“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……”

Faint sounds drifted up from downstairs. Fabric rustling against fabric.

Lawrence's breathing seemed to falter for a beat.

I closed my eyes.

My fingers tightened around the distress beacon hidden inside my sleeve.

My brother Duane Swanson had given it to me years ago.

He'd said：

“Pauline, Lawrence James is too ambitious for his own good.”

“You love him. I won't stop you.”

“But remember this. When you've got nowhere left to turn, press it.”

“Ten minutes. I'll be there.”

Back then, I'd laughed and told him he was overreacting.

Turns out my brother had always seen things more clearly than I had.

Lawrence thought he had me trapped.

Too bad he didn't know.

People who grew up in circles like ours

never left themselves only one way out.

I used every last scrap of strength I had and pressed the beacon.

The red light blinked on. Downstairs, Elise was still laughing.

Lawrence kept his voice low, coaxing her.

“Pauline's pregnant. She can't keep this up much longer.”

“Once she comes to her senses, she'll come crawling back to me.”

“The Swansons sheltered her too well her whole life. Without me, she wouldn't know the first thing about holding a marriage together.”

Elise giggled and asked：

“What about the Swansons, though?”

“If her brother finds out, won't he come after you?”

Lawrence was quiet for a second.

Then he scoffed.

“Duane Swanson can be as powerful as he wants. He still can't interfere between a husband and wife.”

“Pauline is carrying my child.”

“As long as the baby exists, she and the Swansons would never actually touch me.”

I leaned against the side of the bed, cold sweat soaking my temples, the pain splitting me in half.

Hearing that, I actually laughed.

Lawrence, you still don't understand the Swansons.

My child would carry the Swanson name and inherit the Swanson legacy.

As for the child's father, alive or dead, who would care?

A deep roar of engines erupted in the distance.

A line of black SUVs screeched to a halt outside the villa gates.

Men in black suits poured out of the vehicles and locked down the entire compound in seconds.

The front door was kicked open from the outside.