take care of her mother?

Swallowing her humiliation and rage, Maria slowly knelt.

Piper burst out laughing. "Maria, do you know what you look like? Worse than a stray dog on the street!"

With a cruel grin, Piper planted her foot on Maria’s back, grabbed the bottle from the servant, and poured it over Maria’s head. "Here—I’ll help you drink!"

Piper emptied the entire crate, not letting Maria have a single drop.

Maria couldn’t stop her. She had nothing left.

"Why are you glaring? It’s for your own good—expired water isn’t safe to drink!" Piper glanced at Maria’s defeated expression and told the servant, "Go to the kitchen and find something Maria can drink."

The servant returned quickly with a tray carrying a small white porcelain bowl. "Miss Piper, it’s late, and the only thing left is the chicken broth you didn’t finish this morning."

"Even leftovers are safer than expired water," Piper said, waving the servant forward. "Hurry up! Can’t you see her lips are cracked?"

The servant obeyed, grabbing Maria by the hair and forcing the spoiled broth down her throat.

Maria choked and coughed. Watching her struggle only seemed to delight Piper more. "Still thirsty? If you want more, I can send the servant back to the kitchen."

Maria lay on the floor, barely responsive. She fixed her eyes on the doorway, refusing to let Piper see her cry. Seeing her like that satisfied Piper. "This quiet little spot is perfect for your rest. Take care."

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Easton Rodriguez stood over Kylie Taylor’s sleeping figure. No matter how hard he tried to focus on her, Maria’s face kept pushing into his thoughts. He remembered how unwell she’d looked.

He frowned and stood, but before he could leave the room, Kylie let out a terrified cry. "Don’t... don’t touch me..."

Easton turned back immediately, taking Kylie’s hand. "Kylie..."

She jolted awake, threw her arms around his waist, and sobbed, "I don’t know why—every time I close my eyes, I see that man from last night who wouldn’t let me go..."

"Don’t worry. I’m here," Easton reassured her, gently patting her back. "I’ve sent someone to find him. We won’t let him get away with it."

"Really?" Kylie lifted her tear-streaked face and stared up at Easton. "You can’t imagine how scared I was, thinking I’d never see you again..."

"It’s all right now." Easton brushed away her tears with his thumb. "I’m not going anywhere. Try to sleep."

"Are you sure you’re not tired?"

"I’m fine."

Kylie managed a small smile. "Meeting you is the greatest luck of my life, Easton."

Easton smiled faintly. "Just sleep."

Once she settled back down and her breathing evened out, Easton took out his phone and texted his assistant.

[Check Maria’s recent medical records.]

Half an hour later, he got a reply.

[Mr. Rodriguez, Ms. Rodriguez only came in for a routine checkup during the day. There are no other medical records.]

Easton’s eyes darkened. "A routine checkup—yet she colluded with hospital staff to trick me into going there! All to make me bond with a baby so she can secure her place as Mrs. Rodriguez!"

He let out a cold laugh. "Maria, you really are delusional!"

Resolved, Easton decided Maria would stay at the manor. With Poppy away, his mother could teach Maria some discipline.

Back at the manor, first thing in the morning, Mrs. Rodriguez received an unexpected call from Poppy announcing her early return. "Housekeeper, check on that wretched girl. See if she’s still alive."

The housekeeper was back within minutes. "She’s alive, but barely breathing."

"I thought I’d have more time to deal with that vile girl..." Mrs. Rodriguez murmured with concern. "I didn’t expect Poppy to return so soon. If she finds out..."

"What are you afraid of, Mom?" Piper yawned as she came down the stairs. "Just get rid of her. As long as she doesn’t die here, Grandma can’t hold us responsible."

Mrs. Rodriguez saw the sense in her daughter’s suggestion. "You’re right. Housekeeper, arrange for her to be taken to the lake house."

"That won’t work. Even if my brother doesn’t care about her, she’s carrying his child. He might feel sympathetic. You’ve seen Easton’s temper—when he’s angry, he doesn’t recognize family."

Mrs. Rodriguez pondered. "Where, then?"

"Send her back to her own home. It’s perfectly normal for a woman to return to her family. If anything happens, it’s on her."

"Agreed. Housekeeper, see to it right away!"

Maria’s family home was in an old city neighborhood, at the end of a narrow alley, surrounded by abandoned houses. The Rodriguez family dumped her at the doorstep like discarded trash.

The knife wounds, the lost child, Mrs. Rodriguez’s beatings, the drenching from Piper—all of it left Maria feverish and clinging to life only for her mother’s sake.

With no one nearby, she dragged herself up using the rusty wrought-iron gate, inching along the wall toward the mouth of the alley.

Eventually, Maria reached the alley’s opening, but after waiting what felt like forever, no one came. She was like a candle burned down to the wick; even the wall couldn’t hold her up.

"Maria, just wait a little longer. Someone will come. Someone will save you..."

As she collapsed, those thoughts were her last, desperate hope.

Maria woke in a hospital room that felt oddly cozy—nothing like the cold, sterile place she’d expected. After she collapsed, some Good Samaritan had found her and brought her in, saving her life. Naturally, she was desperate to know who.

When the nurse came in to change her bandages, Maria asked right away, "Is the person who brought me here still around?"

The nurse smiled. "They already left, but they made sure you were stable first. They even paid your hospital bill."

A stranger had shown her more kindness than Easton Rodriguez ever had.

"Did they leave any contact info?" Maria asked. She wanted to thank them—and repay them. If not for them, who knew what might have happened to her?

"We asked," the nurse said, "but they said it was inconvenient. Still, they seemed to know you. They knew your name."

Maria paused. A familiar feeling washed over her.

Only one person would care that much and then disappear without a trace. Her eyes burned at the thought of him. "May I borrow your phone?"

Easton’s house staff had thrown hers into a nearby river, so she had no way to call.

"Of course." The nurse unlocked the phone and handed it over before stepping out.

Maria took a deep breath and dialed a number she hadn’t used in years. It rang several times before a deep, familiar voice answered, "Who’s this?"

The sound nearly broke her. "Vance…"

She tried to keep it together, but her voice wavered.

Vance Perry didn’t answer right away. After a long pause, he asked curtly, "What do you want?"

His tone was ice, but Maria didn’t feel angry. If anything, it felt like a reckoning. "I’m sorry, Vance…"

Vance let out a bitter laugh. "And what exactly is Mrs. Rodriguez apologizing for? I don’t recall you ever crossing me."

Maria couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. "I let you down. I let our mentor down."

"You never cared, did you?" Vance shot back with a harsh laugh. "You left everyone for Easton Rodriguez—even the prodigy the National Research Division recruited at fourteen! You walked out on the girl who gave up days and nights in that lab for her research!"

Vance’s voice climbed. "Tell me, Maria—was Easton really worth sacrificing everything?"

Once, she would have said yes without blinking. Now, the answer had changed. "Vance, are you still recruiting for your AI tech project?"

Vance had trained in the same research lab as Maria under Professor Arthur Spencer. He had been her senior colleague long before she married Easton. Now he heard what she wasn’t saying. "Finally done putting Easton before yourself? You worked your way up for two years just to become his executive secretary. Five years of your life, Maria. For a man who barely looks at you."

The sarcasm didn’t sting. She knew it came from anger, not cruelty. "If you need someone, I want in."

The day she signed the divorce papers, she cut every tie to Easton Rodriguez. The Maria who had sacrificed everything for him was gone—left behind in the operating room where he had coldly wished her dead.

Vance paused. "If you’re serious, be at Apex’s top-floor conference room at nine-thirty a.m. next Tuesday. Don’t be late."

The line went dead.

"Next Tuesday…" Maria did the math. "It’s Saturday now. That gives me two days."

She knew her body wasn’t in any shape to leave, and the doctors might not discharge her by then. But if she wasn’t on time, Vance might never give her another chance.

Maria set her jaw. "I have to make this happen."

Two days later, against the doctor’s advice, Maria left the hospital.

Her first stop was the lakeside mansion. She wouldn’t have come back except to get her things.

To her surprise, Easton was there.

She hesitated for half a second, then headed upstairs, ignoring him on purpose. She just wanted her things. She wasn’t about to waste a single extra minute in his company.

"Stop." Easton rose from the sofa and caught her wrist, his stare hard. "Forgot what I told you the other day?"

He’d hoped some time at the family manor would teach her to fall in line. Clearly, she hadn’t learned a thing.

Maria hadn’t planned on answering, but the words tore out of her. "I haven’t forgotten. I never will."

His words had stayed with her, just like the scars on her body. She would never forget what her devotion had cost her.

Easton’s expression softened a fraction. "Maria, if you think playing the baby card will win you any affection, remember—I’m not like Grandma."

Maria clenched her fists. "Don’t worry. I won’t. The baby is already—"

Before she could finish, Easton’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen, let go of her wrist, and walked toward the wide window overlooking the lake.

The shift in his face said it all. Kylie Taylor. Again.

Maria swallowed the old ache in her chest and kept going upstairs.

As she rolled her suitcase out, she remembered something she’d left behind. She unlocked a drawer in her dresser and took out the photo she treasured—the one of her with her father and brother.

She’d been in too much of a hurry last time and forgotten it. Thank God she remembered now.

She wiped the dust from their faces, tears slipping down her cheeks even as she smiled. "Dad, don’t worry. I miss you both. From now on, I’m living for myself and Mom."

Maria placed the picture frame in her safe and was about to head downstairs when Easton knocked. "Get ready. We’re going to see Grandma," he said.

It wasn’t a husband checking in with his wife. It was a boss handing down an order—because that was exactly how he’d always treated her.

Listening to his footsteps fade down the stairs, Maria glanced at the suitcase by her feet. Her eyes dimmed. Yes, she did need to go. Not just to say goodbye to Grandma—but to settle the score with Piper and her mother.

In the past, she wouldn’t have bothered with what they’d done to her. But now? She intended to get justice for herself. She’d never planned to let them off the hook anyway; she was just moving up her timeline.

Her body still ached from her injuries, so she changed into loose athletic wear—loose enough that no one could tell whether her belly was still slightly rounded.

By the time Maria came downstairs, Easton was already gone. He never waited for her. Waiting wasn’t in his nature.

She headed to the garage and found that Easton hadn’t left yet. "Get in," he ordered.

If she’d had a choice, Maria wouldn’t have ridden with him. But she’d checked herself out of the hospital early, and she didn’t have the energy to argue. Without giving it much thought, she reached for the passenger door—only to find it wouldn’t budge.

She glanced at Easton. Their eyes met, but his expression was as unreadable as ever. Her grip tightened on the door handle. Maria said nothing and climbed into the back seat.

The moment she got in, an overpowering cloud of perfume hit her from the front seat. She didn’t need to ask whose it was. The passenger seat was Kylie’s territory—one Maria wasn’t allowed to occupy. Just like Easton’s heart.

When they pulled up to the manor’s grand entrance, Easton finally broke the silence. "Act like you did just now once we’re inside," he instructed before getting out.

Unlike before, Maria hadn’t said a single word on the drive over. She hadn’t focused on him. She hadn’t tried to get his attention. She was so quiet she might as well have been invisible.

After five years, she’d finally become what he’d always wanted. Yet, for some reason, this version of her irritated him even more.

Watching Easton stride confidently ahead, Maria smiled bitterly. Even when it was just scolding or orders, I used to be thrilled whenever you spoke to me, she thought. Because apart from those moments, he barely acknowledged she existed.

It was just as Vance Perry had said: in her quest to love Easton, she’d sacrificed everything—including her dignity—and become nothing more than a doormat. "Easton, maybe I should thank you for telling me to drop dead," she murmured. Otherwise, she didn’t know how many more years she would’ve wasted on him.

Regaining her composure, Maria followed him out of the car.

Before she even crossed the threshold, Poppy Thomas came out to greet her. "Maria…" the older woman called warmly.

Seeing her approach, Maria quickened her pace. "Careful, Grandma," she urged.

At seventy-five, Poppy wasn’t especially old, but her health wasn’t great. She’d recently fallen down the stairs and broken her right leg, and she’d been bedridden for three months.

The moment Maria reached her, Poppy clasped her hand. "Why are your hands so cold? And you don’t look well. Did that scoundrel bully you again?" Poppy’s words were like a soothing balm, filling Maria with warmth and a hint of sorrow.

"Grandma, I just…" The truth—I’m divorcing Easton!—almost slipped out. Five years ago, when the entire Rodriguez family believed she had spiked Easton’s drink and tipped off reporters to wait outside the hotel suite, Poppy had stood by her. Maria would never forget what she’d said: "Don’t cry, sweetheart. I believe you." Poppy hadn’t just believed her—she’d made sure Easton married her, and for five years she’d treated Maria like her own granddaughter.

Thinking back on all of it, Maria swallowed the words and said instead, "I’m just a little underdressed."

Even if she told Poppy the truth, now wasn’t the time. At least not before sharing one last Thanksgiving meal together.

Poppy relaxed at Maria’s words. "You’re almost four months pregnant now. Your emotions can have a big effect on the baby, so don’t keep everything bottled up like you used to. If anyone gives you trouble, tell Grandma, and I’ll take care of it!"

"…Okay," Maria agreed, her voice full of gratitude.

Inside the house, Piper and her mother were peering out the window, whispering to each other.

"That little brat better not be snitching to Grandma," Piper’s mother fretted. Ever since Poppy had called Easton to bring Maria home, she’d been anxious. "I thought a couple of days would’ve done her in, but she’s still alive and kicking. That girl is a thorn in my side!"

Unlike her mother, Piper remained calm. "Mom, I told you, there’s no need to panic. You know Maria. We’ve bullied her behind Grandma’s back for years, and not once has she dared to make a peep. Even if Grandma favors her, it won’t change anything. No matter what we did to her, she’d always swallow her pride—because she knows better than anyone that if she confronted us, it would only make Easton hate her more."

Piper’s mother brightened at her daughter’s confidence. "You’re right. To win Easton over, she’d probably eat dirt if we told her to."

Piper’s eyes lit up. "I haven’t tried that one yet. Let’s find a chance and see."

Seeing Easton enter, Piper’s mother nudged her arm. "Enough talk. Your brother’s here."

Piper’s expression changed instantly. She bounced over to Easton. "Easton, you’re back!"

"You’re way too old to act like a kid," Easton teased, though his voice held a trace of affection. She was his only sister, eight years younger.

"She’s just a free spirit," her mother added, shooting a pointed look at Maria as she came in with Poppy. Lowering her voice, she continued, "Unlike some people, who are full of nothing but malice."

She pitched it just low enough that Poppy, whose hearing had gotten bad, wouldn’t catch it.

Maria heard it anyway. She walked straight up to Piper’s mother, stopping where Poppy could see the bruises on her arm. Then she raised her voice. "I’m sorry I couldn’t give you that massage in the middle of the night. I’d just been discharged from the hospital. I should have explained myself more clearly."