They were last year's castoffs—pieces I'd gotten bored with and had my assistant donate.

Sapphire saw me walk straight inside and rushed to block my path. "Are you here to deliver the property deed?"

"Who let you in? Let me tell you something—Mr. Finley bought this house for me. If you don't get out, I'm calling security to drag you out right now!"

I let out a cold laugh, pulled the marriage certificate from my bag, and tossed it onto the table.

"See for yourself. Find out who I am."

Sapphire glanced down. For a second, she froze. Then a mocking sneer twisted her face, and she swung her hand hard across my cheek.

"You have the nerve to impersonate Mrs. Finley? You must be out of your mind! Take a good look in the mirror—a man like Morton would never look twice at trash like you!"

She reached smugly into her own bag and produced a red booklet of her own.

"Take a closer look. This is the real one. Morton and I registered our marriage a long time ago. I've seen plenty of women like you, showing up to run a scam. Stop embarrassing yourself!"

I lowered my gaze to the gold-embossed marriage certificate, and the coldness in my eyes sank deeper with every passing second.

Good. Very good.

Morton Finley. What a brilliant game you've been playing.

On one hand, you played the dutiful live-in husband for the Mason family, using my resources, living in my house. On the other, you turned around and married another woman behind my back, making a fool of me the entire time.

I didn't reach up to touch my burning cheek. I didn't argue with her. I simply reached into my bag, pulled out the property deed I'd just obtained, and slammed it down on the table.

"Sapphire Parsons. Open your eyes and read carefully. This house—see whose name is on it."

Sapphire picked up what I'd thrown down, looked at it for a moment, and burst out laughing. "All that posturing, and you pull out some worthless household registry to try and fool me? You've lost your mind!"

I looked at the household registry sitting on the table and frowned. Then it hit me—I'd told my driver to take the property deed back to the family estate before I left.

She waved her hand dismissively and called out, "Security! Drag this lunatic out of here!"

The words had barely left her mouth before two bodyguards in black suits rushed in, reaching for me.

My heart sank.

The day Morton took over the company, he'd come to me practically in tears about how dangerous it was being CEO—too many enemies, he needed personal security. I hadn't hesitated. I'd signed off on a massive budget for him without a second thought.

So these bodyguards weren't his safety net. They were Sapphire's guard dogs.

I stepped back half a pace and swept my gaze over the two men. "I'm Teresa Mason, CEO of the Mason Group. Morton Finley is nothing more than a man who married into my family. You lay a hand on me, and you'd better be ready for what comes next."

Sapphire doubled over laughing, clutching her stomach like she'd just heard the joke of the century. "CEO of the Mason Group? Why don't you take a good look at yourself! Morton already drew up his will—the whole company goes to the baby in my belly! If he were really just some live-in husband, where would he get a company to leave to my child?"

Every muscle in my body locked. The blood in my veins turned to ice.

"...You're pregnant?"

At that moment, Morton shoved the door open and barged in, flustered and panicked.

"Sapphire, what's going on? What's all the commotion? Why are the bodyguards in here?"

The second he saw me, the color drained from his face. His feet stopped dead.

I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I didn't lunge at him.

I just stood there, my gaze scraping across his face inch by inch, my voice cold enough to freeze the air between us.

"Morton Finley. The will. The baby. The bodyguards. This house."

"Would you like to explain? Personally?"

Morton's pupils contracted sharply. The panic lasted only a heartbeat before something hardened behind his eyes, like he'd made a decision. His expression turned stone-cold, and the way he looked at me was so foreign it cut to the bone.

He stepped forward, shielding Sapphire behind him, and barked at me with a voice stripped of every trace of the man I'd known. "Who the hell is this tramp, barging in here and causing a scene? Security! Get her out of here. If she upsets my wife and my child, it'll be your heads!"

I froze, almost certain I'd misheard him.

"Morton, have you lost your mind?"

This was the same man who, just moments ago, had been groveling before me at the sales office. Now, for the sake of another woman, he didn't even bother keeping up the act.

Sapphire immediately nestled into his arms, her eyes rimming red on cue as she tugged pitifully at his sleeve. "Morton, she hit me. She pretended to be your wife and said this house was hers. I was so scared..."

Morton's gaze hardened, and whatever hesitation remained vanished entirely.

He strode forward, seized me by the collar, and half-dragged, half-threw me into the yard.

Every movement was brutal. Every look, glacial. Like he was dealing with an enemy.

He leaned close, his voice low enough that only I could hear. "Teresa. Don't push your luck."

He straightened, towering over me. "You really think I'm still that obedient little husband who jumped at your every command? Let me spell it out for you. I took full control of the company a long time ago."

I braced my hands against the ground and pushed myself to my feet. "What are you talking about?"

He scoffed, contempt dripping from every syllable. "You insisted on our agreement to stay childless. Refused to give me an heir. Did you honestly think I'd let you pull my strings forever?"

"Once I took over the company, I drew up a will. Everything goes to Sapphire's child."

"And your parents? I've already sent them overseas. You think the Mason family can still protect you?"

Each word landed like a blade, precise and merciless. "The Masons are finished."

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

Every tender gesture. Every act of obedience. All of it had been a lie.

From the very beginning, he'd been after one thing: swallowing the Mason family whole.

"Now." Morton pointed at the ground, his tone brooking no argument. "You slapped Sapphire. Get on your knees and apologize to her. Do that, and I'll let everything else slide."

My head snapped up, cold fury blazing behind my eyes. "You want me to kneel to her? In your dreams."

"Morton, do you really want to take things this far?"

He was still underestimating me. A live-in husband with no background of his own could never have touched the true core of the company. I'd handed him a business to play with, and he'd deluded himself into thinking he held all the cards.

It was laughable.

But even when I warned him, he had no intention of backing down.

"This far?" He let out a short laugh, as if I'd told a joke. "If you'd just added Sapphire's name to the property deed like a good girl, none of this would've happened. You're the one who insisted on making a scene."

"You don't have the leverage to threaten me anymore."

He closed the distance between us, step by deliberate step, triumph written across his face.

"Don't make me force you to your knees."

I looked at that smug expression and, despite everything, smiled.

"Is that so?"

I lifted my hand and pressed the panic alarm button hidden inside my collar.

"Don't forget, Morton."

"I'm the one who took you from nothing. Made you a live-in husband. Put you in the CEO's chair of a brand-new company. That should tell you I've always had far more up my sleeve than what you can see."

But the instant I pressed it, no alarm sounded from my body.

Instead, a shrill, piercing wail erupted from Sapphire.

My pupils contracted. I stared at Morton in disbelief.

He'd secretly removed my personal alarm and planted it on Sapphire.

The sudden blast of noise sent Sapphire into a violent flinch. Her legs buckled and she crumpled to the ground, both hands clutching her stomach, her face draining of color in an instant.

"Morton, my stomach... it hurts so bad... The baby, my baby..."

Morton's expression twisted. He lunged toward her like a man possessed, gathering her into his arms, then whipped his head around to glare at me with murder in his eyes.

"Teresa! You won't stop until you've destroyed us, will you?!"

"You won't have children yourself, so you have to make sure Sapphire can't either? How can you be so vicious!"

The shrill commotion quickly drew passersby from the surrounding area. A crowd gathered at the villa's entrance, pointing and whispering in my direction.

"Dressed that nicely, but rotten to the core."

"The woman's pregnant, and she deliberately scared her. That's disgusting."

"Trying to steal someone's house and hurt their baby. Absolute trash."

Morton's fury consumed him completely. He jerked his head up and barked at the bodyguards, "Hold her down! Today she's going to kneel and beg Sapphire for forgiveness. Anyone who tries to protect her gets the same treatment!"

Two bodyguards moved in immediately, seizing my arms in a brutal grip.

Morton's eyes were dark with malice. He drew his leg back and drove his foot toward my stomach.

"Don't you dare touch me!" I snarled. "Morton Finley, try it. The Masons won't let you walk away from this."

"That panic alarm is linked to my brother's phone! Even if you swapped the device and gave it to Sapphire, the binding on his end can't be undone. You don't have the access."

Morton's foot froze mid-swing. Then, as if he'd just heard the most ridiculous joke of his life, he let out a derisive laugh.

"Teresa, you're still making things up? We've been married for years. The only family you've ever had around you is your parents. A brother? Since when?"

"You've lost your mind. Babbling nonsense because you're scared."

My heart sank.

My brother had been fiercely opposed to my marrying Morton. The two of them had clashed so badly that, in a fit of stubbornness, I'd refused to ever mention my brother's existence in front of Morton again.

From start to finish, he had no idea I had a blood-related older brother who wielded real power and showed no mercy.

"I'm not lying to you!"

I opened my mouth to explain.

But Morton had already lost patience. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched downward.

"Kneel! Get on your knees!"

The instant before my knees hit the ground—

A man's voice cut through the crowd like a blade.

"Who dares touch my sister."