The deposition room felt like a pressure cooker. Caspian's lawyers had been grilling me for hours, their questions becoming increasingly aggressive. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, making my head pound as I struggled to focus on their latest accusation.

"Ms. Spencer, these technical specifications clearly show derivative work from Spencer Group's proprietary technology," the lead attorney sneered, sliding documents across the polished table.

I opened my mouth to respond, but a sharp pain lanced through my abdomen. I gripped the edge of the table, trying to steady myself.

"I need a moment," I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.

The attorney continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Your silence will be noted as—"

Another wave of pain hit, stronger this time. Warmth spread between my legs, and I looked down in horror to see red staining my skirt.

"Something's wrong," I gasped, clutching my belly.

The room erupted in confusion. Papers scattered as I slid from my chair. Through blurring vision, I saw Gavin rushing toward me, his face tight with concern.

"She's bleeding!" he shouted, catching me as my knees buckled. "Call an ambulance!"

One of Caspian's lawyers stepped forward, his voice cold. "This is clearly a ploy to avoid answering direct questions."

Gavin's response was immediate and venomous. "You're a disgrace to your profession," he snarled, lifting me into his arms. "She's five months pregnant and you're questioning her health?"

I felt myself being carried, heard urgent voices calling for help. The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me was Gavin's face, set in lines of fury and fear.

---

I woke to the steady beep of monitors and the antiseptic smell of hospital sheets. For a moment, panic seized me until I felt the gentle swell of my belly beneath my palm.

"The baby?" I croaked, my throat dry.

A nurse appeared at my bedside, her smile reassuring. "Your little one is fine, Ms. Spencer. But you need complete bed rest for at least two weeks. The doctor will be in shortly to explain everything."

Relief flooded through me, followed immediately by frustration. Two weeks in bed meant two weeks away from Luminary Tech—two weeks for Caspian to destroy everything we'd built.

I reached for my phone on the bedside table, only to find it missing. Instead, Gavin sat in a chair by the window, typing rapidly on his laptop.

"Looking for this?" He held up my phone with a raised eyebrow. "Doctor's orders—no screens for at least twenty-four hours."

"But my team needs me," I protested, trying to sit up. "We have deadlines—"

"And you have a baby to think about." Gavin's voice was gentle but firm. "I've already set up a command center in the corner of your room."

I looked where he pointed and saw a small desk with multiple monitors and a secure connection to our servers. "You did what?"

"Your team can send updates here," he explained, moving to adjust my pillows. "I'll act as your proxy until you're cleared to work again."

Something in his expression shifted as he looked at me—a softening I hadn't seen before. "You're not alone in this, Bella."

---

The days blurred together in a haze of medical tests and strategic planning. Gavin proved to be an efficient proxy, conveying my instructions to the team with precision. But I could tell something was wrong when he entered my room with a grim expression on the fourth day.

"They launched it," he said without preamble.

I sat up straighter, ignoring the protest from my lower back. "Launched what?"

"Their new product based on the data they stole from us." He pulled up a news article on his tablet. "It's crashing systems everywhere."

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. "The honeypot worked."

"Better than you planned," Gavin confirmed. "Spencer Group's stock is already down eight percent."

Before I could respond, the door to my hospital room swung open. A woman in her sixties entered, her designer suit and perfect coiffure screaming old money. Margaret Spencer's cold eyes swept over me with undisguised contempt.

"Mrs. Spencer," she said, her voice dripping with false concern. "How... unfortunate to see you in this condition."

Gavin stood, positioning himself between us. "This is a private room, ma'am. You need to leave."

Margaret ignored him, her gaze fixed on my belly. "I've come to discuss arrangements for my grandchild."

"Your grandchild?" I repeated, ice forming around my heart.

"Yes." Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Once the baby is born, we'll be filing for full custody. A single, bankrupt workaholic is hardly a suitable mother."

Gavin stepped forward, but I placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"You have judges in your pocket," I said quietly, remembering her implied threat from years ago.

"We have resources," Margaret corrected smoothly. "The child deserves better than what you can provide."

As she turned to leave, she added casually, "Oh, and Bella? Caspian sends his regards."

The door closed behind her with a soft click that echoed like a gunshot in my ears. A cold, terrifying rage settled in my chest—not hot anger that clouds judgment, but the icy determination of a woman with nothing left to lose.

They wanted war? They would have it.

The Spencer Group's executive floor had transformed into a war zone. I could picture it clearly—the glass walls that once gleamed with pride now reflecting the chaos within. Jazmine stood in Caspian's office, her designer heels sinking into the plush carpet as she faced the storm she'd unwittingly walked into.

"The stock is down fifteen percent!" Caspian's voice echoed through the open door. "Fifteen percent, Jazmine! What the hell do you call this launch?"

I imagined Jazmine's carefully applied makeup unable to hide her growing panic as she clutched the failed product prototype.

"I don't understand," she would stammer. "The data looked solid when we reviewed it."

"Solid?" Caspian's laugh would be cold, nothing like the warm chuckle I once loved. "You told me you verified the integration pathways. You promised this would fix our reputation!"

According to my sources—a few loyal engineers who'd jumped ship after my departure—Caspian had thrown a crystal paperweight at the wall, narrowly missing Jazmine's head.

"I thought you were supposed to be brilliant," he spat. "That's what you sold me on when you crawled back into my life. But you're nothing but a pretty face with an empty head."

The truth was finally dawning on Jazmine. Without me, Caspian was nothing but a hollow shell—all charisma and no substance.

Later that evening, as Jazmine retreated to her temporary office, she discovered something that made her blood run cold. While searching through Caspian's private server for damage control strategies, she stumbled upon encrypted files detailing offshore accounts.

"He's been siphoning funds," she whispered to herself, hands trembling as she traced the money trail. "For months..."

The realization hit her like a physical blow: Caspian wasn't just failing—he was orchestrating the company's collapse while setting her up to take the fall.

---

The hospital room was dark except for the soft glow of monitors. I'd been staring at the ceiling for hours, running through scenarios in my mind when a shadow fell across my bed.

I tensed, ready to call for help, when a familiar voice whispered, "Don't."

Jazmine Torres stood at my bedside, her designer clothes replaced by dark jeans and a hooded jacket. Her perfect makeup was gone, revealing dark circles under her eyes.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, my voice steady despite my racing heart.

"I still have connections." She glanced nervously at the door. "I don't have much time."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small USB drive. Her hands shook as she placed it on my bedside table.

"What is this?" I asked, though I already suspected.

"Everything," she whispered. "Caspian's financial records, emails about the fund transfers, documentation of how he's been falsifying reports to inflate stock value."

I stared at the drive, then at her. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Because he's going to let me take the fall." Tears welled in her eyes. "He's been planning it all along. When the SEC comes calling, I'll be the scapegoat."

"And you think I'll protect you?" The words came out colder than I intended.

"I think you want revenge," she countered. "And I'm offering you the ammunition."

I studied her face—the woman who'd stolen my husband and my company. The woman who'd stood smugly beside Caspian as my world crumbled.

"I want immunity," she said quietly. "From prosecution. From civil suits. I'll testify against him, but I need protection."

I picked up the drive, feeling its weight in my palm. This was power—pure, undeniable power.

"Get out," I said finally.

"Is that a yes?" Desperation edged her voice.

I met her gaze, letting her see the ice in mine. "It's a maybe. Now leave before someone sees you."

---

The next morning, I was on the phone before sunrise.

"Anahi, I need you to come to the hospital," I said, my voice tight with urgency. "Bring Ben and Jett. And bring the secure laptop."

They arrived within the hour, setting up a war room in my hospital room. I passed them Jazmine's USB drive.

"Verify everything," I instructed. "Cross-reference with the SEC regulations. Build a dossier they can't ignore."

For hours, we worked in focused silence, the only sounds the clicking of keyboards and occasional whispered curses.

"It's all here," Ben finally said, looking up with disbelief. "Embezzlement, fraud, falsified financial statements. He's been robbing the company blind."

"And setting Jazmine up to take the fall," Anahi added, scrolling through emails. "Look at these timestamps—he started planning this months ago."

I nodded, a cold satisfaction settling in my chest. "Prepare two packages. One for the SEC, one for the press."

Jett's eyes widened. "The press? That's risky."

"Not if we time it right." I checked the calendar on my phone. "Caspian's holding a press conference tomorrow morning to announce damage control measures."

Ben's smile was slow and predatory. "You want us to release everything while he's on stage?"

"Exactly." I leaned back against my pillows, feeling the baby shift inside me. "Set it up so it breaks across every financial news outlet the moment he starts speaking."

As they worked to finalize the packages, I closed my eyes, picturing Caspian's face when the screens behind him started flashing with headlines about his crimes.

The storm was coming. And this time, I wouldn't be the one drowning in it.