Lillian miscarried.

When she came out of the procedure, she had her men drag me to her bedside. A bodyguard pinned my back with his foot and forced me down.

"Silas, you are paying for what you did."

Her face was a mask. She gave a small head movement. The bodyguard kicked me. I went onto my elbow. The skin opened.

She did not look. The bodyguard pulled me up.

"Don't worry. It's almost over."

A bad feeling rose up. I tried to go for the door, but the bodyguard had me back on the floor in a step.

She got out of bed slowly. Her eyes had something in them that did not belong on her face.

"Lillian, what are you doing?"

She put her foot in my stomach.

The breath went out of me. The world went white. I curled around the pain.

I had spent every dollar I had on her legs. The legs she was using right now were what I had given her.

So she could do this.

It was not an answer I could find.

She was not done. She gripped my chin and made me look at her.

"Silas, the one thing you should not have done was hurt my child. Do you have any idea how hard it is for a Gates woman to carry one?"

I had all the air to scream and no breath to do it with.

Of course I knew. The Gates family had a long history of infertility. That was why Mrs. Gates had picked me for Lillian. Not just because our mothers had been close, but because my surgical work made women fertile.

The Gates had a rule: no engagement. Only after a wife had given birth would she be qualified to enter the Gates family.

I had been the only exception.

Lillian's hand went up. The slap came down. Then another. The room rotated.

I was a rag on the floor. I was barely breathing.

The door opened. Charlotte White, my own sister, came running in. She kicked me in the chest before she said hello.

"Silas, have you lost your mind? You made Liam lose his first child."

Anyone listening would have thought it was Charlotte's child.

I coughed up a mouthful of blood.

When the cousins came for the family assets after our parents died, Charlotte had been surrounded by dozens of them. I had stood in front of her. I had taken the kick meant for her.

She had cried into my shoulder, called me her brother, and promised to protect me.

This was how she protected me.

I forced my body up. I lifted my hand. The flat of it landed across her face.

I had nothing left to lose.

While the room turned to look at her, I broke for the door. The bodyguards were behind me, but this was my hospital. I knew the corridors.

I made it to a private room and locked the door.

The doctor said I had three broken ribs. I bit the inside of my mouth and tasted blood every time I breathed.

The pain made my hate clean.

They were both going to pay.

The phone rang.

"Mr. White, the latest version of the implant is finished. Are we installing it on Ms. Gates today?"

Lillian thought her legs were healed. She thought I had no more value. That was why she had been brave enough to tell me to be her side piece.

What she did not know was that her leg still needed one final support implant.

And I was the only person on Earth who could perform the surgery.

Without it, in seven days, she would not be able to stand.

While I was healing, Charlotte and Lillian called over and over. I ignored them. They sent texts. The texts were all ultimatums: apologize to Liam, hand over the hospital, or else.

I blocked them both. I left Liam's chat unblocked.

Liam kept texting me. The content was different. He sent me photos of Lillian taking him to the Gates home. He sent me intimate clips of him with Lillian. He sent a photo of the front of White Industries.

[Brother, Charlotte said we are family. She insisted on giving me a position at the company. They made me deputy general manager right away.]

[I told her this was your title, but she insisted I take it.]

[She gave me this, too. (Photo: an expensive watch.)]

Evidence is evidence.

I had been trying to understand why Charlotte would choose Liam over me, her actual brother. I closed my eyes. I saw her panicked face when she heard about Liam's miscarried child.

A theory took shape.

A knock came at the door.

The person who walked in was the last person on Earth I had expected.

"What are you doing here?"

Seven days later, at the Gates family dinner, mostly healed, I walked in with an invitation in my hand.

My luck was not great. I ran into Lillian at the door.

She was in a fitted dress, her arm linked intimately with Liam's, chatting and laughing with the elders one by one.

She saw me. The smile dropped. She came over and grabbed my arm.

"Silas, I knew you couldn't bear to break up with me."

She gave me a practiced, seductive smile and reached for me.

"Don't worry. I keep my word. As long as you hand the hospital to Liam, you can still be my boyfriend. I'll treat you and Liam the same."

Her hand never reached me. Another hand caught hers and pulled it away.

A lazy, careless voice came from behind me.

"He is your uncle by marriage. Pawing at an elder like that? Did my older brother not teach you any manners?"

It looked like a light pull, but Lillian lost her balance and went down in front of the champagne tower.

The glasses shattered one after another, drawing everyone's attention.

Lillian looked like a drowned rat. Her angry words died in her throat when she saw who was standing in front of her.

"Aunt... you... why are you here?"

She tried to stand. Her knees would not hold. For a moment, she could not get up.

Her eyes filled with familiar panic, and her voice trembled.

"My legs... why can't I feel my legs?"