### Chapter 4

Something snapped inside my head. I lunged forward and seized Alice's arm, gripping so hard my knuckles went white. "What do you mean it wasn't an accident? Explain yourself!"

In that instant, I understood. This woman wasn't insane. She hadn't lost her memory. Every single bit of it was deliberate.

"Please, Cecily, stop! Don't do this to me!"

Alice's voice transformed in a heartbeat. Terrified. Fragile. A trembling little doe cornered by a predator. Then she grabbed my wrist, angling her body as though I were the one shoving her, and threw herself headfirst into the wall.

Before I could even react, Dustin came charging out of nowhere and slammed into me. I hit the floor hard, the impact rattling through every organ in my body.

"Alice, are you okay?" His voice shook. His hands flew over her head, her face, her body, searching frantically for injuries.

"Oh God, she's lost her mind..." Alice curled into his arms, whimpering weakly. The posture, the expression, every micro-movement polished to perfection, as if she'd rehearsed it a thousand times.

"That vile woman attacked me," she sobbed, her voice choked with tears yet every syllable bitten off with surgical precision. "She grabbed my head and slammed it into the wall. She kept screaming that she's your wife. My head hurts so much..."

Tears streamed down her cheeks. So innocent. So pitiful.

Dustin turned to look at me. His gaze cut like a blade dragged across bare skin. I opened my mouth, but my throat sealed shut. Not a single word came out.

"I didn't," I finally managed, my voice cracking. "I didn't slam her. She did it to herself. She's lying!"

The fury in Dustin's eyes only deepened.

"So now you're calling her a liar? Calling my wife a liar?"

"Wife?" I couldn't stop myself from repeating the word. My expression must have been grotesque. "Dustin, who exactly is your wife?"

He shielded Alice behind him. Only her eyes were visible past his shoulder, fixed on me, glittering with undisguised triumph.

"Shut your mouth!" The rage in his dark pupils had become something uncontainable. "You've gone too far, Cecily. Alice is fragile enough as it is. How could you be this cruel to her?"

"She slammed herself into that wall!"

The words tore out of me in a ragged scream, my voice splitting apart.

Then I remembered what Alice had said moments ago. My head snapped up, and I couldn't stop myself from hurling the question at the bastard standing in front of me.

"My baby. The one I lost. Was that really an accident?!"

"Enough!" Dustin sucked in a breath and grabbed me by the collar, hauling me close. His voice dropped to a snarl only the two of us could hear.

"Whatever Alice told you, she's mentally unstable. You can't take the words of a deranged person seriously."

"That baby." His gaze cooled degree by degree until there was nothing left but ice. "You have no one to blame but yourself. You were pregnant and still went running around in the middle of the night. That's what caused the miscarriage. Who else is there to blame?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did he really not know why I'd gone out that night?

It was this woman, this fraud playing her little madness charade, who had insulted one of his biggest clients to his face, called the man a backwater hick, and sent him storming out on the spot.

To salvage a deal worth hundreds of millions a year, I'd dragged myself out into the pouring rain in the dead of night to beg forgiveness.

I knelt outside that hotel entrance for three solid hours. My knees were raw and bleeding by the time the man finally relented, saying he'd give Delgado Group one more chance, for my sake alone.

And in Dustin's mouth, that became me "running around." Whatever warmth was left inside me turned to ash.

"Lately, you've really disappointed me." He looked down at me the way someone looks at a disobedient pet, his eyes brimming with nothing but impatience. "Someone take her to the basement. She can stay there until she's reflected on what she did wrong."

A violent tremor ripped through my body. Did he not know I was afraid of the dark?

I clutched the hem of his jacket, begging. "No! Dustin, don't you remember? I'm afraid of the dark."

After we married, once he found out about my fear, Dustin always left a light on for me no matter how late I came home. He never let me go near dark, cramped places like the basement.

Now he was going to lock me in there. For her.

Dustin pried my fingers off one by one, staring down at me from his full height. His voice held no trace of warmth. "Of course I remember."

"But if I don't do this, how will you ever learn your lesson? How will you stop tormenting Alice?"

No matter how I struggled, I couldn't earn a single look of mercy from him.

All he saw was that insignificant red mark on Alice's forehead.

He couldn't see the blood on my face. The swollen handprint. He could only see Alice.

A wretched laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

I gasped for air like a fish dragged onto dry land, my body limp, boneless, as the bodyguards hauled me into the basement and tossed me inside.

The heavy door groaned shut. In the last sliver of light, I saw Alice nestled in Dustin's arms, peering over his shoulder at me, her lips curving into a smile as sweet as it was venomous.

I closed my eyes in despair.

Darkness swallowed me whole. I spiraled into endless panic, endless terror, until consciousness slipped away entirely and everything went black.

### Chapter 5

When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the hotel. I had no idea when or how I'd been brought here.

Sunlight sliced through the window. I stared at the ceiling for a long time before the memories pieced themselves together. The basement. The darkness. Passing out. They'd tossed me in there like a broken piece of furniture they no longer had use for.

Dustin's messages sat waiting on my phone.

"Letting it slide this time. Alice's condition is unstable. You'd better not provoke her again, or I'll make sure you learn your lesson."

"I'm taking her abroad for treatment. I won't be able to go to your prenatal appointments."

I'd barely finished reading when my phone buzzed again—the notification tone I'd set for priority alerts. Alice had updated her social media.

In the photo, a man's familiar back filled the frame. A woman rested her head on his shoulder, the two of them nestled together against a backdrop of glaciers and penguins in Antarctica.

The caption was only a few words: "With you, to the ends of the earth."

I stared at that photo for a very, very long time.

When we got married, I'd made a list of all the places I wanted to visit with Dustin. Every time I brought it up, he'd say the same thing: "Sure, Cecily. Once I close this deal, we'll go."

"Cecily, just let me get through this busy stretch, and we'll go."

"Once the project launches, I promise I'll take you."

"Once..."

So I waited. And waited. I waited past our wedding anniversary. I waited through a pregnancy and a miscarriage. I waited as time slipped through my fingers like water and love dissolved like smoke, and still, not once did we take that trip for two.

The first place on my list had been Antarctica. To see the penguins.

He'd gone to Antarctica after all. With Alice Dotson.

How absurd.

I closed out of Alice's page and tossed my phone onto the bed. A notification popped up on the screen: Your scheduled termination procedure is today at 3:00 PM.

I rushed to the hospital. The nurse glanced around when she saw me alone, professional concern settling across her face. "Where's your family? You may need someone to look after you post-op."

"My husband is dead."

I said it calmly. She blinked, then her expression softened into sympathy.

She helped me change into a surgical gown, her hands gentle as she guided me onto the gurney.

The ceiling tiles slid past overhead, one by one, as I was wheeled down the corridor. Harsh white light carried me into the operating room.

The surgical lamp blazed down, so bright it made my eyes ache. I closed them. Cold instruments probed inside me. A tiny life, scraped away from my body. Tears blurred my vision once more.

The next time I surfaced, it was the sound of voices outside my room that pulled me back.

"To help Mrs. Delgado carry the baby to term, Mr. Delgado actually flew in the best specialists from all over the world to our hospital. I heard he even got certified as a nutritionist, just to make sure the Delgado heir is born healthy."

A second woman's voice dropped to a whisper. "But I heard this 'Mrs. Delgado' is actually his sister-in-law? So what about his real wife? That poor woman..."

"Shh! Do you want to get fired? That topic is off-limits at this hospital. Keep your mouth shut!"

Footsteps retreated. The corridor fell silent.

I lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. Motionless.

My child had never once had his father present for a single prenatal checkup. Not one, right up until the termination.

Her child was given the best of everything the world had to offer.

I slowly turned my head toward the television mounted on the wall. An entertainment segment was playing. A private jet sat on a runway, and Dustin was helping Alice down the stairs, a procession of bodyguards, attendants, and medical staff trailing behind them.

"Sources say Delgado Group CEO Dustin Delgado has spared no expense in chartering a private jet for a global trip to pamper his wife during her pregnancy. The couple's devotion has left the public green with envy..."

I remembered an urgent meeting once that required a fourteen-hour flight. I'd mentioned it offhandedly: "It'd be nice if we could take the private jet. It'd be so much more comfortable."

He'd looked at me with open disapproval. "Cecily, if you can't handle a little discomfort, how are you going to set an example for the employees at Delgado Group? As CEO, I have to lead by example."

Now I understood. He wasn't principled. He simply didn't think I was worth making an exception for.

Over the next few days, Alice posted more from their travels.

Notre-Dame Cathedral. She leaned into Dustin's arms, Gothic spires rising behind them.

The Pampas grasslands. He grilled steak for her with his own hands. She photographed his busy silhouette and his smoke-flushed face.

The Great Rift Valley in East Africa. He crouched on the ground and caught her vomit in his bare hands. The photo was blurry, as if taken candidly, but the caption dripped with pride: "Morning sickness hit. He panicked and just caught it with his hands."

Every landscape I'd fantasized about a thousand times, every destination I'd never reached—Alice Dotson had claimed them all.

I was more certain than ever. Alice knew exactly what she was doing. She'd been faking her illness the entire time. All of it, to steal Dustin from me.

Finally, the sixth day arrived. Tomorrow evening was the time my father and I had agreed upon.

The sun was sinking. I stood by the window, slid the wedding band off my ring finger, and dropped it into the trash can with a sharp clink.

Out of nowhere, a large hand with pronounced knuckles reached past me and fished it out bare-handed.

"Cecily, you threw away our wedding ring?" Dustin's fingers were smeared with filth from the trash, but he gripped the ring tight, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Why?"

His little vacation with her was over, then.

"No reason." My voice was flat. "You stopped wearing yours a long time ago."

I glanced at his ring finger. Our wedding band was long gone. In its place sat a custom-made matching ring—the one he'd spent a fortune designing as a set with Alice's.

"I've told you over and over, Alice and I are just putting on an act." His voice rose, edged with the kind of anger that comes from being caught. "Do you have to be this unreasonable?"

Unreasonable. In the past, those words would have gutted me. I would have been devastated, drowning in hurt.

But now, even feeling hurt was just another form of self-destruction.

"You're right. I'm being unreasonable." My tone was as flat as a weather report. "Happy now?"

He froze, as if he couldn't believe those words had come out of my mouth. Then irritation creased his brow, and he changed the subject with blunt force. "I don't have time for this. The family banquet is tomorrow. Be there early."

I paused. "You still need me there?" The Delgado family banquet—that symbol of status and belonging.

"You are carrying my child, after all. Come quietly, and don't stir up trouble with Alice."

The way he said it, like he was granting me a favor. As if I really were the other woman, permitted to attend only because I happened to be carrying Dustin Delgado's baby, and even then, I had to sneak in through the back door.

It didn't matter. This would be the last time anyway.

Dustin fixed me with a hard stare. Something flickered in the depths of his eyes—a thread of unease he couldn't quite name.

I nodded.

"Alright. I'll be there on time."

He exhaled, the tension leaving his shoulders so subtly it was almost imperceptible.

### Chapter 6

Time slipped by, and before I knew it, the night of the Delgado family banquet had arrived.

I stepped into the grand hall on the hotel penthouse floor, and the room blazed with light. Crystal chandeliers dripped from the ceiling, casting a brilliant glow over every smiling face. A champagne tower rose impossibly high, and a string quartet played softly in the corner.

Dustin and Alice stood at the center of the crowd in matching silver evening wear, looking like a picture-perfect couple under the lights.

Alice clung to his arm, wearing a poised, gracious smile.

Guests raised their glasses one after another, faces bright with flattery, compliments pouring out like a tide: "Mr. and Mrs. Delgado are truly a match made in heaven! So handsome, so elegant together!"

"I heard Mrs. Delgado is expecting again? Congratulations!"

"Look at how Mr. Delgado dotes on his wife. What a lucky woman!"

Everyone was offering their blessings, as if every single person had forgotten that Alice was the wife of Dustin's late elder brother, not his. No one dared ask whose child she was carrying.

I watched the whole spectacle and felt nothing. No pain. Just the absurdity of it all.

I turned and walked toward an empty corner.

"Cecily."

Dustin caught up and grabbed my arm.

"Are you upset? You know the guests only said those things because they're afraid of setting Alice off again."

"Oh, and what about the pregnancy?" I turned to face him, a bitter smile curling my lips. "Your brother's been dead for years. Did he crawl out of his grave to get her pregnant?"

The color drained from Dustin's face. A vein throbbed along his neck.

"What kind of attitude is that?" His voice was barely controlled, fury simmering beneath every word. "Can't you show even a shred of the grace expected of Mrs. Delgado?"

His eyes were black with something dangerous, a pressure that made it hard to breathe. But I didn't back down. Not this time.

My hand drifted to my flat stomach without thinking. The smile on my face turned bitter. I wanted to ask him why I should show grace to the woman who had cost me my child.

But the words wouldn't come.

Something in my eyes must have reached him, because a flicker of unease crossed his face. His anger dimmed, just slightly.

"Cecily, I know you've been wronged."

He reached out and wrapped his arm around my waist. I flinched, but he was already leaning down, his burning lips pressing toward mine.

"Ahhh!!"

Before I could push him away, a scream tore through the entire hall.

I turned and saw Alice standing a few yards away, her face white as paper.

"What are you doing?!" Her voice was shrill enough to pierce eardrums. "You shameless homewrecker! Why do you keep throwing yourself at my husband? Why?!"

Then something wild flooded her eyes, and she spun and bolted toward the terrace.

"Alice!"

Dustin shoved me aside without a second's hesitation and chased after her. "Alice, don't do anything stupid!"

The force of his push sent me stumbling several steps before I caught my balance. The crowd surged past me, rushing toward the terrace.

Alice had climbed onto the ledge. Wind whipped her gown at that height, the fabric snapping like a flag. She stared straight at me, her eyes filled with nothing but hatred. "Cecily Harding, you worthless tramp! You keep seducing my husband, so I'll die right in front of you!"

Gasps erupted from the crowd.

Dustin stood a few steps away from her, his eyes full of regret and raw terror.

"Baby," his voice shook, and he inched forward with agonizing caution, "please come down. Just come down, and I'll never see that woman again."

Alice gripped the railing and shook her head like a woman possessed. "I don't believe you! Dustin Delgado, you bastard, I will never believe you again!"

"What do I have to do? Tell me. I'll agree to anything!"

Everyone held their breath, completely taken in by her flawless performance.

And I stood at the back of the crowd, suddenly so exhausted I just wanted to leave.

"I want that filthy whore on her knees! I want her to apologize and admit she's the homewrecker who stole another woman's husband!"

What?

I looked up in disbelief, only to watch Dustin take a deep breath and turn to me, his voice like ice. "Apologize to Alice. Now."

"Tell her you're the other woman."

My breathing stopped. My heartbeat stopped. My blood froze solid.

Seconds of silence passed before my entire body began to tremble. "Dustin Delgado, you want me to kneel before the woman who stole my husband and announce to everyone here that I'm the mistress?"

Dustin seized my arm. "Yes. Now."

My eyes flooded with red. "Never."

The word ground out through clenched teeth, soaked in blood and tears, carrying the last scrap of dignity I had left. Dustin froze for a split second. In that instant, I wrenched free of his grip and turned on my heel.

I tore down the corridor, burst into the restroom, and locked myself in the last stall.

I had never imagined Dustin would do this to me. Even if the love was gone, I never thought he would make me stand before a room full of people and let my dignity be trampled into the ground.

The tears came anyway.

I sat on the closed toilet lid, buried my face in my knees, and fought to steady my breathing, telling myself that this man was not worth a single tear.

Slowly, my heart rate settled. I was about to leave when the restroom door slammed open.

"Don't be mad, baby. I promise I'll have that woman gone by tomorrow. Out of this city for good."

Dustin's voice. Low, urgent, threaded with appeasement.

My hand on the stall door went slack.

"If you ever see her again, I will disappear, and you will never find me."

"I swear on my life." His voice dropped to barely a whisper, but it was deadly serious. "You're the only one I love. Have you forgotten what I did to her so you could get pregnant again?"

What did that mean?

What had he done to me? My mind went blank. I wanted to scream, to burst out and grab him and demand the truth.

The last thread of reason kept me rooted in place.

The sound of rustling clothes, fabric tearing, and then Alice's aggrieved whimper melted into soft laughter and a low moan.

"Fine," her voice was liquid, boneless, "I'll believe you one more time."

A pause. Then she spoke again, a note of testing in her tone. "But what if she finds out the truth about her little brat's miscarriage?"

Dustin's voice went cold.

"Don't worry about that. It's been six months. I've already told every doctor to keep their mouths shut. No one would dare tell her."

A chill crawled from the soles of my feet to the crown of my skull.

I stared down at my stomach. Alice's words from before crashed back into me. She had said my miscarriage was no accident.

At the time, I'd dismissed it as another one of her provocations. But what if the truth was far worse?