Juliet stood frozen, methodically feeding item after item to the flames. Damien watched her cherished belongings crumble to ash. "How did you figure it out?" he asked, brow furrowing.

Facing the man she'd loved for years, Juliet couldn't believe his unshakable calm even now. A bitter smile twisted her lips. "After everything, don't you think I'm owed an explanation?"

Damien stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her like old times. "Juliet, just hear me out. I did this for you. I gave you access to my life without all the baggage. Whatever Charleigh and I have—it's just a family arrangement."

A bitter laugh escaped her, calm on the surface despite the raging storm within. "So you tricked me into a sham marriage, sped up the delivery, and then handed my baby over to her?"

Damien averted his gaze, dodging the truth. "Juliet, we can still have more kids..."

"Enough." Juliet cut him off sharply. His words were still dripping with lies.

Ignoring her resistance, Damien tightened his grip. "Juliet, I came to discuss Jace. Don't you want to see him?"

Juliet froze, her voice stuck in her throat. How could she not ache to see her own baby? Now that she'd been freed, it finally clicked why Damien had come.

Damien and Charleigh were bound by a marriage of convenience. It wasn't until after the wedding that they discovered Charleigh couldn't conceive. To preserve powerful alliances and secure a legitimate heir for the Freeman legacy, everything—the courtship, the love, the wedding—had been a charade. Their families conveniently looked the other way while Damien scheduled regular medical screenings to vet her genetic suitability.

She was nothing but a pawn, exploited from start to finish.

"Fine," Juliet said, realizing that playing along was her only shot at seeing her son.

The drive to the private estate was dead silent. She realized this was Damien's actual home. To her surprise, Charleigh was waiting at the entrance. As they stepped out, Charleigh hooked her arm through Damien's with sickening affection. "Welcome back," she purred, then told the staff, "Show Ms. Dunn where to change."

Juliet understood that to see her son, she'd have to pose as a servant. She had no choice. Silently, she slipped into the uniform while the butler ran through the household rules. That's when she learned her child's full name: Jace Freeman.

The butler handed her a stack of clean linens and led her to a room. Through the partly open door, she heard heavy breathing and muffled moans—left ajar deliberately to rub in her humiliation. Juliet knew exactly who was in there. Charleigh was mocking her again, but all she could do was swallow her pride.

After what felt like an eternity, the activity ceased. "Come in!" Charleigh's voice rang out, deceptively sweet.

Damien, with his back to Juliet, wore fresh crimson scratches across his skin, seemingly indifferent to them being on display.

The room reeked of sweat and scandal. Head bowed, Juliet stepped in, fighting back nausea as she stripped the soiled sheets and put on clean ones.

Soon after, the sound of little excited footsteps came rushing closer. A young boy bounded into view, his hand held by a nanny. "Mom! Dad! You're both here! I'm back from school," Jace announced brightly.

Juliet Dunn's hands froze as she spun around to face the child who could have been her mini-me. Charleigh Mason pulled him closer with a smile. "Jace, come say hi. This is the new nanny."

Before Juliet could even blink, a toy came sailing through the air and smacked her right in the head. "Go away! Jace hates you! Mommy cries every time she sees your picture with Daddy!" the little boy screamed.

Juliet's outstretched hand fell helplessly to her side. Damien Freeman walked over, wrapping an arm around Charleigh and Jace. "Come on, let's eat. Jace must be starving."

At dinner, Jace kept dropping his fork on purpose, and each time, Juliet bent down to pick it up. Her knees throbbed against the hard floor, but she kept at it, desperate for just one more glimpse of the boy.

It was only when Charleigh stepped in that Jace finally settled down, though reluctantly. "Jace, eat your dinner properly. It's not nice to act up."

Through it all, Damien just watched in silence, like none of it was his problem.

"You! Get me a bowl of soup!" Charleigh snapped.

On autopilot, Juliet obeyed. But as she set the bowl down, Charleigh deliberately tipped it—the scalding liquid splashed onto Juliet's arm, instantly raising angry red welts.

A few drops landed on Charleigh's hand, and she gasped.

Damien was at her side in a heartbeat, gently lifting her hands. "Are you okay?"

He shot Juliet an annoyed glare. "God, can you be any more clumsy? You can't even handle one simple thing."

Biting back the pain, Juliet silently dabbed at her arm with a napkin. Her mind flashed back to when she was pregnant, and a few drops of hot soup had landed on her hand. Back then, Damien had iced it all evening, so worried he'd been.

She'd once believed that, over those four years, at least some of his care had been real. Now, it was painfully obvious it had all meant nothing.

Without Juliet noticing, little three-year-old Jace had crept closer. He gently blew on Charleigh's hand, comforting her. "Mommy, don't hurt. Jace make it all better."

When his innocent face turned towards Juliet, it was twisted with pure disgust. Somehow, he got his hands on another bowl of hot soup and flung it right at Juliet's face.

"Aah...!" she cried out, the pain searing across her forehead—right where the old wounds hadn't even healed yet.

In that household, even the smallest member held all the power. "Get the guard! Throw her in the pool! She's gotta learn her lesson for hurting my mommy!" Jace ordered.

Damien moved to step in, but Charleigh cut him off. "Damien, you promised you wouldn't upset me again."

Damien's fists unclenched. He looked away, ignoring the sight of Juliet, broken and trembling.

Juliet's nails bit deep into her palms as she shook violently, then she was roughly hauled away.

The temperature was below freezing, and a thin layer of ice had already formed on the pool. They tossed her in without a second thought. The ice-cold water swallowed her whole.

After struggling, she finally got to her feet and tried to climb out. But again, the little boy's voice cut through the air. "Make her stay in there for an hour before she's allowed out!"

Juliet stared at that innocent face—so much of him looked like her, but even more like Damien. She forced her shivering to stop and answered, "Yes, young master."

Juliet Dunn had no idea when she'd blacked out, but when she came to, she was lying in bed. Damien Freeman was right beside her, carefully tending to her wounds. His own burned hands were already wrapped in bandages.

"Juliet, just hang in there, okay? Charleigh's struggling because she's so close to Jace. She can't have kids, and even though she'll never admit it, it eats at her," Damien murmured, his voice soft as silk. "I swear, after Jace's third birthday, we'll leave—together."

Juliet stared at the man in front of her, so different from the brute he'd been the night before, and said flatly, "No need. I can leave right now."

"Juliet, don't rush. I know you care about Jace. I just wanted you to see he's doing okay," Damien insisted, his tone coaxing her like she was a spooked animal.

Juliet kept her cool and shot back, "What you're really telling me is he's doing just fine without me, right?"

"Juliet, please don't make this harder than it has to be," he pleaded.

He was about to say more when a sudden ring cut him off. The moment he stepped out to handle it, Charleigh Mason swept in and slapped Juliet clean across the face.

"Look at you, all high and mighty now. Didn't Damien fill you in? No matter how pitiful you act, with your background, you'll never be good enough for the Freeman family," Charleigh spat, her voice dripping with scorn.

Juliet felt the hot sting on her cheek but didn't flinch. She couldn't deny the truth anymore. Ever since she'd learned the reality, everything clicked—why the marriage was hush-hush, why Damien never showed his face with her in public. It wasn't about protecting her; she was nothing but a bird in a gilded cage, a goddamn means to an end.

Charleigh drank in the look on Juliet's face with obvious satisfaction. She settled into a chair with exaggerated grace and went on, "You've met Jace now. Do you seriously still think he's yours? From the day he was born, I've been the only mother he's ever known. To him, you're just the woman who upsets his mom."

Juliet clenched her fists, fighting the tremors running through her body. "Enough, Mrs. Freeman. Don't worry, I'm leaving."

Charleigh gave a strange little smile. "As long as you get it. But no need to hurry off. After all, you are Jace's biological mother. You should at least stick around for his third birthday party."

In the days that followed, Juliet got zero peace despite her promise to go. Charleigh stuck her with piano and golf practice with Jace, letting the kid mock and torment her without holding back, constantly hammering home that Juliet never belonged in this world.

Damien couldn't possibly have missed what was going on, yet he did jack shit. All he sent her way were transaction alerts on her phone—each one a little payoff for her "good behavior."

But Juliet was way past caring. Her only prayer was to get out as soon as possible.

Jace's birthday bash was tomorrow, and she had a one-way ticket to England booked.