The next morning, Lucia's phone buzzed nonstop.

Half-asleep, she grabbed it—dozens of voice messages from Jared's mom.

She tapped one without thinking, and the woman's anxious voice blasted through the room.

"Lucia, another month gone. Still no baby news?

"I'm serious—you and Jared need to try harder. Even if it's exhausting at night, you must have a baby this year..."

Lucia scrambled to mute it.

Too late.

She looked up—and Jared was already walking out of the bathroom.

Jared froze mid-button, lips curling into a cold laugh.

"Wow, Lucia. Using my mom to drop hints first thing in the morning? That desperate, huh?"

She went pale. "I didn't—"

Before she could finish, he grabbed her chin, rough and sharp. His thumb and middle finger pinched her jaw while his index finger skimmed the curve of her throat.

"You didn't?" he sneered. "Then why are you still wearing THIS?"

Lucia stiffened. She glanced down—still in last night's black lace nightgown.

The sheer fabric clung to her skin like glass on porcelain.

From where he stood, the lace barely covered a thing.

His throat bobbed.

'Especially those breasts—Jared, how do you resist squeezing them?'

The crude message from his group chat flashed in his mind, and his eyes darkened.

He shoved her back and looked away, jaw clenched.

"Too bad it won't go your way. The baby's already handled. Get dressed—we're going out."

And just like that, he walked off, leaving her stunned.

'Handled? The baby?'

Thirty minutes later, the black Maybach rolled to a stop.

Lucia glanced out the window—and froze.

"Why did you bring me to a hospital?"

Jared didn't say a word. Just marched her straight into the OB/GYN wing.

The medical team was already lined up, waiting.

One of the doctors stepped forward, all polite and professional.

"Mrs. Dawson, please change into the surgical gown. We'll start with an ovulation shot. The egg retrieval might sting a little—"

Lucia froze. "Egg retrieval? For what?"

Jared's patience snapped. "For IVF. How else are we having a baby?"

Her blood ran cold.

They were both healthy. He still chose IVF?

Just to avoid touching her?

She tried to hold steady, but her voice cracked. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"Why have this baby?" Her eyes snapped up. "Do you even want a kid with me?"

He'd been planning to divorce her—so what was the point?

Jared's brow creased. Something felt off.

Lucia used to dream about having his baby. Even through IVF, she should've been excited.

But now? She looked like she was barely holding it together.

That look lit a fuse in him. His voice went cold.

"Because our families need a kid to lock in the alliance. What, you thought I actually wanted a kid with your DNA?"

Her face went ghost white.

It was never about love. Just the families. Always the damn families.

She lowered her head, eyes burning.

What was she to him, really?

Even with divorce on the table, he still had to squeeze every last bit of worth out of her?

Her fists trembled. "What if I say no?"

"What?" Jared actually froze.

He clearly hadn't considered that. But then his expression twisted—like something clicked.

He grabbed her chin, sneering.

"Afraid that once there's a kid, you'll lose your last excuse to beg me for sex?" His tone dripped with mockery. "You'd rather I do it myself? Sorry, not into you."

Then he shoved her to the floor.

"I'm not asking, Lucia. If you want my kid, this is the only way."

He turned to the staff.

"Hold her down. Prep the OR."

Lucia fought, but they pinned her to the table.

The needle pierced her—white-hot pain exploded. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

'Why...

'Why do you have to treat me like this, Jared...'

The hormones hit hard. Everything spun. Then—darkness.

***

Lucia came to the next day, groggy and aching.

A doctor beside her let out a breath of relief.

"Good, you're awake, Mrs. Dawson. You had a strong reaction to the hormones—acute stress response. Thankfully, nothing serious."

Her voice came out hoarse. "Where's Jared?"

The doctor paused.

"He left after... providing his sample."

Lucia blinked. Then it hit her—what "sample" meant.

Her hands clenched the sheets.

Had he used Alice's photo again?

Thinking about her while making a child with Lucia—

Her stomach turned.

The doctor kept going.

"The procedure was rough, but embryo creation went very smoothly. Look."

He opened a chilled container. Inside sat five tiny test tubes.

Lucia stared.

These... were her children?

The doctor kept talking. "Once you're stable, we'll implant the strongest embryo. Then you—Mrs. Dawson! What are you—"

Before the doctor could finish, Lucia grabbed the test tubes and hurled them to the floor.

"I said I don't want to have his child."

Her face was pale, but her eyes were stone cold.

"No matter what Jared paid you, I'll pay ten times more. Just don't tell him."

The doctor freaked. "But... if Mr. Dawson asks—"

"Then wait till he does."

She was done. If she was walking away, she'd burn every bridge on her way out.

Lucia stared at the broken glass on the floor, a dull ache tightening in her chest.

Once, she'd dreamed of having Jared's baby.

Now?

Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. She turned and walked out—never looking back.

***

Lucia checked herself out of the hospital on her own.

Back home, the scent of Jared still clung to every room. It was suffocating.

She needed air—needed space. So she headed to the hunting grounds.

Back in Italvia, riding and hunting had been her escape. Khelmark didn't have much for that at first, but when Francesca found out, she bought a whole mountain, turned it into a private hunting estate, and handed it over to Lucia.

Whenever things got heavy, this was where Lucia went to breathe.

Now, it was a hotspot for Khelmark's elite—state-of-the-art, exclusive, and entirely hers.

She pulled up to the gates—and froze.

A familiar black Maybach was already parked outside.

The door opened. Jared stepped out, carrying Alice like some fairytale prince.

"Jared, put me down," Alice said, all coy and breathy. "I can walk."

"It just rained. The ground's wet," he said.

Alice flushed deeper, pleased—until he set her down and she spotted Lucia.

She stiffened. "Lucia?"

Only then did Jared look up—and see her.

His frown kicked in instantly.

He remembered the call from the doctor—something about Lucia having a stress reaction.

She wasn't in danger, so he didn't bother checking in.

Didn't expect to run into her here.

Noticing how pale she still looked, a strange wave of irritation crept up his spine.

"What are you doing here?"

She blinked, steady and cool.

"I came to ride."

Alice and Jared hadn't shown up alone—they brought their usual crew of rich brats.

The second Lucia answered, the jeering started.

"Horseback riding? Lucia, do you even KNOW how to ride?"

"You think hunting on horseback's like riding a donkey back in the sticks? Don't snap your neck!"

Lucia had always kept quiet about her background. With her adoptive parents tied to serious power in Italvia—and whispered mafia rumors—she stayed lowkey. Even the Lynch family barely knew the full story.

So the crowd just assumed she was some bumpkin who lucked into wealth.

Jared's guys started whistling, loud and gross.

"No stress if you can't ride, Lucia. I'll take you. Front or back?"

"Back, obviously. Those two big ones bouncing against me? Man, that'd wake ANYONE up."

The group roared with laughter, eyes crawling all over her like they had zero shame.

Jared's fists clenched. His jaw tightened, gaze turning ice-cold.

Then Alice stepped in, soft and sweet.

"Alright, don't say that about my sister."

The fake little defense only made it worse.

One of the girls scoffed, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Well, no wonder people talk, Alice. Your sister's got the face of a total seductress."

Another jumped in, smirking.

"Yeah, twins? Please. Lucia looks nothing like you. She just screams cheap."

When the Lynch family found Lucia, her real parents—Michael and Joanne—couldn't bring themselves to let go of Alice. So they spun the perfect story—both girls were their biological daughters, separated at birth in a hospital mix-up.

Everyone bought it. Lucia and Alice—'twins.'

Alice shot a nervous glance at Lucia, afraid she'd finally spill the truth.

But Lucia didn't say a word.

She just turned and walked into the hunting grounds without looking back.

Only then did Alice exhale and quickly shift gears.

"Anyway, enough about that. Let's go hunting! I heard there's a white fox out here," she said, voice light and sweet. "Legend says if you catch one and gift it to your beloved, you'll never be apart."

She looked at Jared, all shy smiles.

The group geared up and headed into the mountains.

Lucia took a separate trail, wanting nothing to do with them. But the skies turned fast—rain started falling hard.

The mountain was risky in weather like this. Landslides weren't rare.

Lucia turned back fast.

When she got to the lodge, chaos had already broken out.

Alice and the others were in full panic mode.

No sign of Jared.

Lucia walked over, brows tight. "What's going on?"

"It's bad, Lucia!" Alice sobbed. "Jared's trapped in the mountain!"