"What?!"

I looked up at Max, stunned. "You've lost your mind!"

"This is my final gift to you. Did you like it? All I had to do was tell him I wasn't feeling well, and your dear brother immediately suggested sacrificing your daughter for the treatment. That's the wonderful brother you've got."

Mabel leaned in close to my ear, her voice soft and dripping with satisfaction.

"Just think about it. Your child, your mother, all gone. Would that break you?"

I stared at her, my voice shaking. "What do you want from me?"

"Don't test me. I could arrange for your mother to have a little accident right here in this hospital."

The word accident hit me like a spark landing in hot oil.

"Mabel!"

My hand flew before I could think, connecting hard with her face.

Crack.

Mabel stumbled back two steps, clutching her cheek as she crumpled into Guy's arms, eyes glistening with perfectly manufactured tears.

"I was only asking about your mother's health, and you hit me! How could you, Amber?"

"Amber! You're insane!" Guy's head snapped up, fury blazing in his eyes. "Mabel was kind enough to bring us here to visit your mother, and you slap her out of jealousy? Apologize. Now."

He turned back to Mabel, cradling her with a tenderness I had never once seen directed at me. Every gentle murmur, every careful touch, all reserved for her.

Tears slipped down my face before I could stop them, slowly hardening into a bitter smile.

This was the man I'd loved for ten years.

He hadn't asked me for a single explanation. One sentence from Mabel, and he'd turned on me like I was the enemy.

"She threatened my mother! She's the one who killed my daughter!"

"Shut your mouth!"

Guy rose to his feet. His hand came down across my face with full force.

The blow snapped my head to the side. My ears rang. Pain exploded through my cheekbone, and I crumpled to the floor.

Tears streamed down my face. I would never forget how heavy that slap was. The humiliation spread through me like poison, seeping into every corner of my chest.

Mabel clapped a hand over her mouth in feigned shock. But I saw it clearly: the smile curling at the corners of her lips. Victory.

I pressed my trembling fingers to my burning cheek.

Guy stood frozen for a moment after striking me, his arm hanging stiff at his side. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something.

Then Mabel whimpered in his arms, crying out in pain, and whatever flicker of hesitation he'd had vanished. He scooped her up and rushed toward the emergency room without a backward glance.

I sat on the cold hospital floor, every ounce of hatred and agony collapsing into one hollow, bitter smile.

I didn't know how long I stayed there before I finally dragged myself to my feet and walked home on numb legs, mechanical as a wind-up toy winding down.

At the front door, I picked up the divorce papers and placed them on the nightstand.

Seven days. Seven more days, and I'd be free. I didn't hesitate.

I pulled open the dresser drawers and started tossing clothes into a suitcase.

I had just folded the last piece when the door opened behind me.

"Amber? What are you doing?" Guy's voice cut through the room.

I didn't turn around. My voice came out dry and flat. "Just reorganizing the closet."

His gaze swept across the mess of the room. He was about to speak when another voice interrupted, thin and fragile.

"Guy, I'm scared of the dark. Could I stay in this room?"

Mabel.

I went rigid. I turned and saw two suitcases standing behind Guy in the doorway.

He wheeled them inside without a trace of shame. "Mabel is pregnant and she's been through a terrible scare. She needs someone looking after her. You hit her today, so you'll serve as her caretaker for the next month. You'll attend to her every need."

He met my eyes as if what he was saying were the most reasonable thing in the world.

"Give up the master bedroom. Move to the maid's quarters."

"The servants' quarters?"

I stared at Guy in disbelief.

His jaw was clenched tight. "Once Mabel's baby is born, you can move back."

I looked up at the man I'd loved for so long, my eyes flooding with tears.

I had given him everything.

And he wanted me to wait on the woman who'd killed my daughter. To serve the bastard child growing in her belly.

My nails dug into my palms. Blood rushed to my head, a deafening buzz filling my ears.

I stared at the murderer standing in front of me, rage swelling inside me like a living thing.

I raised my hand, but Guy's voice cut through, dripping with menace. "Don't forget your mother is still in the hospital."

My hand froze midair. The words struck like lightning.

My mother was all I had left. Nothing could happen to her.

My nails bit deeper into my palms, holding back the fury by sheer will. My voice trembled. "Fine. But I have some documents that need your signature."

I grabbed the papers from the nightstand and slipped the divorce agreement in among them.

Guy snatched them impatiently. He was about to read through them when Mabel interrupted.

"Guy, I don't like these decorations. I want them replaced with something else..."

So he scrawled his signature in a rush and tossed the papers into my arms.

I looked down at the documents pressed against my chest, bitterness rising in my throat.

Tears blurred my vision as I watched Mabel sweep the ornaments into the trash. My heart felt crushed in a giant fist, squeezing until I couldn't breathe.

Every single piece in that bedroom was something Guy and I had spent hours choosing together. When he'd placed them on the shelves, he'd pulled me close and taken a photo with each one. In those pictures, his eyes had been soft, brimming with love.

Now all that love belonged to Mabel.

The bitterness slowly settled into something cold and still. I wiped my tears, turned, and walked out.

I dialed the first number in my contacts.

"I need you to finalize the divorce proceedings. And start acquiring shares in James Group."

Everything Guy cared about most, I was going to take it all.

That night, I lay on the narrow bed in the servants' quarters, my heart frozen solid, staring at the ceiling until dawn.

When the sky outside the window began to lighten, I forced myself up and pulled on the maid's uniform. I stood before the mirror.

The woman staring back had swollen red eyes and tangled hair, looking no better than a stray dog.

Was this really me?

The door burst open. Bodyguards flooded in and dragged me to Mabel.

Something cruel and amused flickered behind her eyes. She seized my arm, her grip bruising. "Oh, sister. Still here, clinging on with that shameless face of yours? Why bother occupying a place that was never yours?" She let out a little laugh. "Silly me, I forgot. You're so in love with Guy, you just can't bear to leave."

Before I could get a single word out, she raised her voice. "Someone, grab her!"

The guards swarmed in, locking my arms on both sides.

Their grip was crushing, enough to splinter bone. A vicious kick buckled my knees, and white-hot pain shot straight through my skull as I crashed to the floor.

I clenched my teeth so hard they ached, forcing words through the gap. "What the hell do you want, Mabel?"

"Let's make a little wager, sister. Let's see who Guy really cares about most."

Mabel pulled a bottle of red wine from the cabinet. She grabbed my chin and forced the wine into my mouth.

I was severely allergic to alcohol.

I clamped my jaw shut with everything I had, but the liquid still poured down my throat and into my stomach.

A searing burn blazed from my throat to my gut, then spread through my entire body.

Within seconds, my skin flushed red and began to swell. Clusters of blisters crawled up my arms and crept along my neck.

Then she ordered the guards to drag me to the edge of the swimming pool. From behind her back, she produced my daughter's keepsake locket, the one she'd worn since birth.

"Don't you touch that!"

My vision was already blurring, my throat swelling shut. I thrashed against the guards despite the agony tearing through me, my voice raw with desperation.

Mabel leaned in close to my ear, her whisper dripping with venom. "Amber Fox, why should you get a brother who adores you? A good husband? Everything you have, I'm going to take it all."

Then came the splash. She flung the locket into the pool.

"No!"

The fury that erupted gave me a strength I didn't know I had. I tore free of the guards, grabbed Mabel by the collar, and hauled her into the water. "Who gave you permission to throw that? Since you did, you're going to find it for me!"

Water exploded around us. I fought through the pain and shoved Mabel beneath the surface, searching frantically for the locket at the same time.

My arms swept blindly through the water. My fingertips scraped the tile at the bottom, but there was no cold metal.

Where... where was it...

The allergic reaction was tearing through me. My whole body shook. Each breath came harder than the last.

The water's surface warped and blurred before my eyes. My throat had swollen so tight I could barely draw air.

Mabel's thrashing and sputtering filled my ears, broken fragments of a scream. "Help... help me... Guy..."

Then a large hand clamped around my wrist and wrenched me off her.

A searing pain ripped through my stomach as Guy's foot slammed into me, sending me flying.

Water erupted around me. My consciousness began to sink. I thrashed, slapping the surface with everything I had, screaming with the last of my strength: "Guy!"

But he only held the woman in his arms tighter. He didn't look back.

My body drifted downward into the pool. I thought of three months ago, when I'd gone skiing and been caught in an avalanche, trapped in the mountains. Guy had charged in without hesitation, pulling my hypothermic body from the snow.

"Amber, I'll always protect you. Whenever you call my name, I'll be right there."

All lies.

Every last word.

Soon, they would pay for everything they'd done.

When I opened my eyes again, a hospital ceiling stared back at me. I'd barely twitched my fingers when that grating voice slithered into my ears.

"You're finally awake. So you're pregnant." Mabel looked me up and down, a loaded smile curling at the corner of her lips. "You should take good care of that baby, sis."

I wrapped my arms around my stomach on instinct and turned my head. Mabel's contemptuous gaze met mine. She stood there like a victor claiming her spoils, then reached out and seized my chin, fingers digging in hard. "Looks like your husband cares about me more after all, doesn't he, sis?"

I stared into her eyes. I'd expected bitterness to flood through me. Instead, my heart was a stagnant pool. Nothing stirred. Not a single ripple.

When I said nothing, the smile on Mabel's face nearly cracked. "I stole Guy from you. You don't have anything to say about that?"

I reached up and pried her fingers off my chin, one by one, my gaze dripping with mockery. "Say what? You want me to throw a fit? Wail and beg? Not going to happen."

"You stole a piece of trash. Why would I be upset? Congratulations on recycling someone else's garbage."

Mabel hadn't expected that. The smile vanished entirely, replaced by raw fury burning behind her eyes. "Amber, a sharp tongue won't help you. You still couldn't protect your own child or your mother."

She stepped closer, her expression vicious. "And this baby? Don't think for a second you're keeping it."

The mention of my daughter sent a spike of pain through my chest. My nails dug into my palms until the skin nearly broke. My body trembled, and no words would come.

But that wasn't the reaction she wanted. Her lips curled again. "I've prepared a big surprise for you, sis. When you see it, you'll lose your mind."

Her heels clicked against the floor as she walked out.

I stared at the doorway long after she disappeared, her words circling through my head on a loop.

What was she going to do to my mother? What was she going to do to the baby inside me?

I couldn't let myself think about it, but the images clawed their way in anyway.

I didn't know how long I sat there before I realized my face was soaked with tears.

I wiped them away with a shaking hand, picked up my phone, and dialed the number.

My voice was hoarse, but every word came out razor-clear. "Wallace, get the divorce certificate processed and send it straight to James Group headquarters. And look into Mabel's financial records."

"I'll come for you the day after tomorrow."

After I hung up, I stared at the IV drip. Pain radiated from my stomach. The space where my heart should have been felt hollow, cavernous, wrong.

But the longer the pain lasted, the more numb I became. I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, nothing remained but cold resolve.

Discharge day came. I gathered my things and had barely stepped through the door when I saw Guy waiting outside, leaning against his car as if he'd been there a while.

His tone carried a thread of impatience. "It's your birthday. Mabel went out of her way to put together a party for you. Don't waste her kindness. I'm here to take you."

I sidestepped him without a word, a bitter smile ghosting across my face.

Every birthday before this, he'd been called away by one of Mabel's convenient little emergencies. Now he wanted to play the devoted husband?

My voice was flat. I frowned and refused.

"I'm not going."

Guy's expression darkened instantly. He didn't speak, but the silent pressure radiating off him was more suffocating than any threat.

He lifted a hand. Bodyguards moved in immediately, forcing me into the car and dragging me to the party.

The moment I was shoved through the doors of the banquet hall, Mabel swept toward me in a gown, all smiles, and placed a party hat on my head.

She played the part of the doting little sister to perfection, pressing a beautifully wrapped box into my hands, her voice honeyed and sweet. "Happy birthday, sis. I've been working on this gift for a long time. You're going to love it."

Every pair of eyes in the room settled on my hands, silently urging me to open it.

I lifted my gaze, cold and indifferent, and tore the wrapping apart.

Inside lay a single sheet of paper.

My mother's death certificate.