"No. That would be letting him off too easy." I opened my eyes, my gaze ice-cold. "Stephens Group is going public next month on the back of my neural degeneration patent. I want him standing at the very top before he watches everything he has shatter to pieces."

Over the next few days, I stayed at the Ashford family's private estate on the outskirts of the city, resting for the baby's sake.

William didn't come looking for me.

He'd decided that a pregnant woman with no money couldn't hold out for long.

Instead, he started interacting with Alma on social media constantly. Paparazzi even caught him taking her to try on jewelry.

Then, on the third day, Director Jonathan Lambert called Quinn, his voice panicked.

"Mr. Harding, we have a problem! Mr. Stephens got his hands on one of Director Ashford's prenatal reports from somewhere and posted it online. He's claiming the baby has severe genetic defects. That it's deformed!"

I shot to my feet. The room tilted.

"Genetic defects? That's impossible!"

My prenatal records had been handled exclusively through Quinn. The baby was perfectly healthy.

Quinn pulled up his tablet immediately.

The top trending story read: Stephens Group CEO in Tearful Confession: Socialite Wife Concealed Deformed Fetus to Secure Family Fortune.

In the video, William faced the camera looking haggard, Alma sniffling beside him.

William's voice was heavy with grief. "I've been looking forward to this child's birth more than anything. But I never imagined that my wife, Seraphina Ashford, would bribe doctors to conceal severe genetic defects, all to protect her position in the Stephens family. Miss Harding only tried to convince her to face reality, and Seraphina pushed her, causing her old injuries to flare up. As a father, I cannot allow a life destined for suffering to be brought into this world as a bargaining chip."

Alma let her tears fall right on cue. "Seraphina, please, just stop. The baby is innocent. You can't ruin a child's entire life for wealth and status."

The comments section exploded. The entire internet was calling me a heartless, money-grubbing monster who'd stop at nothing.

I clenched my fists so tight my nails bit deep into my palms.

William. He was willing to weaponize his own flesh and blood just to rehabilitate Alma's image. Just to smoke me out.

"Miss Ashford." Quinn steadied me as I nearly lost my footing, his eyes dark. "The report was forged. Alma hired someone to fabricate it. William wanted to protect Stephens Group's reputation ahead of the IPO, so he not only believed it, he seized the opportunity to pin everything on you."

"Good." I laughed, though there was nothing funny about it. My hand rested on my belly. "If they want to back me into a corner, then let's give them exactly what they're asking for. Quinn, make the arrangements. Tomorrow is the Stephens Group IPO celebration gala. I'm going to deliver them a gift personally."

The online firestorm spread faster than I'd anticipated.

I'd barely sat down on the sofa when Linda Stephens called.

I hit speakerphone. Her shrill, venomous voice flooded the living room instantly.

"Seraphina Ashford, you jinx! You have the nerve to hide? The Stephens family line has been passed down for three generations with a single heir each time. We will NOT tolerate this kind of cursed abomination! You get yourself to a hospital right now and get rid of that bastard, then get out of this family with nothing! Alma has already moved into our home. She's the one who can truly help William. She's the wife he deserves!"

I listened in silence until she finished her tirade, then replied, my voice flat and cold. "You want me to leave with nothing? Tell William to come talk to me himself."

I hung up.

At ten that night, William actually showed up at the estate.

He had no idea it was Ashford property. He assumed I'd rented some upscale bed-and-breakfast with whatever savings I had left.

He stood in the living room, looking at me in my loose silk robe, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes.

There was anger in his expression, and a trace of concern he probably hadn't even noticed himself. But more than anything, there was the unmistakable air of a man bestowing charity from on high.

"Seraphina, are you done throwing your tantrum?" William sighed, softening his tone in a deliberate display of what he considered tenderness. "I've already had everything online taken down. I know you're upset, but Alma saved my life. Her reputation is in ruins. I can't just stand by and do nothing."

He stepped forward and reached for my hand. I pulled away without a word.

Something dark flickered through his eyes, but he pressed on. "Stephens Group goes public next week. There can't be any scandals right now. All you have to do is swallow your pride and sign over that neuro-degenerative therapy patent to Alma, free of charge. She enters the company as a technical shareholder, restores her reputation, and in return, I guarantee the position of Mrs. Stephens will always be yours."

I stared at the man standing in front of me and almost laughed.

"So you knew the prenatal report was fake. You went along with it anyway, helped her drag my name through the mud, used my child as a bargaining chip, all to force me to hand over the patent and pave the way for your so-called savior?"

William's brow furrowed, irritation creeping into his voice. "Why do you have to twist everything? That patent is wasted sitting in your hands. What's wrong with giving it to Alma? Didn't I just make you that chicken soup you love the other day? Cooked it myself to help with the pregnancy? Seraphina, you matter to me. But I owe Alma my life, and I have to repay that debt. Can you just be reasonable for once?"

"Chicken soup?"

A cold laugh escaped me. He had made that soup before the argument at the hospital. At the time, I'd actually believed he was finally learning to care. I drank most of the pot.

Now the memory made my stomach turn.

"William, you owe her your life. Why should my blood and sweat be the currency you pay it back with?" I pointed at the door. "The patent stays with me. Tomorrow, I'll see you at the courthouse."

"Seraphina!" William's composure shattered completely. "Don't push your luck! Without the Stephens family, you can't even afford to raise that child! I'm giving you one night to think it over. Tomorrow at the Stephens Group IPO gala, I expect you to bring the patent authorization and apologize to Alma in person. Otherwise, you will never see me again."

He slammed the door on his way out.

Quinn emerged from the shadows, his gaze cutting like a blade in the direction William had gone.

"Should I break his leg, Miss Ashford?"

"Not yet." I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and watched William's car disappear into the night. "Quinn, did you finish looking into how Alma supposedly saved him?"

Quinn handed me a file, the faintest trace of a cold smile at the corner of his mouth. "It's all here. The car accident five years ago was staged. Alma hired people to arrange the whole thing. She barely got a scratch, then faked a disability to guilt-trip William for half a decade."

I took the file and drew a long breath.

William, the debt you're so proud of repaying is nothing but a joke from start to finish.

Tomorrow, I'll make you watch your faith crumble with your own eyes.

The following evening. The InterContinental Hotel, the most luxurious venue in Crestfield.

Stephens Group's IPO gala was in full swing.

The ballroom was packed with the city's elite. William stood on stage in a bespoke suit, radiating confidence, every inch the conquering king.

Alma stood beside him in a stunning evening gown, positioned like the lady of the house, basking in a chorus of flattery.

"Thank you all for joining us at the Stephens Group celebration." William raised his glass with a polished smile. "Tonight, I also have an important announcement. Stephens Group will be acquiring a revolutionary medical patent, and the holder of that patent is none other than Miss Alma Harding, standing right here beside me. Going forward, she will serve as Chief Technology Officer of Stephens Medical Technologies."

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Alma lowered her head with a demure smile, her eyes blazing with ambition.

BANG.

The heavy double doors of the banquet hall were shoved open from outside.

Every pair of eyes in the room snapped toward the entrance.

I walked in wearing a crimson gown beneath a black overcoat, flanked by Quinn and over a dozen bodyguards in dark suits.

William's smile froze on his face. Then his brow furrowed.

He strode off the stage, his voice a harsh whisper. "Seraphina, what the hell are you doing here? I told you to bring the authorization documents, not crash the event!"

Alma sidled up beside him, her voice dripping with wounded innocence. "Seraphina, even if you're upset with me, you can't cause a scene on such an important day for William..."

I didn't spare either of them a glance. I walked straight to the stage and picked up the microphone.

"Has Mr. Stephens gotten something confused?" My gaze swept the room, my voice cool and precise. "The neuro-degenerative therapy patent belongs to YZ Medical Consortium. And I, Seraphina Ashford, am YZ's sole executive director."

Silence swallowed the room whole.

William froze. His pupils contracted sharply. "What did you just say? YZ Consortium? Seraphina, have you lost your mind? Where do you get the nerve to impersonate—"

"Director Lambert." I cut him off.

The director of the private hospital, who had been seated in the VIP section all evening, rose immediately. He walked to me with measured steps and bowed deeply. "Director Ashford, the legal documents you requested are ready."

The silence that followed was absolute.

William looked as though lightning had struck him where he stood. He stared at me, disbelief cracking his composure wide open. "You... you're really YZ's executive director? Then these past five years..."

"These past five years were nothing more than me playing house with you." I hurled a thick stack of documents into his face. "Effective immediately, YZ Medical Consortium is revoking all patent authorizations to the Stephens Group and pulling every cent of investment. William, your IPO dream is over."

William's entire body trembled. The color drained from his face until he was white as paper.

The realization of what he'd lost hit him all at once. He lunged forward, grabbing for my hand. "Seraphina! Listen to me, let me explain. I didn't know. I didn't know it was you! I love you. I was deceived—"

"Deceived?" I let out a cold laugh. I was about to expose the truth about Alma's staged car accident when a vicious pain tore through my abdomen.

"Ngh..." A strangled groan escaped my lips. My knees buckled, and I nearly collapsed to the floor.

"Miss Ashford!" Quinn caught me in his arms before I hit the ground, his face going ghost-white in an instant.

I looked down with shaking hands. Bright red blood was streaming down my legs, soaking into the hem of my gown.

"Blood... my baby..." I clutched Quinn's jacket with everything I had, the pain so severe I could barely breathe.

William saw the blood pooling on the floor and panicked completely. He rushed toward me. "Seraphina! How is this happening? Someone call an ambulance!"

"Get away from her!" Quinn's foot connected with William's chest, sending him flying backward. Quinn's eyes were rimmed red, his voice raw with fury. "You animal! She hasn't touched anything these past few days except that chicken soup you made her with your own hands!"

William hit the ground hard. The words registered slowly, and then all the blood left his face. He turned, stiff as a corpse, to look at Alma.

Alma stumbled backward, her face ashen. "No... it wasn't me... William, I just thought Seraphina seemed stressed, so I added some herbal ingredients to help her cool down... I didn't know it would cause a miscarriage!"

"It was you..." William's eyes went wide, horror and rage flooding through him in equal measure.

The tonic he had brewed with his own hands for his wife, meant to protect their unborn child, had become the poison that killed it.

The debt of gratitude he'd never stopped talking about had destroyed everything he had.

"Seraphina... I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

William crawled toward me on his knees, tears streaming down his face.

But I was already fading in Quinn's arms, consciousness slipping away as darkness swallowed me whole.

"If anything happens to her or the baby—"

Quinn carried me toward the exit. As he passed William, he left behind a single, ice-cold sentence.

"William Stephens, I will bury your entire family."