On my fifth wedding anniversary, I was kidnapped.

The month after my rescue, I discovered I was pregnant.

No matter how I tried to explain that I hadn't been violated—

Nine paternity tests. Every single one showed no biological connection to Val Gilbert.

Val scheduled a vasectomy immediately, proving through action that even if the child wasn't his, he loved me just the same.

The guilt crushed me. Session after session of hypnotherapy, and every time, I dreamed of my own violation—vivid, visceral, real.

Severe depression. I chose to end it.

After they revived me the sixth time—

I walked out of my room barefoot and stopped outside the study door.

The man who swore he couldn't live without me was inside, laughing with a friend.

"Val, I get that you wanted to bury Hazel Qiao's scandal, but staging your own wife's kidnapping? And then pinning your own child on the kidnappers—nine forged paternity reports! Aren't you worried you'll actually drive her to death?"

Val Gilbert was quiet for a few seconds. Then a soft sigh.

"Hazel only got pregnant because she took that antidote meant for me. I already owe her everything. And now some bottom-feeding pap throws her on the trending page for ten minutes, and she cries until her eyes swell shut. The only way to kill that story was a bigger one."

Ethan Ross didn't understand. "You want to bury Hazel's story—fine. With your resources, you could manufacture any headline. Why does your wife have to suffer for it?"

Val scoffed.

"If Renee Summers wasn't so cruel—always looking down on Hazel for her background—I wouldn't have needed to go this far. Let her taste what Hazel feels for once."

"Relax. She's got the Gilbert name. Even if she actually were violated and carrying some bastard, no one would dare disrespect her. A few whispers behind her back? It won't kill her. Consider it a small punishment for how she's treated Hazel."

"Once Hazel delivers safely, I'll set her up abroad. Six months, tops. Then I'll make it up to Renee and the baby properly. After all—" his voice softened, "—Renee is the only woman I've ever loved. Our child is the sole heir to Gilbert Group."

My skeletal hand drifted to my stomach.

I laughed. Tears streamed down my face.

Too bad, Val.

This baby was never going to make it.

——

Ethan hesitated before speaking again.

"Then... shouldn't you stop the hypnosis? Every session, you slip her psychiatric drugs while she's under and implant false memories of assault until she genuinely believes she was violated. Her mental state is already hanging by a thread. If you keep going, something irreversible will happen."

Val laughed, careless.

"Don't be dramatic. I consulted specialists—those drugs don't cause permanent damage. And after every session, I have them pump her full of premium nutrient IVs. A few nightmares won't kill anyone."

"But she's tried six times—"

Val cut him off, impatient. "That's just her being theatrical. She knows the child isn't mine, she's terrified I'll leave her, so she stages these little performances for sympathy. You think it's coincidence I manage to save her every single time?"

He laughed, mocking.

Something knowing in his expression. Satisfied, even.

I stood frozen in the doorway.

Every drop of blood in my body turned to ice.

Half an hour ago, this same man had knelt at my bedside.

Eyes red from crying.

Holding me like he wanted to absorb me into his bones.

Swearing that if I died, he wouldn't survive alone.

How could he transform so completely in the space of thirty minutes?

Become someone else entirely.

And with the coldest words imaginable—

Shove me into an abyss with no bottom.

Ethan sighed.

"Val, I have to say this one more time—something about Hazel Qiao doesn't sit right with me. She's not as simple as she seems." Ethan's voice dropped low. "You nearly died getting Renee to marry you. You know her. If she ever finds out the truth, she'll never forgive you. Not in this lifetime."

Val laughed, the sound dripping with certainty.

"Relax. She'll never know."

His tone softened, almost tender. "Hazel is pure. Devoted to me completely. She doesn't want status or recognition—just a child to keep her company for the rest of her life. How could I possibly deny her something so small?"

He couldn't bear to deny Hazel a child.

But he had no problem giving me and my baby every ounce of pain and betrayal.

All those days and nights I thought I was being saved—

I thought it was light breaking into my darkness.

It wasn't.

It was an arrow through my heart.

The warmth was a lie. His love was a lie.

Only the deception and the damage were real.

I stared at my wrist—at the scars layered over scars, old wounds crossed by new ones.

Tears blurred everything.

My body had given out.

I'd become a paranoid wreck, a mental patient haunted by delusions.

Even the child in my belly had been branded a bastard of unknown origin.

And all of it—all of it—because of one photo of Hazel that trended for ten minutes.

For this woman who swore up and down she was innocent, just a poor scholarship student he'd sponsored out of charity—

Val had destroyed me without a second thought.

He watched me drown in nightmares of violation.

He watched me choke on guilt and revulsion for carrying an innocent life.

And he thought it was just a little punishment.

My whole body trembled.

A wave of nausea I'd never felt before crawled up from the soles of my feet.

I couldn't hold it back. I stumbled into the bathroom and retched until my muscles seized.

Val burst in just as I collapsed beside the toilet, tears streaming down my face.

He scooped me up immediately, eyes brimming with concern.

"Sweetheart, did you have another nightmare?"

He crouched in front of me, gripping my hands, his eyes reddening at the edges.

The worry in his gaze was so convincing it cut like glass.

"I found a new hypnotherapist. Just hold on a little longer—you'll forget all the pain soon."

His hands were warm against mine.

But I felt nothing except bone-deep cold.

I moved my cracked lips. "Val... can we stop the hypnosis?"

His brow furrowed. His hand slid to my stomach, his voice low and heavy. "Be good. You need to forget that pain. It's the only way we can start over with no shadows between us." He paused. "I'll raise this child as my own."

What a flawless performance.

I wanted to laugh but couldn't.

No wonder he'd gotten the vasectomy without hesitation.

He already had children—one at home, one outside it.

But because of this act, this counterfeit devotion—

I had drowned in guilt, over and over.

Hating myself for being dirty.

Hating myself for betraying his "true heart."

Hating this demon child for ruining everything.

But reality slapped me awake.

Every patch of skin I'd scrubbed raw until it bled.

Every sleepless night tangled in nightmares.

Every jagged scar carved into my arms.

All of it was punishment—crafted for me.

For Hazel's sake.

The Val who loved me was already dead.

When I didn't respond, he pulled me into his arms. "Sweetheart, tomorrow is Mom's birthday banquet. Let's go together."

I didn't want to go.

But Val insisted it would help me clear my head, and he all but dragged me into the car.

What I didn't expect was to see Hazel Qiao at my mother-in-law's party.

She wore the latest haute couture from Chanel—a fitted dress that cinched deliberately at the waist, showing off the gentle swell of her belly.

Lisa Gilbert's eyes locked onto that bump and didn't leave.

The joy on her face was impossible to hide.

Lisa fussed over Hazel endlessly, showering her with warmth and concern.

She'd even had the kitchen prepare blood bird's nest soup—and insisted on feeding it to Hazel herself, spoonful by spoonful.

I used to wonder why. We were the same, weren't we? Both carrying children whose fathers were supposedly unknown. Yet Lisa doted on Hazel while treating me with nothing but contempt.

Now I understood. She must have known all along that Hazel and Val were together.

The moment I stepped into the room, the warmth drained from Lisa's face like water down a sink.

Hazel noticed immediately. She let out a theatrical gasp and scrambled to her feet, head bowed in that practiced, submissive way of hers.

"Renee, I know my place. I know I shouldn't be here." Her voice trembled just enough. "Please don't be angry with Mrs. Gilbert or Val on my account. I'll leave right now."

I hadn't said a single word since walking through the door.

Yet here she was, performing as if I'd already drawn blood.

It was always like this. I'd do nothing—nothing—and she'd somehow twist it until I looked like the villain and she the helpless victim.

Val's brow creased. "You're already here. Sit down." His tone was clipped, irritated—but laced with something softer underneath. "You're pregnant. Stop making everyone worry."

Every word dripped with annoyance. Every word hid devotion.

Hazel met his eyes. The corner of her mouth curved—barely, almost imperceptibly.

I swallowed the metallic taste rising in my throat and forced a smile. "Being pregnant without a husband must be difficult. Do you even know who the father is?"

Val's hand slipped against the spoon he was warming for me. Metal shrieked against porcelain.

Before he could speak, Lisa cut in with a cold snort.

"As if you know who fathered the thing in your belly."

She didn't even look at me. "Hazel has always been pure. Her child is precious. But some people?" A cruel smile twisted her lips. "They claim they were violated, but who's to say they didn't throw themselves at their captors to stay alive?"

The blood drained from my face. The room tilted.

When I first married into this family, Lisa had been decent to me. Not warm, but civil.

Everything changed after the kidnapping—after they discovered I was pregnant.

Val had insisted on keeping the baby. My baby. He'd even gotten a vasectomy to prove his commitment, to show the world he believed the child was his.

His public defiance, his obvious favoritism toward me—it had infuriated Lisa to the point of illness.

After that, she never looked at me the same way again.

"Mom." Val's voice sharpened. "It's a happy occasion. Can we not do this?"

He reached over and gently rubbed my head, his touch familiar, almost tender. "Don't be scared, sweetheart. Your husband's here. No one's going to hurt you or our baby."

Then, as if it were an afterthought, he added: "And maybe... don't interrogate Hazel about her situation. You've been through enough to understand. She's just a young girl. Whatever happened, I'm sure she had no choice."

I stared at the man before me.

Same face. Same voice.

A complete stranger.

How pathetic.

The man who always stepped in front of me, who shielded me from every storm—he was the one who'd brought the storm in the first place.

And he didn't even know it. He was still playing the devoted husband, so deep in his own performance that he'd fooled himself as thoroughly as he'd fooled me.

I set down my chopsticks. My appetite had turned to ash.

"I need to use the restroom."

I'd barely risen when Lisa's voice sliced through the air behind me.

"Bonnie. Get the disinfectant. I want every inch of this house sanitized. Three times."

I turned just in time to see Bonnie Chavez grab a large bottle and aim it directly at me.

The spray hit my face, my chest, my arms. I stumbled backward, eyes streaming, lungs burning, choking on the chemical fog.

Through the tears, I looked at Val. Help me. Please.

He took my hand—then his expression crumpled into something apologetic and weak.

"Sweetheart, Mom's just upset. It's her birthday. Can you just... bear with it? For today?"

Before the last word left his mouth, Hazel coughed softly.

I didn't even have time to react.

Val's warmth vanished from my hand.

In the space of a heartbeat, he'd pulled Hazel into his arms.