At three in the morning, Audra dragged her feet toward the massive wrought-iron gates of the Hopper estate. She was missing a shoe. Her bare foot was cut and bleeding. Her trench coat was caked in mud, and her hair hung in wet, tangled clumps around her pale face.

The security guard in the booth saw her miserable state. He immediately grabbed his radio to report in, pressing the button to swing the heavy gates open. He escorted her quickly toward the main house.

The grand foyer was blazing with light. Anderson sat in the center of the room on a tufted leather sofa. A thick cigar burned between his fingers. His face was a mask of dark, brewing violence.

Hearing her heavy, dragging footsteps, Anderson snapped his head up. His eyes instantly zeroed in on the dark, purple bruises forming in the shape of a handprint on her pale neck, and her torn, disheveled clothing.

He threw the cigar onto the marble floor and closed the distance between them in three long strides. His hands clamped down on her frail shoulders like vices.

"Where the hell did you go? Who put these marks on your neck?" he demanded, his voice sharp with panic and the furious jealousy of a man who thought his property had been touched.

Audra didn't flinch. She slowly raised her hands and pushed his arms away. Her eyes were as empty as a dried-up well. "I went to see if a dead man was still breathing."

Anderson's face hardened. A flicker of guilt and anxiety crossed his eyes before he masked it with rage. "You... you saw Eben Gill."

He spun around, grabbed a heavy crystal ashtray off the coffee table, and hurled it violently at the wall. The crystal shattered into a thousand glittering pieces, raining down on the floor.

"Go find out!" Anderson roared over his shoulder to a trembling assistant by the door. "I want to know exactly whose mysterious funds are aggressively shorting my company on Wall Street! What? Preliminary reports are pointing to that new tech billionaire, Eben Gill? !" He turned back to Audra, his chest heaving.

Hearing this, a tiny, almost imperceptible ripple crossed Audra's dead eyes. Eben's revenge was already moving with terrifying speed.

"He doesn't just have his face. He is Kendall," Audra said. She stared directly into Anderson's bloodshot eyes, her voice flat and absolute.

Anderson froze for a second. Then, a cruel, mocking laugh erupted from his chest. He reached out and pinched her dirty, tear-stained cheek.

"Even if he is, so what? Do you really think he wants a woman who lied to him and crawled into my bed?" he sneered, twisting the knife into her deepest wound.

The words hit their mark. Audra's body trembled slightly, the rims of her eyes turning a raw, painful red.

Anderson stepped closer. His voice dropped to a soft, lethal whisper. "You are mine. You are going to die in this house."

Something inside Audra snapped. A sudden, violent burst of energy flooded her exhausted muscles. She shoved both her hands hard against Anderson's chest.

"I am done!" she screamed, her voice echoing hysterically off the high ceilings. "I am leaving this place! I cannot look at your disgusting, hypocritical face for one more second!"

Anderson stumbled back a step. His eyes darkened, turning incredibly dangerous. He looked like a predator that had just been challenged by its prey.

He lunged forward. He threw his arms around her waist, hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of flour, and ignored her frantic kicking and punching. He marched over to the sofa and threw her down hard against the leather cushions.

His massive body pinned her down. His hands locked around her wrists, pressing them deeply into the upholstery.

"Leave?" he laughed, a dark, ugly sound. "You signed the NDA. I hold the evidence of your father's crimes in my safe. Where exactly do you think you can go?" He laid out his trump cards, expecting her to cower.

Audra stopped fighting. The fight drained out of her completely. Hot tears slid from the corners of her eyes, disappearing into her hairline. "Is threatening me the only thing you know how to do?"

Anderson stared at the tears tracking down her pale skin. A sudden, inexplicable irritation tightened his chest. Without realizing it, his grip on her wrists loosened slightly.

"Just stay here and be good," he tried to coax her, his tone shifting to a sick kind of reasoning. "I will handle Eben Gill. We can go back to the way things were..."

"The way things were?" Audra interrupted, a cold, bitter smile forming on her lips. "You mean watching you destroy my entire life with your lies?"

She took a deep breath. She turned her head, fixing her dead, empty gaze on the intricate molding of the ceiling.

"Anderson, let me go. Or kill me right now." Her voice held absolutely no desire to live.

Anderson looked at her lifeless face as if he had been struck by lightning. His hands slowly released her wrists, falling limply to his sides.

He stood up. He turned his back to her, his broad shoulders tense. His voice was hoarse as he barked an order to the guards standing by the door.

"Lock her in her room. No one goes in without my explicit permission." He then turned his lethal glare to the head of security. "Weld every single ventilation grate in this house shut. Install three-tier biometric locks and laser grids on every exterior door. If she manages to slip out again, I will personally see to it that you all end up at the bottom of the river."

Audra was dragged up the stairs by Marla, her feet stumbling over the thick carpet. She was shoved into her bedroom. From the outside, the heavy thud of a metal chain being wrapped around the handles and locked into place echoed through the wood.

The room was pitch black. Audra collapsed onto the cold hardwood floor, pulling her knees to her chest.

Her mind was a torture chamber. Eben's voice played on a continuous, agonizing loop in her head. Anderson Hopper's bastard.

The words chewed at her heart like venomous snakes. The physical pain in her chest was so sharp she had to press her fist against her sternum just to breathe.

The next evening, the heavy chain rattled. The door creaked open.

Anderson walked in. He carried a silver tray holding a steaming plate of French cuisine. He set the tray down on the mahogany table and looked down at Audra, who was still curled weakly on the floor. He tried to project an aura of benevolent mercy.

"Eat something. You haven't had a bite in twenty-four hours," he said, his tone stiff but coaxing.

Audra slowly lifted her head. Her tangled hair hid half her face, but her eyes were sharp, cutting through the dim light like razor blades.

"You murdered my child with your own hands, and now you want to play the caring host?" she rasped. Her voice was destroyed, but the anger beneath it was volcanic.

Anderson's face stiffened. The hand holding a glass of water twitched, spilling a few drops. His eyes darted away from hers. "That was a medical complication. The doctors did everything they could..."

"A complication?" Audra found a sudden, terrifying strength. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed the edge of the silver tray, and violently flipped it over.

The expensive bone china shattered against the floor with a deafening crash. Hot soup splattered across Anderson's immaculate leather shoes.

"I heard it!" Audra screamed, stepping right into his personal space, forcing him to back up. "I heard my baby cry! A weak little cry! It was only after you walked into that operating room that it went completely dead silent!"

Anderson's mask of calm completely shattered. He sucked in a sharp breath. The fake guilt in his eyes vanished, replaced by a cold, ruthless darkness.

"I merely ensured that the operating room followed standard protocols," he sneered, his voice a chilling, ambiguous whisper that twisted the knife deeper. "Perhaps that bastard simply wasn't lucky enough to survive. After all, it carried the tainted blood of a criminal. It never deserved to breathe the same air as me!"

The confession hit Audra like a physical bullet. All the strength vanished from her legs. She collapsed backward, her knees hitting the edge of the mattress as she slid to the floor.

She covered her face with her bleeding hands. A raw, gut-wrenching wail tore from her throat. It was the sound of a soul being ripped in half. That baby was her and Kendall's only connection, and it had been systematically murdered.

Anderson watched her sob over another man's child. A twisted, ugly jealousy twisted his gut.

He crouched down. He grabbed her wrists and forcefully ripped her hands away from her face, making her look at him.

"Once you have nothing left of him, you will finally belong to me," he whispered, his eyes wide with manic obsession.

Audra stopped crying instantly. The tears dried on her cheeks. A new, freezing cold hatred ignited in the depths of her eyes.

She gathered the saliva in her mouth and spat directly into Anderson's face.

"You make me sick," she said, emphasizing every single syllable.

Anderson's face turned purple with fury. He raised his hand high, ready to strike her across the face. But his hand froze in mid-air. Even in his rage, his twisted love for her stopped him from causing her physical harm.

He slowly lowered his hand. He pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the spit from his cheek. He let out a dark, humorless chuckle.

He reached into the inner pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a glossy photograph. He tossed it onto her lap.

It was a picture of Eleanor, Kendall's mother and the woman who had raised Audra. She was lying in a sterile nursing home bed, looking incredibly frail, tubes running into her arms.

"You want to leave me? Fine," Anderson smiled, a chilling, demonic expression. "But I guarantee you, the second you step foot outside this estate, Eleanor will suffer a fatal 'medication error' by tomorrow morning."

A violent shudder ran through Audra's body. She snatched the photo off her lap, her fingers gripping the edges so tightly her knuckles turned stark white.

"You animal! She is my mother too!" she screamed, grabbing a pillow from the bed and hurling it at his head.

Anderson easily dodged it. He stood up, calmly adjusting the lapels of his suit, reclaiming his position of absolute power.

"So, play your role as Mrs. Hopper. I will have a car ready for you tomorrow so you can go visit her."

He walked out. The door slammed. The chains locked. Audra pressed the photograph tightly against her chest. The despair in her eyes was gone, replaced by a burning, desperate fire. She had to break the NDA. She had to get Eleanor out.

The next morning, a black, bulletproof sedan pulled up to the entrance of a highly discreet, luxury nursing home in Long Island.

Two massive bodyguards stepped out first. They flanked Audra, their eyes scanning the perimeter, watching her every move with hawkish intensity.

Audra walked through the sliding glass doors. The sharp, chemical smell of bleach and antiseptic hit her nose, making her stomach clench. She walked briskly down the long corridor and pushed open the heavy door to the VIP suite at the end of the hall.

Inside, Nurse Brenda Clegg was sitting in a chair beside the bed. She was scrolling through her phone with one hand. With the other, she was carelessly scraping a plastic spoon full of scalding hot puree against Eleanor's tightly shut lips, deliberately pinching the frail woman's inner arm where the bruises wouldn't be seen. Eleanor twisted her head weakly on the pillow, trying to avoid the painful heat. 'Eat it, you difficult old burden,' Brenda whispered venomously, her voice a low, psychological torment. The moment Brenda heard the door open, her vicious scowl vanished, instantly replaced by a sickeningly sweet, professional smile as she turned around.

The sight ignited a blinding rage inside Audra. She lunged across the room and shoved Brenda hard in the shoulder.

The ceramic bowl flew out of Brenda's hand. It shattered against the marble floor, sending hot, sticky puree splashing across the walls.

"Are you crazy? What is wrong with you!" Brenda shrieked, stumbling back and glaring at Audra with pure malice.

Audra didn't hesitate. She raised her hand, channeled every ounce of her anger and grief into her palm, and slapped Brenda across the face as hard as she physically could.

Smack.

The sharp sound echoed in the room. Five bright red finger marks instantly bloomed across Brenda's cheek.

"Who gave you the right to touch her like that!" Audra screamed, her eyes bloodshot, looking like a lioness protecting her cub.

Brenda clutched her stinging cheek. She looked toward the door, expecting the two men in black suits to intervene. But the bodyguards stood perfectly still, their faces blank. Anderson's orders were to keep Audra contained and Eleanor alive; the nurse's well-being meant nothing to them. Realizing she had no backup, Brenda scrambled out of the room in terror.

Audra turned back to the bed. Her hands were shaking. She pulled a soft handkerchief from her purse and gently, carefully wiped the spilled food from Eleanor's chin.

"Mom, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I'm late," she whispered, her tears falling freely, landing with soft taps on Eleanor's cold, wrinkled hand.

Feeling the warmth of the tears, Eleanor's eyelids fluttered. Slowly, her cloudy eyes opened.

Her gaze wandered aimlessly for a second before focusing on Audra's face. Suddenly, Eleanor's chest began to heave. Her breathing turned rapid and shallow.

Her bony fingers shot out, gripping the sleeve of Audra's trench coat with surprising, desperate strength. Her nails dug into Audra's wrist.

"The TV... I saw... on the TV..." Eleanor mumbled, her words slurred, her lungs working overtime to push the air out.

Audra's heart skipped a beat. She followed Eleanor's frantic gaze to the flat-screen television mounted on the wall.

It was playing a rerun of the morning entertainment news. The screen showed Eben walking down the red carpet at The Plaza hotel.

Eleanor raised a trembling finger, pointing directly at Eben's face on the screen. Tears poured from her aged eyes. "Kendall... my Kendall didn't die..."

She tried to force herself to sit up. The sudden exertion caused the heart monitor beside the bed to emit a rapid, high-pitched warning beep.

"Mom, please, you have to calm down! Your heart can't take this!" Audra panicked, gently pressing her hands against Eleanor's shoulders to keep her flat on the bed.

"Bring him to me! Audra, please, I am begging you, let me see my son!" Eleanor cried out hysterically, her voice breaking with absolute desperation.

Looking into the pleading, shattered eyes of the woman who had raised her, Audra felt a physical pain slice through her chest.

She knew exactly how much Eben hated her. She knew that going to him meant walking directly into a meat grinder of humiliation and revenge.

But looking at Eleanor's failing body, she knew she had no choice. This was the woman's dying wish.

Audra wrapped her hands tightly around Eleanor's freezing fingers. She nodded her head firmly. "I promise you, Mom. I will make him come see you."

She stood up. She aggressively wiped the tears from her face, her eyes hardening with resolve. She walked out of the hospital room. The two bodyguards instantly fell into step behind her, their shadows looming over her like a death sentence.