I don't know how I made it out of that hotel.

When I got back to the home I'd so carefully put together, I collapsed onto the couch, every ounce of strength drained from my body.

The door lock clicked.

Derek pushed the door open. Behind him trailed Chloe, loaded down with bags, and Brandon, who immediately started tearing through the apartment.

"What are you doing here? Get out!" I grabbed a throw pillow and hurled it at the doorway.

Derek sidestepped it, his expression dark.

"Get this straight, Audrey—this house was bought with company money."

"That makes it mine too."

"Chloe's been struggling out there in some rental, raising a child on her own. From now on, they're living here."

He turned to Chloe, his voice soft and tender. "Go on, take Brandon and pick out a room."

Chloe put on her most helpless expression and tugged at Derek's sleeve. "Derek, I don't think this is a good idea. Audrey will be upset."

"I'll just take a guest room. That's fine."

"A guest room? You're the mother of my son!" Derek shot me a glare. "She doesn't get an opinion."

Chloe took Brandon by the hand and headed straight for the room at the end of the hallway.

The sunniest, best room in the house.

I'd spent three solid months on that room—painting it with non-toxic paint by hand, putting up cartoon wallpaper myself. I'd even bought a full set of expensive solid-wood nursery furniture, all to welcome the second baby growing inside me.

"Wow! Mommy, this room is so pretty! I want this one!" Brandon bounced excitedly on the crib, his muddy shoes stamping dirty prints all over the white mattress.

Something inside me snapped. I rushed over and pulled him off.

"Who said you could come in here? Get out!"

Brandon landed on his bottom from the tug and immediately burst into wailing sobs.

"Daddy! This mean lady hit me!"

Derek charged over and shoved me hard.

"What's wrong with you, Audrey? He's a child! What are you doing picking a fight with a child?"

My back slammed into the doorframe. A sharp pain shot through my abdomen.

Chloe hurried to scoop up Brandon, patting his back soothingly, tears springing to her eyes on command.

"Audrey, Brandon's just a little boy. He doesn't know any better."

"Even if you're angry at me, you can't take it out on a child!"

Derek wrapped a protective arm around Chloe's shoulders, then turned and roared at me.

"This room belongs to Brandon now! Tomorrow I'm having all this junk thrown out!"

"Don't you dare!" My eyes blazed as I glared at him. "I set this up for my unborn baby!"

"An embryo that's barely even formed deserves a room this nice?" Derek said coldly. "Brandon is six years old and still doesn't have his own room. You call yourself a stepmother? Aren't you embarrassed?"

I was so stunned by the sheer audacity of his words that I couldn't speak.

Emboldened by the backup, Brandon wriggled free from Chloe's arms and bolted into the master bedroom.

By the time I ran in after him, he was standing on the vanity, holding a rough little wooden bear in his hands.

Derek had carved it for me right after he woke up, when his mind was still that of a three-year-old. It had taken him an entire month. His hands had been covered in cuts by the time he finished. He'd held up the little bear and said to me: "Wifey, little bear protects you. Don't be scared."

I'd treasured it like it was the most precious thing in the world. I polished it every single day.

"Don't touch that!" I screamed in panic.

Brandon stuck his tongue out at me, raised the bear high, and smashed it against the marble floor.

A dull crack. The wooden bear splintered into pieces.

"Junk! It's all junk!" Brandon clapped his hands and laughed.

My mind went blank—a high-pitched ringing filled my ears—and something inside me snapped.

I lunged forward, my hand raised to slap him.

But my wrist was caught mid-swing, locked in an iron grip.

Derek wrenched my arm aside. I lost my balance and crashed hard onto the floor.

The dragging pain in my lower abdomen surged violently. Cold sweat soaked through my clothes.

"Derek..." I clutched my stomach, looking up at him in disbelief.

Derek stood over me, disgust written all over his face.

"Over a piece of scrap wood, you'd hit a child? You really are vicious, Audrey."

"Scrap wood?" A ragged, broken laugh tore out of me as tears poured down my face. "You carved that for me with your own hands! You told me you'd protect me!"

Derek's lip curled with revulsion, as if he were looking at someone deranged.

"I made that garbage while I was pretending to be an idiot. Only a fool like you would treat it like some kind of treasure."

"Face it, Audrey. Every single second of those six years made my skin crawl."

A sharp pain tore through my lower abdomen.

I bit down hard on my lip, forcing myself not to cry out.

Chloe let out a theatrical gasp. "Oh no, Audrey's sweating. Are you feeling all right? Derek, maybe we should take her to the hospital."

"Hospital for what? She's putting on a show." Derek cast me a cold, indifferent glance.

He pulled another document from his briefcase and dropped it on the floor in front of me.

"Since you're not dying, sign this."

My hands shaking, I picked up the pages.

Every word on that crisp white paper was a knife to the heart.

"Domestic Harmony Agreement."

Clause One: Audrey voluntarily adopts Brandon as her legal child, to be raised as her own, with full inheritance rights.

Clause Two: Chloe Pemberton shall reside in the Ashford household in the capacity of Derek's personal assistant. Audrey shall not obstruct, harass, or attempt to remove her under any circumstances.

Clause Three: All remaining savings, investment accounts, and real estate under Audrey's name shall be placed under Derek's full management authority.

I trembled with fury, jabbing my finger at Derek's face.

"Have you completely lost your mind, Derek?"

"You want me to raise your mistress's kid and hand over everything I own? Keep dreaming!"

Derek dropped onto the sofa, unbothered. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag.

"Audrey, it's called looking at the big picture."

"You care about appearances, don't you? Sign this, and you'll still be the glamorous Mrs. Ashford."

"Brandon becomes your legitimate son, on paper and in the eyes of the law."

"As for Chloe—she doesn't want a title. All she asks is to be near me."

"I've already bent over backwards here. Don't be ungrateful."

I nearly laughed at the sheer brazenness of it.

"Bent over backwards? You've dressed up highway robbery in a pretty bow!"

I grabbed the edge of the coffee table, hauled myself upright, tore the agreement to shreds, and flung the pieces in his face.

"Let me make this perfectly clear—I am getting this divorce."

"Everything that's mine stays mine. I won't leave a single cent to you and your little homewrecker."

"First thing tomorrow, I'm having my lawyer file charges against you for embezzlement and illegal transfer of marital assets. I will make you pay back every last penny with interest."

The smile faded from Derek's face. His eyes turned cold and predatory.

"The hard way, then."

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number right in front of me.

"Yeah, it's me. Cancel all the supplementary credit cards under Audrey's name. Every single one. Effective immediately."

"And notify building security—starting tomorrow, Audrey is not to set foot in the office without my personal authorization."

He hung up and looked at me with a smirk.

"Go ahead and sue. You can't even scrape together enough for a lawyer. What are you going to fight me with?"

My heart dropped like a stone.

For six years, I'd poured my blood, sweat, and tears into that company. Nearly all my liquid assets had gone straight back into operations.

My personal bank account held maybe a hundred and fifty thousand in emergency funds—and every card was an authorized user card tied to Derek's primary account.

He was cutting off my lifeline entirely.

Chloe stood to the side, barely concealing her glee behind her hand.

"Really, Audrey, why make this so hard on yourself?"

"You're a woman. What's wrong with backing down a little? Derek's the CEO of a publicly traded company now. Even if you walked out that door, who do you think would hire you?"

I fixed her with an icy stare.

"You think that company is all I have?"

"Don't forget, Derek—my family is in the construction materials business."

"Even if I leave this marriage with nothing, my parents aren't going to sit by and watch you walk all over me."

Harrington Construction Materials wasn't some corporate giant, but it had solid footing in Westfield. It was my last card to play.

When Derek heard that, far from looking worried, he threw his head back and laughed.

"Oh, Audrey. You're really pinning your hopes on your family's little operation?"

He rose and walked toward me.

"You think all I've been doing these six years is playing dumb?"

"That clueless father of yours signed a major supply contract six months ago. The supplier? I set it up."

"Now take a guess—if that batch of materials turns out to have serious quality defects, serious enough to cause a structural collapse, how much do you think your daddy would owe?"

Ice flooded my veins. Every drop of blood in my body ran cold.

"You... you set my father up?"

"Set him up? That's a harsh way to put it. It's just business." Derek flicked his cigarette ash with a satisfied smile.

"Those materials have already been used in the Southside development project. One phone call from me, and the Building Inspection Authority will be there within the hour."

"When that happens, Harrington Construction Materials won't just go bankrupt—your old man with the bad heart might be looking at a few years of hard time."

He seized my chin, gripping so hard it felt like he'd crush bone.

"You're a smart woman, Audrey."

"So what's it going to be? Sign the agreement, play the dutiful Mrs. Ashford—or watch your entire family go down in flames?"

He slapped a freshly printed copy of the agreement against my chest.

"Refuse to sign, and I'll make sure your family's name is destroyed in this city."

I knew that fighting back head-on would only put me and my unborn child in danger.

Swallowing my nausea, I lowered my eyes and spoke, my voice raw.

"Let me think about it overnight."

Derek released his grip with a satisfied look and patted my cheek like he was doing me a favor.

"See? That's more like it. If you'd been this obedient from the start, you could've spared yourself all that pain."

He turned to Chloe. "Babe, take Brandon to the bath. You two are sleeping in the master bedroom tonight."

I watched the three of them disappear into the bathroom—a perfect little family—then immediately turned and headed for the study.

I had to leave. Now.

I needed to drive to my father's house tonight and make him halt construction on the Southside development project immediately. Even if it meant paying breach-of-contract penalties, I couldn't let Derek's scheme succeed.

I dug through the safe and grabbed my passport, my ID, and what little cash remained, stuffing everything haphazardly into my bag.

The moment I stepped out of the study, I saw Chloe leaning against the hallway railing, wearing my silk nightgown.

She was holding a glass of red wine.

"Well, well. Running away in the middle of the night, Audrey?"

"You think you can actually escape? Derek's been setting this up for six years. You really think that useless father of yours can turn things around?"

I didn't want to engage with her. I walked straight toward the staircase.

But Chloe suddenly stuck her foot out, blocking my path.

"Don't be in such a rush. Let's chat." She lowered her voice, her smile twisted. "Did you know that every time Derek slept with you these past six years, he'd call me right after?"

"He said you were like a dead fish in bed—completely boring. Said touching you made him sick."

I took a deep breath and stared at her coldly.

"Move."

"And if I don't?" Chloe raised an eyebrow.

Without hesitation, I lifted my foot and stomped down hard on her slipper.

"Ah!" Chloe yelped in pain and instinctively stepped back.

In that split second, her eyes darted, and she dropped the wine glass.

Then she threw herself straight down the staircase.

She let out a piercing shriek.

"Derek! Help! Audrey pushed me!"

The bathroom door flew open. Derek burst out wrapped in a towel.

When he saw Chloe at the bottom of the stairs, moaning in pain, his eyes went bloodshot. He took the steps three at a time.

Chloe's forehead had split open. Blood streamed down her face, staining my silk nightgown crimson.

"Chloe! Are you okay?" Derek scooped her up, his voice breaking with concern.

Chloe collapsed against his chest, pointing up at me on the staircase, tears streaming prettily down her face.

"Derek... I was just trying to talk Audrey out of leaving, and she... she pushed me..."

Derek jerked his head up, his glare murderous.

"Audrey, you're dead!"

He shoved me hard.

The back of my skull cracked against something solid, and my vision went black.

Then a searing pain tore through my abdomen.

"Ahhh—!" I screamed and doubled over, curling into myself.

A rush of warmth flooded down my inner thighs, soaking through my pants in an instant.

"Derek... the baby... my baby..." I clutched my stomach and reached toward him in desperation.

But Derek stepped back in disgust, a cold sneer on his face.

"What a performance. A vicious woman like you doesn't deserve to talk about children."

He grabbed my collar and dragged me toward the front door.

It was a winter night in Westfield, and the rain was coming down in sheets.

Derek threw open the door and hurled me out into the storm without a shred of mercy.

"Since you want to leave so badly, then don't ever come back!"

The door slammed shut in my face.

Rain hammered against my skin. The blood pooling beneath me spread rapidly through the rainwater, an angry red staining the front steps.

My consciousness faded. All I could hear was the howling wind and the relentless rain.

The next morning.

The rain had stopped.

Derek yawned and woke up in the master bed, Chloe still curled softly in his arms.

Last night's violence had left him feeling a rush of satisfaction like nothing before.

He got dressed and headed for the study to find an important document.

Passing through the hallway, he spotted a crumpled ball of paper on the carpet.

It must have fallen from Audrey's bag when she was struggling last night.

Derek frowned, walked over, picked it up, and unfolded it carelessly.

When he saw what was written on it, the carelessness drained from his face in an instant.

**Westfield General Hospital — Ultrasound Diagnostic Report**

**Patient: Audrey Harrington**

**Diagnosis: Intrauterine early pregnancy, twin viable fetuses, 8 weeks gestational age.**

Tw... twins?

Derek's mind went blank, as if a bomb had gone off inside his skull.

He stared at the ultrasound report, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Audrey was pregnant?

With his children? Twins?!

"No... that's impossible... this can't be..."

Derek bolted downstairs like a man possessed and wrenched open the front door.

The steps outside were empty. All that remained was a pale, rain-washed stain of blood.