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.

【I dug into Joe's travel records for the past seven years.】

【Starting five years ago, he was flying to Paris constantly. Hundreds of round trips in total.】

【Up until a year ago, when Lillian came back to the States. After that, he never went to Paris again.】

Five years ago?

I stared at those words, and something detonated inside my skull.

Five years ago, I was pregnant with Sunny. The morning sickness was so bad I ended up hospitalized for dehydration.

Joe told me the company was expanding overseas. Said he had to travel constantly for work.

Then I fell at home and went into premature labor.

Joe was still abroad, supposedly closing deals.

He only made it back when I was on the verge of dying.

His hands shook when he signed the consent forms.

He gripped my hand so hard his knuckles went white, his eyes red-rimmed.

“Sarah, don't you dare die on me.”

“If you die, I'm going with you.”

That was the first time I'd ever seen Joe lose his composure because of me.

I held on for that promise. Gritted my teeth through every second of it.

In the end, Sunny and I both pulled through.

Every time I thought back on that night, I told myself all the suffering had been worth it.

Even if he'd been absent for my entire pregnancy, at least when it mattered most, he was afraid to lose me.

But now, staring at the flight records Jordan had sent, my blood ran cold.

The day I went into premature labor was March seventeenth.

Joe's flight records showed he'd flown back from Paris that day. Not Mexico, where he'd told me he was on a business trip.

My hands were shaking, but I forced myself to type the next line.

【What else did you find?】

Jordan's reply came fast.

【Five years ago, Lillian moved out of her host family's place into a mansion in a gated community.】

【Rent was about $10,000 a month. The account paying for it belonged to someone with the last name Delgado.】

The phone nearly slipped from my fingers.

Ten thousand dollars a month.

Four years. Twelve months a year. That was four hundred eighty thousand dollars.

During those same four years, I was living in a basement apartment smaller than three hundred square feet, too guilty to spend fifty bucks on a winter coat.

When I was pregnant with Sunny, I craved cherries. I saw the price tag and put them back.

I drew a long breath and crushed every feeling back down where it belonged.

【Hold on to all of this. I'll decide what to do after I meet with Mr. Whitney.】

I closed the chat and checked the date.

I'd been unconscious for two full days.

Less than four days left.

Time was running out. I pulled the IV from my arm and got up.

On my way out, I caught a glimpse through the doorway of the room next to mine. Lillian's room.

Joe scooped up a spoonful of porridge and blew on it gently.

“Careful, it's hot.”

Lillian was propped against the headboard, a coy little pout on her lips.

“Joe, I can feed myself.”

“Your hand's scraped up. Don't move it.”

Sunny sat at the foot of the bed, watching them with wide, eager eyes.

Joe scooped another spoonful, this time sprinkling some dried pork floss on top.

“Eat more. The doctor said you and the baby are both underweight.”

Lillian opened her mouth obediently, then whined：“Just spend more time with me. When I'm happy, I eat more.”

“So are you staying with me tonight?”

Joe paused for a beat. “I'll stay a little longer.”

Sunny piped up from the side. “Don't leave, Daddy! Let's all stay with Aunt Lillian!”

Joe smiled and agreed right away：“Okay.”

He set the bowl down and reached over to tuck the blanket around Lillian's shoulders.

I bit down on my lip until I tasted iron and swallowed it back.

Then Sunny seemed to remember something.

“Daddy, I haven't seen Mommy in two days. Where did she go?”

My feet froze to the floor.

Joe answered without looking up：“Your mom got a little scratch. She'll be fine in a few days.”

Seven stitches across my back. Nearly lost the pregnancy.

A little scratch.

Or maybe Joe had been so busy taking care of Lillian that he'd never bothered to look at my chart at all.

Sunny let out a disinterested "oh" and turned back to make Lillian laugh.

My fists clenched, nails digging crescents into my palms.

Lillian looked up and met my eyes. She mouthed the words slowly：

【Your man. Your kid. They're both mine now.】

I smiled, cold and sharp, and mouthed right back：

【A deadbeat dad and his brainwashed kid. They're all yours.】

After the fifty-million-dollar stock transfer went through, I didn't want to go back to the hospital or home. I checked into the first hotel I could find.

Sometime past midnight, a deafening crash jolted me awake.

Joe kicked the door in.

His face was ashen with rage as he shoved his phone in front of me.

“Sarah, explain this.”

On the screen was a photo of me leaving The Riverside Club, Hal Whitney standing beside me.

The angle was deliberate.

I had only glanced back over my shoulder, but the shot made it look like we were kissing.

The caption was even worse——

【Delgado Group CEO's wife spotted with mystery man; cracks in the billion-dollar marriage?】

My first instinct was relief. At least it wasn't about the stock sale.

Joe read my expression the wrong way entirely.

“Sarah, have you no shame? I've been so good to you, and you go and cheat?”

I fired back before I could stop myself：“And what about you? Lillian's pregnant! Are you going to stand there and tell me that baby isn't yours?”

Joe's face went white, then mottled red. Cornered, he lashed out：“How do you know that? You had someone following me?”

“Like you're any better? You're the one carrying some other man's kid!”

“Lillian already told me. You booked an abortion to get rid of that bastard in your belly!”

I looked up in disbelief：“You'd rather believe a woman who threw you away than trust me even once?”

Before I could finish, Sunny grabbed the ashtray from the nightstand and hurled it at me.

“Mom, you're disgusting!”

“Why did you cheat? Do you know everyone's laughing at me for having a slutty mom?”

I pressed my hand to my forehead, blood seeping between my fingers, and stared at the boy I'd nearly died giving birth to.

“You think this is Mommy's fault? What about your father? He cheated too!”

“Why won't you take my side? Why won't you stand up for me?”

Sunny looked at me with pure revulsion.

“You're just a housewife. How can you compare yourself to Dad? He's a CEO of a public company.”

“Besides, Dad knew Aunt Lillian first. You're the homewrecker!”

Every word was a knife, driven straight into my chest without mercy.

Joe didn't correct him. Didn't tell Sunny who the real homewrecker was.

He grabbed my wrist with a stone-cold expression, squeezing so hard something cracked.

“We're going to the hospital right now. You're getting rid of that bastard.”

I fought him with everything I had, screaming myself raw.

“Joe, I didn't cheat! This baby is yours!”

“If you don't believe me, wait until it's further along and get a paternity test!”

I had considered ending this pregnancy, yes. But I never wanted my child branded a bastard.

Joe let out a cold, scornful laugh.

“You love me so much, right? If it were really mine, you'd never have the heart to get rid of it.”

“Sarah, I won't believe a single word out of your mouth.”

Reasoning with him was pointless. In desperation, I turned to my son.

“Sunny, you've told me so many times you wanted to be a big brother, remember?”

“The baby in Mommy's tummy is your little brother or sister.”

Sunny glared at me with disgust.

“The thing in your belly is a bastard! A dirty kid!”

“Aunt Lillian's gonna give me a real brother or sister!”

I searched his eyes, desperate for even a flicker of hesitation.

There was only loathing.

He was Joe Delgado's son through and through. Just as heartless as his father.

The lights in the operating room were blinding.

When the cold instruments entered my body, the pain radiated from my abdomen through every nerve until there was nothing else.

My child was sentenced to death before it ever had a heartbeat.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in the master bedroom of a villa.

My ankles were wrapped in cloth-padded shackles. The door was bolted from outside. The windows had been nailed shut.

I was a prisoner.

A mute housekeeper was the only person I saw, bringing meals once a day.

She also forwarded me videos and photos from Lillian.

Joe set off fireworks all night long just to make Lillian smile. Sunny stood at a podium at school, announcing proudly that Lillian was the mom he loved the most.

None of it mattered to me. The only thing on my mind was getting out.

When the housekeeper came with my meal again, I finally found my chance.

I pressed the sharpened handle of a spoon to her throat and told her to let me go.

Her hands trembled as she unlocked the shackles.

I whispered an apology, struck the back of her neck to knock her out, took a fistful of cash from her pocket, and ran.

On the road, I flagged down a cab and gave the driver Jordan's address.

Jordan's eyes went red the second she saw me.

“Sarah, you...”

“No time to explain. Is everything ready?”

Jordan steadied herself and handed me an envelope.

Inside was a divorce certificate stamped with an official seal and a one-way ticket to Norway.

“I saw those stories about you online a few days ago.”

“I've been trying to reach you nonstop. I was about to call the police.”

I looked at her with all the gratitude I couldn't put into words.

After years of friendship, she didn't ask what had happened. She just choked out, "Take care of yourself."

I nodded and walked quickly into the dark.

At the same time, Joe felt a sudden, inexplicable pang in his chest while sitting beside Lillian.

Then the villa's house manager called.

“Mr. Delgado, your wife... she's escaped.”

He barely hung up before his secretary's call came through.

“Mr. Delgado, the stock price just hit limit down across the board...”