The warm blood pooling on her tongue was the only real thing in the room. Danica swallowed it.

She placed her hands flat against the carpet. Her muscles shook, but she forced her knees to straighten. She stood up, towering over the crouching photographers.

A reporter shoved a microphone toward her mouth. Danica's hand shot out. She grabbed the man by his collar, her knuckles turning white.

With a violent jerk, she ripped the microphone from his grip. The reporter stumbled backward, eyes wide with shock.

Danica squeezed the microphone. A piercing, high-pitched feedback screech blasted through the ballroom speakers.

Guests clamped their hands over their ears. The reporters flinched. The chaotic room fell into a dead, ringing silence.

Danica pointed a trembling finger at the massive LED screen.

"Look at the bottom right corner of the video," she ordered. Her voice was raw but amplified to a deafening volume. "Look at the timestamp."

The crowd squinted at the screen.

"That date and time," Danica said, her chest heaving. "I was in Boston. Presenting at the National Medical Symposium. In front of four hundred doctors. They are all my witnesses."

Hank stopped walking. His back stiffened. He spun around, his face flushing red. A faint bruise was already blooming along his jaw from the slap she had delivered moments ago, but the anger in his eyes burned brighter than the mark.

"Stop lying!" Hank shouted over the crowd. "You're just trying to cover up your filth!"

Danica did not argue. She didn't say another word. She dropped the microphone. It hit the floor with a heavy thud.

She grabbed handfuls of her heavy silk skirt. Her eyes were dead, focused entirely on Hank. She marched down the aisle, her steps eating up the distance between them.

Hank frowned. He stepped forward and raised his hand to push her back.

Danica twisted her torso, dodging his hand. She pulled her right arm back, her shoulder muscles coiling tight.

She swung.

Smack.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh cracked through the silent room.

Hank's head snapped to the side. The force of the slap sent him stumbling. A thin line of dark blood welled up at the corner of his mouth.

The entire ballroom stopped breathing.

Cailin shrieked. Her face twisted in ugly fury. She raised her hand, her sharp acrylic nails aiming straight for Danica's eyes.

Danica's left hand shot up. She caught Cailin's wrist mid-air. Her grip crushed the delicate bones.

Without missing a beat, Danica backhanded Cailin with her right hand.

The impact sent Cailin crashing to the floor. Her perfect updo unraveled, spilling hair across her face. She whimpered, clutching her stinging cheek.

Danica stood over them. Her breathing was heavy, but her voice was ice.

"You two pieces of trash," Danica said. "You deserve each other."

She reached up and grabbed the custom lace veil pinned to her hair. She yanked it hard.

A few strands of hair ripped from her scalp. The sharp sting flared across her head, but she didn't blink. She threw the crumpled veil directly into Hank's bleeding face.

Danica turned around. She straightened her spine, pulling her shoulders back. She walked straight into the wall of reporters. They instinctively parted, intimidated by the sheer violence radiating from her.

She walked out of the double doors.

The moment she stepped out of the hotel lobby, the freezing November wind of New York hit her. It sliced right through the thin silk of her wedding dress. Goosebumps erupted across her bare arms.

She shivered violently. She pulled out her phone and opened the Uber app.

A red error message popped up. Payment Declined.

She opened her banking app. Every single credit card linked to the Thorne family trust was frozen. Her balance was zero.

A yellow cab pulled up to the curb. The driver rolled down the window, staring at her ruined dress and messy hair with wide eyes.

Danica didn't hesitate. She grabbed the five-carat diamond engagement ring on her left hand. She pulled it off her finger.

She held the massive diamond up to the open window, letting the streetlights catch its flawless facets.

"Take me to Queens," Danica said, her teeth chattering. "When we get there, I'll give you this ring, and you give me all the cash you have and your phone."

The driver stared at the diamond, swallowed hard, and unlocked the back door.

Danica slid into the cracked leather seat. As the cab sped away from the glittering skyline of Manhattan, the adrenaline finally crashed.

Her chest caved in. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, her whole body shaking uncontrollably.

Thirty minutes later, she stood under the freezing spray of a shower in a cheap, dirty motel room. She slid down the moldy tiles, pulled her knees to her chest, and sobbed until her throat burned. She swore to God she would make them pay.

Harsh, blinding sunlight sliced through the broken blinds. It hit Danica straight in the eyes.

She gasped, waking from a nightmare of faceless men chasing her through dark hallways. Her heart slammed against her ribs.

She sat up on the lumpy mattress. She reached for her phone on the nightstand. It had been plugged into the frayed wall charger all night.

The screen lit up. A wall of notifications.

Every major news outlet had pushed the story. Her face was plastered everywhere. The headlines screamed about the Thorne family's disgraced daughter.

She clicked on a financial news app. The stock market had just opened. The Parrish and Thorne corporations had officially announced a deep, strategic merger, using her "scandal" as the catalyst to clean house. Their stock prices were skyrocketing.

Danica gripped the phone. Her knuckles turned white. She was nothing but a pawn. A sacrifice for their corporate greed.

The phone suddenly vibrated in her hand. The caller ID showed the Chief of Surgery at the elite Manhattan private hospital where she worked.

Danica answered. "Hello, Dr. Evans—"

"Miss Kelly," the cold, clinical voice cut her off. He didn't even use her title. "Due to your severe violation of the hospital's moral clause, your employment contract is terminated. Effective immediately."

"Dr. Evans, the video is a fake. I can prove—"

Click.

The line went dead. The dial tone buzzed in her ear.

Suddenly, her stomach twisted into a violent knot. A wave of intense nausea hit her.

She dropped the phone. She scrambled off the bed and sprinted into the tiny, filthy bathroom. She fell to her knees in front of the toilet and dry heaved. Her throat burned with stomach acid.

She grabbed the edge of the sink and pulled herself up. She looked in the cracked mirror. Her face was the color of ash. Dark purple bags hung under her eyes.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fists pounded against the thin wooden door of her motel room.

"Open up, you slut!" a rough voice yelled. "We know you're in there!"

Danica's breath hitched. The paparazzi had found her. Or worse, Cailin's hired thugs.

She grabbed her heavy coat from the chair. She didn't look back. She climbed onto the toilet, pushed open the small, rusted bathroom window, and squeezed her body through.

She fell hard onto the wet concrete of the back alley. The impact scraped the skin off her palms. Dirty puddle water soaked her jeans.

She scrambled to her feet and ran toward the street.

Just as she reached the end of the alley, three men in hoodies spotted her. They were holding their phones up, recording her.

"There she is!" one of them screamed.

They rushed her. One of them threw a half-rotten tomato. It splattered against her shoulder.

Danica backed up, raising her arms to protect her face.

Another man picked up a jagged rock from the gutter. He hurled it with full force.

The rock struck Danica right above her left eyebrow.

Pain exploded in her head. Warm, thick blood instantly poured down her forehead, blinding her left eye. The metallic smell filled her nose.

She stumbled backward, her knees buckling. She prepared for the mob to trample her.

A deafening screech of tires ripped through the air.

A massive, armored black SUV slammed on its brakes, skidding sideways to block the mouth of the alley. It formed a steel wall between Danica and the attackers.

The doors flew open. Four massive men in black suits and sunglasses poured out. They moved with military precision, shoving the thugs back and forming a perimeter.

The tinted rear window of the SUV slowly rolled down.

Bethel Tanner sat in the backseat. His face was lined with age, but his eyes were sharp, calculating, and deeply dangerous. He rested his hands on a silver-tipped cane.

Bethel gave a single, subtle nod.

Two bodyguards grabbed Danica by the arms. They practically lifted her off the ground and shoved her into the warm leather interior of the SUV.

The doors slammed shut. The heavy armor sealed out the screaming mob.

Bethel handed her a warm, damp towel. Danica pressed it against her bleeding forehead. The world swam in and out of focus. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath. Her ears rang, and Bethel's voice sounded distant, muffled.

The SUV navigated through a maze of backstreets. It finally pulled into an underground garage in Brooklyn. Danica was escorted into a hidden, state-of-the-art private clinic.

Nurses laid her on a crisp white bed. A doctor quickly stitched her forehead and drew three vials of blood.

Thirty minutes later, the doctor walked back into the room. He held a clipboard. His face was pale, and he looked extremely uncomfortable.

He looked at Bethel, then turned to Danica. He took a deep breath.

"Miss Kelly," the doctor said, his voice tight. "You are pregnant. And based on your extremely high HCG levels... it is highly likely you are carrying multiples."

Danica's brain flatlined. The room started to spin. Her hand moved on its own, pressing flat against her empty stomach.