“Pauline, why don't you stay and watch?”

“Might learn a thing or two.”

“Stop letting Lawrence get so bored with you.”

My stomach lurched.

Elise had finally shed that obedient skin of hers, her voice growing lighter and brighter with every word.

“You taught me how to study, how to pick out a gown, how to hold my own at a dinner table.”

“But you never figured out how to make a man fall in love with you, did you? Want me to give you some pointers?”

Lawrence frowned.

“Elise.”

As if scolding her for going too far.

But his hand reached over and pulled her back to his side, the protectiveness so practiced it looked like second nature.

I thought of seven years ago.

The first time Lawrence came to me looking for investment.

He wore a suit washed so many times it had gone pale, palms slick with sweat.

Nobody believed in his project.

I gave him his first round of funding and introduced him to every contact that mattered.

Step by step, I pushed him to where he sat today.

People on the outside called him Mr. James, said he was a young man on the rise.

He heard it long enough that he must have actually forgotten.

Who put him at this table in the first place.

When I said nothing, Lawrence finally grew impatient.

“Pauline, don't blow this out of proportion.”

“You're a Swanson. You know better than anyone how to keep things dignified.”

“I'll give you and the baby all the respect you deserve.”

“And Elise, I won't mistreat her either.”

“Both of you matter to me.”

Both of us mattered.

I stared at him for a few seconds, then laughed.

“Lawrence.”

“You married me and actually started believing you belonged in this world?”

The color drained from his face.

“Pauline, what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

I didn't answer. I just pulled the wedding ring off my finger.

That ring. Lawrence had slid it on himself the day he proposed.

He told me I was the only woman he would ever love.

Thinking about it now made my skin crawl.

I tossed it into the trash can.

Elise glanced at it without thinking, and something greedy flickered through her eyes.

I caught it. I smiled.

“Like it? Go ahead and fish it out.”

“You've always had a thing for my leftovers, haven't you?”

Elise's face went scarlet.

Lawrence finally stood up.

“Pauline, that's enough.”

“Elise has been through enough already.”

I laughed again.

“Sure.”

“Since she's so talented, let's give the whole world a chance to learn from her.”

I pulled out my phone and hit record.

The camera pointed straight at Elise.

“Go on. Let's hear it.”

“Teach everyone how you cashed your benefactor's paychecks and slept with her husband.”

“Show me what exciting new tricks you've picked up.”

Every trace of color vanished from Elise's face.

She shrank behind Lawrence on instinct.

“Lawrence……”

Lawrence's expression turned to ice.

He shoved his hand over the lens, barely-contained fury lacing every word.

“Pauline, enough.”

“You're pregnant. Your emotions are all over the place. I get it.”

“But you don't get to destroy a young woman's life just because you're upset!”

“Elise made a mistake, fine.”

“But she clawed her way out of nothing on her own. That wasn't easy.”

“One word from you and she loses her job, her reputation, everything she's ever built.”

“You think that's fair?”

I stared at him. I almost laughed out loud.

Lawrence took my silence as surrender and let his expression soften a fraction.

“Pauline, put the phone down.”

“You're my wife. I won't let you down.”

“Don't turn yourself into some bitter, nagging wife.”

The word nagging landed, and the last ripple of feeling inside me went still.

I looked at him and asked quietly：

“That was going too far?”

Lawrence blinked.

The next second.

I raised my hand and slapped Elise across the face as hard as I could.

The crack echoed through the entire lounge.

Elise's head snapped to the side, five red welts blooming instantly across her cheek.

I shook out my stinging hand.

“You want to see me go too far? I haven't even started.”

Lawrence finally lost it.

He lunged forward and shoved me.

My lower back slammed into the corner of the table. Pain exploded white-hot behind my eyes.

The prenatal exam report slipped from my hand and fluttered to the floor.

Lawrence didn't even glance at it.

He caught Elise first, pulling her into his arms.

“Pauline!”

“What the hell happened to you?”

His eyes were full of disappointment. Nothing else.

As if I were the one who had done something wrong.

“You used to be the kindest person I knew.”

“Elise had nothing growing up. You were the one who felt sorry for her, remember?”

“Now, just because she fell in love with me, you want to destroy her?”

A laugh almost escaped me.

He said I'd changed.

But Lawrence.

Who was the one who became disgusting first?

My mind drifted to a long time ago.

The first time Lawrence proposed, his hands shook so badly he couldn't even open the ring box.

He slid the ring onto my finger with red-rimmed eyes and said：

“Pauline, just getting to stand beside you is the luckiest thing that's ever happened to me.”

“No matter how high I climb, I'll never forget that you're the one who pulled me up.”

He was young then. Sincere. I was the only person in his eyes.

But now, the face that once held my hand and swore those vows.

And the face shielding Elise while demanding to know what had happened to me. Slowly, they merged into one.

All at once, I was calm.

I wasn't the one who had changed.

The man who promised he'd never make me cry.

He died the day he first betrayed me.

I didn't say another word.

I turned and walked out of the office.

Behind me, Elise was still sniffling.

“Lawrence, do you think Pauline will really ruin me?”

Lawrence lowered his voice to soothe her：

“She won't. I'm here. Nobody touches you.”

“But how are you going to thank me? Wear that outfit from last time. Remember what you called me?”

Elise's tears turned into a giggle. She swatted his chest playfully, her voice turning coy.

“Oh stop it, you're so bad……”

My steps didn't slow. I was already dialing the head of legal counsel.

“Notify the Board of Directors.”

“Suspend all of Lawrence James's authorizations within the company. Freeze every asset under his name.”

“Revoke every clearance under Elise Henson's name.”

A beat of silence on the other end.

“Ms. Swanson, Mr. James might……”

I rested my hand gently against my stomach.

“As of right now, there is no Mr. James at this company.”

That afternoon, every one of Lawrence's permissions was locked out of the system.

He couldn't sign a document, couldn't move a dollar.

He couldn't even badge into the executive conference room.

Elise had it worse.

When HR placed the termination notice in front of her, the color drained from her face.

Lawrence finally realized I wasn't throwing a tantrum.

He called me over a dozen times.

I didn't pick up once.

At eight that evening, I had just left the boardroom when the driver veered off the usual route home.

The car turned down an unfamiliar road.

I looked up at the front seat：“Where are we going?”

The driver wouldn't meet my eyes.

“Ms. Swanson, Mr. James says you've been under a lot of stress lately.”

“He asked me to take you to the suburban villa to rest for a few days.”

The next second, the car doors locked automatically and my phone signal cut out.

When the car stopped, Lawrence was already waiting at the entrance.

He had changed his clothes. His expression was dark, but underneath it, a restless impatience simmered in his eyes.

“Pauline. Let's talk.”

I looked at him and let out a cold laugh：“By kidnapping me? That's your idea of talking?”

He frowned.

“I just didn't want you acting on impulse and blowing this up beyond repair.”

“You're pregnant. You shouldn't be getting involved in corporate disputes right now.”

“Reinstate my authorization. Then sign a power-of-attorney for the equity transfer.”

“From now on, the company goes through me.”

I almost laughed from sheer disbelief.

Lawrence led me into the living room.

The documents were already laid out on the table.

He pushed a pen toward me.

“Sign, and we're still husband and wife.”

“I can promise you that.”

“From now on, there won't be anyone else besides Elise.”

I raised my head and stared at him, barely able to believe what I was hearing.

Lawrence, though, looked as if he thought he was being incredibly generous.

“Pauline, you grew up in this world.”

“You know how it works. What man out there doesn't have seven or eight women on the side?”

“All I want is you and Elise.”

“You're the wife. The mother of my child. The respectable face of the James family.”

“She's been with me all this time. I can't just abandon her.”

“This arrangement can still work. We can still be a family.”

So that was how Lawrence saw things.

I was supposed to feel grateful that he was willing to let me keep the title of wife.

In that moment, I genuinely felt sick.

I picked up the pen, and Lawrence's expression finally eased a fraction.

I lowered my gaze to the power-of-attorney.

Then I lifted my hand and tore it in half.

Every trace of composure drained from Lawrence's face.

“Pauline Swanson. Don't push me.”

I threw the shredded paper in his face and smiled, cold and thin.

“You think you're qualified to run my company?”

The last flicker of warmth in Lawrence's eyes went dead.

His voice dropped, flat and hard, as he turned to the bodyguards：

“Take Mrs. James upstairs.”

“When she's come to her senses, she can come back down.”

Two bodyguards stepped forward and seized me, one on each side.

I wrapped my arms around my belly, my voice turning to ice.

“Lawrence. Don't you dare.”

He looked at me, his tone still somehow gentle.

“Pauline, I'm doing this for you and the baby.”

“Once you've calmed down, you'll understand.”

The door slammed shut behind me.

The lock turned. The windows had been sealed. My phone was gone.

The only thing left in the room was a single dim lamp, casting everything in sickly yellow light.

I pressed one hand against the wall as my lower abdomen tightened, wave after wave.

Cold sweat crept down my spine.

From downstairs, Lawrence's voice drifted up, muffled but audible.

“Don't let her out tonight.”

“She signs the contract, she comes out. Not before.

Elise gave a soft little laugh.

It was quiet, barely there, but it pierced through me like a needle.

“If Pauline can hear us down here, do you think that'll make it worse for her?”

“Or maybe……”

Her voice dipped lower, but the tail end curled upward on purpose.

“Maybe it'll make it more exciting?”

My fingernails dug into my palms so hard the skin broke.

Lawrence was quiet for a moment.

When he spoke again, his voice was rougher than before.

“Elise, stop it.”

“You really shouldn't have provoked her today.”

Elise let out a wounded little whimper.

“Then punish me. Like last time. Make my legs give out for three days again……”