As soon as we reached the garden, Lewis roughly shoved me, sending me crashing into a flowerbed.

The branches scraped my hand, sending a sharp pain through me.

But seeing Damon struggle in Katherine's arms made me feel worse.

I pushed myself up, trying to grab Damon, but Lewis snatched him up into his arms.

Damon fought back with everything he had, his arms and legs flailing as he tried to break free and reach me.

But Lewis held him tightly and slapped him hard on his backside. "You brat, how dare you challenge your father? Pushing people at your age? How vicious. Your mother clearly failed to raise you right. I'll do the job for her."

As he said that, he raised his hand again, ready to hit Damon.

I rushed forward and slapped him across the face. "Are you out of your mind? I've told you he's not your son!"

"Alicia, how dare you slap me?" Lewis stared at me in disbelief.

"You were the perfect image of a virtuous woman five years ago. How did you end up like this? Is this how you've been raising my son all this time? I'm so disappointed.

"Luckily for him, I'm back, or he would've grown up to be a killer. Now I have to take on the role of a father and teach this disrespectful brat a lesson."

He threw Damon to the ground and shoved him toward Katherine. "Get on your knees and apologize to Katherine."

Damon had never been treated this way. Furious, he cried out, "My daddy runs Bauer Corp! If he finds out what you're doing to me, he won't let you get away with it! You're a bad guy!"

My heart shattered as I moved to comfort him, but Katherine held me back, stopping me from reaching him.

Damon's words only made Lewis glare at me with even more disdain and revulsion.

"Alicia, you really disgust me. I can't believe you've known about my identity all this time. Was that why you got close to me? To secretly get pregnant with my child and use him to threaten me at Grandpa Johann's birthday party?"

I was confused. What was he talking about? I couldn't understand a thing.

Was he connected to the Bauer family?

A terrible feeling surged inside me. My voice trembled as I asked, "Who are you? What's your connection to the Bauer family?"

He glanced at me with utter contempt. "Really? You're still playing dumb at this point? You don't know who I am, but you brought my son here to trap me?"

Katherine scoffed. "Older women are always so calculating. You've known all along that Lewis is the heir to Bauer Corp. That's why you secretly gave birth to his son, right? But guess what? Your plan's about to fail."

Her words hit me like a thunderclap.

Oh my god! What kind of nightmare was this?

The awkwardness was off the charts.

I didn't dare stop to think. I wrenched myself free from Katherine's grip. Catching them both off guard, I grabbed Damon in my arms and bolted.

This was a high-profile party, filled with the social elite.

If Lewis exposed our relationship, it would cause a scandal that would be disastrous for Bauer Corp.

"Stop right there!"

Katherine suddenly grabbed Lewis and whispered something in his ear.

Lewis' expression changed, and he stormed forward, grabbing both me and Damon by the arms. "You want to leave? Fine, but leave my son here."

My eyes burned with anger, and I spoke clearly. "Lewis, what we had back then was nothing more than a childish game of house. We never slept together. Damon is not your son."

"Shut up!" He interrupted coldly. "You old hag, now you don't want to admit it, huh? The night I left, you begged me to sleep with you in that private room. With how desperate you were, you were no different from a prostitute."

I quickly covered Damon's ears, making sure he didn't hear. My eyes locked on Lewis. "Don't spread lies. I left early that night. So, who did you actually sleep with?"

When Lewis heard me, he froze, and his eyes filled with disbelief. But the words that came out of his mouth were vulgar. "Alicia, you just won't admit it, huh?"

He suddenly leaned in, brushing his lips against my ear. "I still remember every filthy thing you whispered in my ear that night. What's the matter? You've already given me a son, yet you don't have the nerve to admit to him how you clung to me, begging for it over and over again?

"With all your skills and that desperate neediness, it was such a contrast to how you usually act so prim and proper. So, how was it? Did I satisfy you that night? I guess that's how you ended up pregnant—"

"Shut up!"

I couldn't believe it. After five years, the once cheerful, naive young man I remembered had become this crude, disgusting man now.

He slowly pulled away, his face twisting into a sinister grin. "Did I strike a nerve? Just leave Damon with me, and I'll give you money. You can go find more men—"

"You shameless—"

I didn't even finish my sentence before he snatched Damon from my arms again.

"Honestly, I thought your scheme of using a kid to threaten me was pretty low. But Katherine actually has a point. My dad is always on my back for being a good-for-nothing.

"If I take Damon home now and get on his good side, the inheritance will be mine. Damon will live the high life with me, and you'll get to ride my coattails."

After he finished, he pointed at Katherine and said to Damon, "How about we let Katherine be your new mom? Your mom is so old. People will laugh at you when you start kindergarten."

Damon tried to bite him, but Lewis gripped his chin tightly, stopping him.

I forced down the boundless rage simmering in my chest and gave him a cold warning. "Lewis, let go of him. If you don't, Damon's dad will make sure you regret it."

With that, I stomped hard on his foot.

He almost screamed in pain.

Taking the chance, I slapped him hard across the face.

With a red handprint on his cheek, his eyes turned red with fury. "Alicia, how dare you slap me again? You doted on me like I was your son five years ago!"

He gripped Damon tightly, his voice full of rage. "I won't let this slide. Just you wait."

Katherine stepped forward, touching the slap mark on his face with sympathy, then turned to strike me.

But I grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight.

"You bitch, let go of me. If my father-in-law finds out you hurt Lewis, he won't forgive you."

Her words sent a chill through me.

Father-in-law? Had he accepted her? She was already acting all familiar.

"Let them go!" A sharp command rang out from behind me.

I let out a breath of relief and turned around to see Cody Davidson, the driver, jogging toward us.

"Mrs. Bauer, are you okay? Sorry I'm late."

He spoke quietly. "Mr. Bauer said he's tied up with some business issues and can't come for now."

Taking in the scene before him, he asked softly, "Do you need me to take you and Mr. Damon out of here?"

"Yes. Give me my son back!"

I stepped forward, trying to take Damon from Lewis' arms.

But he glared at Cody, then suddenly grabbed my hand with a tight grip. His eyes blazed with anger and bitterness as he sneered. "Alicia, I really underestimated you. You're this old, and you're still after younger men?

"I'm seven years younger than you, but let me guess. Your lover is probably younger than you by at least ten years, right? You really are something, huh?"

I was done wasting words on Lewis.

I reached out and tried to yank Damon from his arms, while Damon struggled to get back to me.

Yet, Lewis held on tight, refusing to let go.

Cody stepped forward to help. "Sir, please let go of the child."

Lewis spun around and snapped at him, "Shut up! Do you know how messed up this woman is? She secretly had my son, hoping to climb higher by using him. You're her man, right? Do you even know she's using the child to threaten me? You're defending a woman I've used up? Are you blind?"

He turned his venom on Cody, his eyes filled with mockery.

"Shut up! Don't insult Mrs—"

Cody stepped forward to protect me, but before he could finish speaking, Lewis landed a furious punch right on his face.

"Lewis, have you lost your mind?"

My fury was reaching a boiling point.

I pulled tissues from my bag and handed them to Cody, who was bleeding from his nose. "I'm sorry."

Cody was a responsible driver. He must've been looking for me and Damon after not seeing us at the party.

"Alicia, your standards have really hit rock bottom. This young man looks like he barely 18. Given how you were clinging to me and begging for it all night long, I doubt he can actually satisfy you—"

"Shut up!"

I honestly had to laugh at how delusional this idiot was. What was wrong with him? He literally couldn't process basic human speech!

This was Johann's party, and everyone here was someone important. I didn't want to keep arguing.

While Lewis was still in his delusional state, Cody moved fast, grabbing Damon from his arms.

"Let's go."

With Damon in his arms, Cody reached out to grab my hand, pulling me along to leave.

"You're not going anywhere, Alicia! Stay right here!" Lewis yanked my arm to stop me from leaving.

I was worried his outburst would scare Damon, so I motioned for Cody to quickly leave with him.

While holding me, Lewis glared venomously at their receding figures. "Alicia, you've got guts. I'll tell you this much. Damon is mine. There's no way he's getting away from me. And you…"

As he said that, he reached up and grabbed my face hard. A strange grin formed on his lips. "You are mine too, every inch of you, from head to toe. You can't escape."

I froze, terrified by the look in his eyes. What was happening to him?

With reckless abandon, he dragged me forcefully toward the small shed in the garden where the tools were kept.

Fear gripped me as I realized this wasn't the Lewis I knew.

Seeing him like this, Katherine stood rooted to the spot, trembling. Her lips quivered as if to speak, but she didn't dare make a sound. She could only watch in a daze as Lewis dragged me into the shed and slammed the door shut.

He shoved me against the door, his breath heavy and ragged as he leaned in. "Alicia, I actually miss that night from five years ago. Since you're so eager, let's relive it."

"Let go of me!"

I kicked and hit him, but he was like a madman, devoid of all reason. He pinned me down with a suffocating force.

"Help!"

Fear surged through me, and I was shaking uncontrollably.

"Don't worry. You're the mother of my child. I'll be gentle with you."

With a smirk, he pulled off his belt to tie my hands, then shoved his tie into my mouth.

I looked at his face coming closer and felt an overwhelming sense of despair.

Just then, the small wooden door flew open with a kick.

My husband, Elliot Bauer, stormed in, his eyes wide with rage as he took in the scene. He stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. "It's okay. You're fine now. I'm here."

As I collapsed into his strong embrace, I finally calmed down.

Looking up, I saw Lewis, who had been acting like a total lunatic just seconds ago, staring at the scene in utter disbelief.

His lips trembled, but he didn't dare speak.

"You bastard! How dare you touch your stepmom? Do you have a death wish?" Elliot stared Lewis down coldly, his sharp gaze cutting through the air like a blade.