The photograph slipped from my fingers, hitting the hardwood floor.

Sarah rushed into the bedroom, stopping short when she saw my face. "Evie? What is it?"

I didn't answer. I pivoted toward the laundry chair in the corner of the room. Kael's charcoal suit jacket—the one he wore to our rehearsal dinner last night—hung over the armrest. I patted the side pockets. Empty. I reached into the breast pocket.

Paper crinkled against my fingertips.

I yanked out a crumpled blue-and-white sheet. The logo for Manhattan General Hospital stamped the top corner.

"He isn't in Paris," I said, my voice eerily steady.

Sarah stepped closer, reading over my shoulder. "Patient Admission. Serena Monroe. Diagnosis: Acute Myocardial Infarction. Time of admission: 1:15 PM."

Exactly forty-five minutes before I was supposed to walk down the aisle.

"Who is Serena?" Sarah asked.

"An old ghost." I crushed the paper in my fist. "His first love. She moved to London five years ago."

"Your dad's security team tracked his car to the airport."

"A decoy," I snapped, tossing the crumpled paper onto the mattress. "He filed a fake flight plan to keep the press away."

I grabbed the heavy silk of my wedding gown and marched toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To get my fiancé."

The VIP cardiac wing on the tenth floor was dead silent. I ignored the receptionist shouting at me from the front desk. My bare feet slapped against the linoleum—I had ditched my uncomfortable shoes in the SUV.

Room 1042.

I shoved the heavy wooden door open. It slammed against the wall stopper.

Kael sat in a leather armchair beside the hospital bed. He didn't even flinch at the noise. He just kept holding the pale, fragile hand of the woman lying in the sheets.

Serena Monroe.

Her blonde hair fanned out across the pillow. The monitors beeped in a steady, rhythmic pulse.

Kael finally turned his head. His dark eyes locked onto my white dress, sweeping over the lace bodice before settling on my face.

"You shouldn't be here, Evelyn," he said softly.

"You left me standing at the altar."

"Keep your voice down. She is resting."

I closed the distance between us, stopping at the foot of the bed. "Five hundred people, Kael. My father. The press. You humiliated me."

He released Serena's hand and stood up. He smoothed the front of his dress shirt. "It was an emergency."

"You could have called."

"And say what?" His jaw tightened. "That the woman I used to love collapsed in her hotel room? That she almost died?"

"You let my father think you fled the country."

"I needed privacy. The media would have turned this hospital into a circus."

"So you made me the clown instead."

Kael crossed his arms. "Stop making this about you. Serena's parents passed away last year. She has no family left. She was completely alone when her heart gave out."

"She is not your responsibility."

"I am not having this argument with you right now." He pointed toward the door. "Go home. We will talk tomorrow."

"We are talking right now."

A weak cough broke the tension.

Serena stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. She looked at Kael first, her gaze soft and entirely focused on him. Then she noticed me. Her eyes widened, pooling with instant tears.

"Kael," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I'm so sorry. Did I ruin your wedding?"

Kael immediately leaned over the bed, his demeanor shifting from ice to warmth. "Don't apologize. You needed me."

"But Evelyn..." Serena let a single tear slip down her cheek. "She looks so angry. Please, go back to her. I can survive on my own."

"You had a severe cardiac event, Serena. I am not leaving you."

I stared at the two of them. The sheer audacity of her performance made my stomach churn. She wasn't sorry. The slight upward curve of her lips when Kael turned his back to me proved it.

"Get up," I told her.

Kael whipped around. "Excuse me?"

"I said get up." I stepped around the foot of the bed. "You survived the heart attack. You have nurses. You don't need my husband."

"He isn't your husband yet," Serena murmured.

"Shut your mouth."

Kael stepped into my path, blocking my view of the bed. "Have you lost your mind? She is a patient."

"She is manipulating you!"

"You are being completely unreasonable." Kael glared at me, his expression hardening into pure disgust. "I thought you were a compassionate woman, Evelyn. I thought you had a heart. Look at her. She is fighting for her life, and all you care about is a party and a dress."

"I care about respect. You abandoned our future for her."

"I did what I had to do."

"Then so will I." I reached for the diamond ring on my left hand.

The door opened behind me. Two men in black suits stepped into the room. Kael's private security.

"Marcus," Kael said, not breaking eye contact with me. "Escort Evelyn out of the building."

The larger of the two men stepped forward. "Miss Kensington. Please come with us."

"Don't touch me." I took a step back, my voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "You are throwing me out?"

"You are causing a scene," Kael replied. "Go home, Evelyn. Cool off. I will call you when Serena is stable."

"If you make them drag me out that door, Kael, there is no coming back from this. We are done."

He didn't hesitate.

"Take her to the car, Marcus."

The bodyguard clamped a heavy hand onto my shoulder. I violently shoved him off, my blood boiling.

"I can walk myself."

I turned my back on the man I had spent three years loving. I didn't look at Serena. I didn't shed a single tear. I kept my spine completely straight as I marched out of the hospital room, my wedding gown dragging across the sterile floor.

The elevator ride down to the lobby was suffocating. Marcus stood silently beside me, ensuring I didn't turn back.

I stepped out into the humid New York air. The streetlights flickered against the dark pavement.

My phone buzzed in my hand.

I stared at the screen. It was my father.

I swiped the green icon and brought the speaker to my ear.

"Evelyn," his deep voice crackled through the line. "Did you find him?"

I looked up at the tenth-floor window of the hospital. A shadow moved behind the glass.

"I found him."

"And?"

I gripped the phone tight enough to crack the case.

"Ruin him, Dad. Ruin everything."

"Consider it done." The line clicked dead.

I lowered the phone, a cold sense of finality washing over me. Kael Mercer thought he could discard me like trash. He thought I was just a sweet, understanding girl who would wait quietly while he played savior to his ex.

He had no idea what a Kensington was capable of.

A black town car pulled up to the curb, but before I could reach for the handle, the rear window rolled down.

The man sitting in the backseat wasn't my driver.

He had piercing gray eyes, a sharp jawline, and an aura that screamed absolute danger.

"Need a ride, bride?" he asked, a wicked smirk playing on his lips.

Two bold pink lines.

The plastic stick shook in my grip. Pregnant. I pressed my free hand against the cold marble vanity to steady myself. The word bounced around the silent bathroom of Kael’s penthouse.

I had returned here to pack my bags. I wanted to leave him behind after the humiliation at the hospital. But this tiny piece of plastic changed the entire board.

A child. Kael’s child.

I shoved the test into my jeans pocket. The anger still burned hot in my chest, but I needed to tell him. We had to figure this out.

The front door unlocked. Heavy footsteps echoed across the hardwood floor.

"Kael?" I called out, stepping into the expansive living room.

He stood in the foyer, dropping a leather duffel bag onto the rug. He wasn't alone.

Serena stepped through the doorway behind him. She wrapped a thick cashmere shawl tightly around her shoulders, her blonde hair perfectly styled.

"What is she doing here?" I asked, stopping in the center of the room.

"She was discharged an hour ago," Kael said. He unbuttoned his suit jacket and tossed it over a chair. "She is staying in the guest suite."

"No, she isn't." I planted my feet firmly. "You do not get to bring her into this house."

"It's my penthouse, Evelyn." Kael shot me a sharp warning glare. "And Serena isn't fully recovered. I don't trust a random rehabilitation facility to look after her."

"Hire a private nurse. Hire an entire medical team. She is not staying here."

"Stop acting like a jealous teenager," Kael snapped, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. "She almost died yesterday. Show some basic human decency and be reasonable."

"Reasonable?" I let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "You left me standing at the altar for her. Now you're moving her in?"

Serena leaned heavily against Kael's arm. Her voice came out frail and breathless. "Kael, maybe I should go to a hotel. I don't want to cause trouble between you two."

"You are staying," he assured her, patting her hand gently.

I stepped forward. "Kael, we need to talk. Right now. I have to tell you something important."

"Not now." His phone buzzed violently in his pocket. He pulled it out, his face draining of color as he read the screen.

My father's work. The Kensington retaliation had already begun.

"I have a massive crisis at the office," Kael said, his tone shifting to pure urgency. "The European suppliers just pulled our contracts. The board is threatening a vote of no confidence. I have to go."

He looked up from the screen and pointed a finger at me. "Watch her, Evelyn. Make sure she rests."

"You want me to babysit your ex-girlfriend?"

"I want you to be an adult," he fired back. "Do not start a fight. I will deal with you tonight."

He grabbed his briefcase from the console table and walked out. The heavy oak door slammed shut behind him.

Silence settled over the living room.

Serena dropped her frail posture instantly. She straightened her spine, rolling her shoulders back. The helpless victim vanished in a blink.

"Pour me a glass of sparkling water," she ordered. Her voice held zero weakness.

"Get it yourself," I replied, turning toward the hallway.

"Ice. No lemon." Serena walked over to the velvet sofa and sat down, crossing her long legs. "Unless you want me to call Kael and tell him you're stressing my fragile heart."

I stopped and turned back to face her. "You're faking it."

"I had a real heart attack, Evelyn. But the recovery?" She offered a sharp, victorious smile. "I heal fast. Kael just doesn't need to know that yet."

"You are disgusting."

"I am resourceful." Serena reached into her designer tote bag resting on the cushion beside her. She pulled out a small, square velvet box and popped it open. A massive diamond tennis bracelet caught the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Cartier," she said, running a manicured nail over the sparkling stones. "He bought it for me yesterday evening. He said my wrist looked entirely too empty in that hospital bed."

She snapped the box shut and looked up at me. "Did he buy you a consolation prize for ruining your wedding?"

My fingers brushed the plastic stick hidden in my pocket. I had planned to tell him. I had planned to try and salvage the wreckage of our relationship for the sake of the baby.

"You think a bracelet means he loves you?" I asked.

"I think it means he feels guilty. And guilt is incredibly easy to manipulate." Serena pointed to her leather duffel by the door. "Take that to the guest room and unpack it. Hang my silk blouses on the padded hangers, not the wire ones."

"I am not your maid."

Serena picked up her phone and unlocked the screen. "One text. That's all it takes. 'Kael, Evelyn is yelling at me. My chest hurts.' He will kick you out onto the street before sunset."

"Do it," I challenged, stepping closer to the sofa. "Call him."

Her eyes narrowed. "You think I won't?"

"I think you rely entirely on his pity. But pity runs out."

"Not before your time here does." Serena leaned back against the cushions, looking around the luxurious apartment. "Did you know he was holding my hand exactly when you were supposed to be walking down the aisle? He told me I was the only thing that mattered."

My jaw locked tight.

"You were just a placeholder, Evelyn," she continued. "A sweet, boring distraction while I was in London. Now I'm back. You can either be a good little servant and enjoy the penthouse for a few more days, or you can pack your bags right now."

I stared at her smug face. I didn't scream. I didn't cry.

"Oh, and adjust the thermostat," she added, waving her hand dismissively. "It's freezing in here. Then fetch my water. I might want a salad afterward. Go chop some greens."

"You want water?" I asked softly.

"Did I stutter?"

I walked into the open-concept kitchen. I grabbed a crystal glass from the cabinet. I turned on the faucet, letting the tap run cold.

The secret in my pocket felt like a loaded gun. Kael didn't deserve to know. He didn't deserve this child.

I filled the glass to the brim. I walked back into the living room and stood over the sofa.

Serena held out her hand. "Finally."

I tilted my wrist and dumped the freezing water directly over her head.

Serena shrieked, jumping off the sofa as the water soaked her blonde hair and ruined her silk blouse. "Are you crazy?!"

"Oops," I said, my face completely deadpan. "My hand slipped."

"I am calling Kael right now!" She frantically wiped at her face, grabbing her phone. "You are done, Evelyn! He is going to throw you out!"

"Save your breath." I turned my back on her and walked toward the master bedroom. "I'm already leaving."

I entered the bedroom and pulled my suitcase from the closet. I didn't bother folding my clothes. I threw them in, zipping the bag shut in record time.

When I walked back out to the foyer, Serena was still dabbing at her wet clothes with a towel, glaring daggers at me.

"He will ruin you for this," she hissed.

"He can try."

I grabbed my suitcase handle and walked out the front door, letting it slam shut behind me.

The elevator ride down to the lobby was quiet. My heart hammered against my ribs, but my mind was perfectly clear.

I stepped out onto the busy Manhattan sidewalk. I reached into my purse and pulled out a sleek, black business card.

The man in the town car from yesterday. The one with the piercing gray eyes and the dangerous smile.

*Julian Cross.*

I stared at the gold-embossed phone number. He had offered me a ride, and a way out.

I pulled out my phone and dialed the number.

It rang twice before a deep, smooth voice answered.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to call, Evelyn."

"I need a favor," I said, watching the traffic rush by.

"Name it."

"I need to disappear. And I need Kael Mercer to lose everything."

A low chuckle echoed through the speaker. "I'll send a car. We have a lot to discuss."