Sunny came downstairs rubbing his eyes.

Interrupted mid-review, Joe didn't bother looking at the rest. He signed quickly.

“How come you're awake?”

Sunny threw himself into Joe's arms, little hands looping around his neck, and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Daddy, I didn't tell Mommy one single thing about you taking me to the hospital to see Aunt Lillian today.”

“Next time you go see Aunt Lillian, you have to take me again!”

Joe shot me a guilty glance, and only when he saw that my expression hadn't changed did he reach up and give Sunny's nose a gentle tap.

“Sure, buddy. Daddy promises.”

Sunny giggled and buried his face against Joe's chest.

There was a time when a scene like this would have made me smile, when I'd think how wonderful it was that father and son were so close, maybe even feel a twinge of envy that Joe could be so busy yet still win Sunny's adoration.

Now, watching that small head nestled against Joe's chest, all I felt was a dull blade sawing back and forth across my heart.

Five years old, and he'd already learned to cover for his father.

I stood up and turned the family portrait on the side table facedown.

“It's late. I'm going to bed.”

As I passed Joe, that cloying perfume invaded my senses again. I quickened my pace, desperate to put as much distance between us as possible.

The next morning, Joe was still home for breakfast for once.

He glanced at the light makeup I was wearing and looked mildly surprised.

“What's the occasion?”

“You mentioned it a few days ago. There's an auction today you need me at.”

Even though I didn't want to go, a promise was a promise.

Besides, it wouldn't matter much longer. Six more days, and I'd be free.

Joe grunted in acknowledgment and put a piece of bacon on my plate.

I didn't touch it.

Seven years of marriage, and Joe still didn't remember I was allergic to pork.

Sunny chewed on his eggs and mumbled through a full mouth, “Mommy looks so pretty today.”

I glanced at him but didn't respond.

Sunny pouted, unhappy with my cold reaction, but I didn't coax him the way I used to.

Joe didn't notice the tension between Sunny and me. He was staring at his phone, a faint, absent smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

I didn't need to guess who he was texting.

The only person who could make him look that relaxed was Lillian Fox.

At three that afternoon, I walked into the auction house on Joe's arm.

Even with the divorce quietly underway behind the scenes, I kept a polished smile in place.

Several people came over to make small talk.

Joe fielded every greeting with effortless charm, pausing now and then to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear, the picture of a devoted husband.

Once upon a time, those public displays of affection would have set my pulse racing.

Now I just thought he was one hell of an actor.

The auction dragged on, unremarkable, until lot number seventeen appeared and my breath caught.

It was my mother's bracelet.

Years ago, when Joe was scraping together funds for his startup, I'd sold it.

When Joe found out, his eyes had gone red, and he'd promised me, “Sarah, once I make it, I'll buy it back for you. I swear.”

I raised my paddle without hesitation：“Two million.”

Joe glanced at me, brow creasing. “Since when do you like such an old-fashioned bracelet?”

He didn't even recognize it. My mother's last keepsake, and he had no idea.

I let out a quiet, bitter laugh and said nothing.

But a second later, another paddle went up.

“Three million.”

It was Bidder No. 8, seated diagonally across from us.

I looked over instinctively. A young woman in a face mask and cap.

The woman's hat brim was pulled low. I couldn't see her face.

I looked away and raised my paddle. “Three point five million.”

Bidder No. 8 followed immediately. “Four million.”

Whispers rippled through the room.

An ordinary jade bracelet had just been bid up to four million dollars, far beyond market value.

Joe's frown deepened. He pressed down on my wrist. “Sarah, it's just a bracelet. It's not worth spending this much.”

I pulled my hand free and raised my paddle stubbornly：“Four point five million.”

Bidder No. 8 matched it almost instantly. “Five million.”

I gripped the paddle until my knuckles went white.

Five million. That number was already beyond what my personal account could cover.

I took a deep breath and turned to Joe. “Bid for me.”

Surprise crossed his face, but mostly disapproval. “Sarah, calm down. It's a bracelet——”

“It's not just a bracelet.”

I cut him off, my voice raw. “Joe, that's the bracelet I sold. My mother's. I sold it to raise money for you.”

Joe's expression froze.

I said it again：“Bid for me.”

He was silent for a few seconds, then finally raised the paddle. “Five point five million.”

Every pair of eyes in the room locked onto our table.

Bidder No. 8 didn't counter right away.

I thought she'd given up. My heartbeat had just started to slow.

“Six million.” The next second, the woman's voice came, unhurried, almost taunting.

I whipped around to look at No. 8.

She seemed to sense my gaze. Slowly, she removed her mask.

Red lips curved upward, eyes bright with amusement. Lillian Fox.

I turned to Joe.

His face had gone tight, lips pressed thin, his throat working once.

“Sarah, this price is absurd. There's no reason to keep going.”

“That's my mother's heirloom!”

While we argued, the bidding window closed.

The auctioneer's gavel came down.

The jade bracelet went to Lillian Fox.

That gavel might as well have struck my chest. Whatever was left of my faith in this marriage died with it.

I nearly ran out of the auction hall.

At the end of the corridor, Lillian was admiring the jade bracelet on her wrist.

When she saw me, her smile sharpened.

“What a coincidence. We just saw each other at the hospital yesterday.”

“And now here we are again at the auction.”

It clicked. Last night at the hospital wasn't an accident. Lillian had staged the whole thing. But none of that mattered right now. What mattered was getting my mother's bracelet back.

“Give me the bracelet. Name your price.”

Lillian let out a scornful laugh.

“With what money? You couldn't even come up with six million in there.”

I bit my lip. ：“What do I have to do to get you to give it back?”

Lillian stepped back and crumpled to the floor.

“Sarah, it's just a bracelet! Why did you push me?”

She curled up, arms shielding her stomach, eyes reddening on cue.

Joe came rushing from the other end of the corridor and shoved me aside.

Sunny was right behind him, throwing himself next to Lillian. “Aunt Lillian, does it hurt?”

Once he'd confirmed Lillian was fine, Joe looked up at me. His voice cut like a blade. “Sarah, why did you push her?”

Sunny ran up to me, fists clenched, and demanded, “Mommy, why did you push Aunt Lillian? I hate you!”

His small fists were balled so tight they shook.

The two people who once loved me were both interrogating me for the sake of another woman.

I crouched down and looked Sunny in the eyes：“Sunny, Mommy didn't push her.”

“You're lying! Aunt Lillian fell down! Daddy said you pushed her!”

Lillian was crying prettily, tears rolling down her cheeks like rain on petals：“Joe, don't fight with your wife because of me.”

“And Sunny, don't talk to your mommy like that.”

“It's all my fault. If I'd known that bracelet was her mother's keepsake, I never would have bid against her.”

She pulled free from Joe's arms and stood up on unsteady legs.

“I'll give the bracelet back to her right now.”

She walked toward me and, in a voice only I could hear, hissed：“You've been sitting in my seat for seven years. It's my turn to be Mrs. Delgado.”

With her back to Joe, the malice in Lillian's eyes was completely undisguised.

But for my mother's keepsake, I held my tongue and reached out to take it.

The next second, she slammed the jade bracelet against the floor.

Shards burst in every direction.

I dropped to my knees to pick them up. A fragment sliced my fingertip, and a bead of blood seeped into the jade.

Lillian's sobbing drifted down from above me. “Joe, I really meant to give it back to her. I don't know why I couldn't hold on to it.”

Joe patted her back. When he looked at me, all that was left in his eyes was irritation. “It's just a bracelet. It broke. Get over it.”

I stared at him in disbelief and laughed, the sound thin and wretched.

That was when the ground lurched violently beneath us.

“Earthquake! Run——”

Screams erupted everywhere. The crowd stampeded toward the exits.

Joe scooped Lillian up by the waist and bolted.

I choked down the bitterness clawing up my throat and rushed to Sunny, reaching for him so we could escape together.

He wrenched his hand free. His voice was shrill.

“You're so evil you pushed Aunt Lillian down!”

“You're a bad woman! Don't touch me!”

I stumbled back several steps trying to keep my balance and fell to the ground anyway.

Sunny didn't spare me a single glance. He ran straight to Lillian. “Aunt Lillian, it's too dangerous here. Let's go!”

His small voice was full of worry.

A sharp crack overhead.

I looked up. One of the steel cables holding the crystal chandelier had already snapped.

I tried to scramble to my feet and dodge, but I was a second too late.

The heavy fixture slammed into my back.

Blinding pain, then darkness swallowing everything.

In the last second before I blacked out, all I saw were three silhouettes walking away.

And Sunny's voice, brimming with concern.

“Daddy, take Aunt Lillian to the hospital, quick!”

“Her hands are all red. Mommy must've pushed her!”

Lillian had a few scrapes. I was the one barely clinging to life.

But neither father nor son spared me a thought.

Not even a backward glance.

When I woke, I was in a hospital.

A doctor pushed through the door. “Mrs. Henson?”

I nodded. He flipped through my chart, his tone grave.

“You're six weeks pregnant. You need strict bed rest for the next several days.”

“If something like this happens again, there's a high chance you'll lose the baby.”

My hand went to my stomach without thinking.

So the loss of appetite these past weeks wasn't stress. There was a child growing inside me.

“Mrs. Henson? Are you listening?”

“I'm listening.”

I pulled my hand away. My voice was flat, as though I were talking about someone else's life.

“My husband and I are in the middle of a divorce.”

“Schedule me for a termination. As soon as possible.”

The doctor faltered, words caught behind his teeth.

“Why don't you think it over tonight. If you still want to go through with it tomorrow, we can fit you in that same day.”

The door had barely closed when my phone buzzed.

I opened it. A message from Jordan.

【Hal Whitney at Crestpoint Capital is interested in buying the shares. Terms to be discussed in person. 3 PM, The Riverside Club.】

I typed back a single word, "OK," and several more messages popped up one after another.