Chapter 2

At dawn, Pierce Voss finally came home.

He set a check on the dining table, an obscene amount of money, the kind meant to silence people.

He hesitated before speaking.

“Serena… What happened between Lena and me was an accident. I’ll handle it.”

He pushed the check toward me.

“Take this. Travel for a while. Clear your head.”

My voice was steady. “And how exactly are you planning to ‘handle’ it?”

His expression darkened.

“She’s carrying my child. I’ll stay with her… until the end.”

I asked quietly, “So you intend to let her keep the baby?”

Pierce paused for a long moment.

“The child is innocent.”

His jaw tightened. “Don’t make this harder for me.”

Harder for him?

A laugh broke from me, sharp, cracked, painful. I laughed until tears blurred my vision.

Pierce looked at me for a long second, something unreadable flickering in his eyes.

Then he picked up his briefcase and walked out without another word.

Days later, every newspaper, magazine, and trending page online was filled with their names:

Pierce Voss & Lena Young

He had rented out an entire revolving restaurant to celebrate her birthday.

He took her to the private hot-spring resort that used to belong to our memories, ours.

Every photo was another slap across my face.

I had become the joke of the entire Kingsburg City.

At some point I realized my cheeks were wet.

My phone lit up, a message from the doctor:

“Mrs. Voss, please remember your prenatal appointment.”

My hand drifted to my stomach, to the tiny, hard-won life created after ninety-nine rounds of IVF.

This child was a gift from heaven.

And from this moment on, the baby had nothing to do with Pierce Voss.

After my appointment, I stepped out of the clinic and saw her.

Lena Young.

She blocked my way, face twisted with something far darker than the sweet, fragile woman she had pretended to be.

“You’re pregnant too?” she asked, voice cold.

I didn’t answer.

She looked me up and down with open contempt.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m the one Pierce loves, not you.”

I said nothing.

I no longer cared about the answer.

I had already decided to leave.

Love, pride, none of it mattered anymore.

Seeing me walk past her without a reaction made her unravel.

“If he loved you, he wouldn’t have gotten me pregnant!” she shouted behind me.

“He doesn’t want you anymore! Why won’t you just leave?”

I reached the staircase.

She rushed after me, leaning close enough for her breath to touch my ear.

“Let me show you,” she whispered, voice venomous,

“who matters more to him, you or me.”

Before I could react, she threw herself backward.

I tried to grab her, but I was one second too late.

Lena tumbled down the stairs, hitting the ground with a sickening sound.

“Serena, why would you hurt my baby?” she sobbed, wailing in pain.

“The baby’s innocent…”

Blood pooled beneath her, spreading fast.

I froze in horror.

And almost at the same moment, Pierce burst through the doors, his face drained of color as he saw her on the floor.