Chapter 4

I pretended to hesitate. "Mr. Trent..."

"Stop stalling." He tapped the utility knife with his finger. "Even if you don't sign it, your signature is still on those invoices. Do you think I'll put in a good word for you when the FBI comes after you? You're expendable. If I were you, I'd spend a few years behind bars in exchange for your family's safety."

As soon as his words fell, Scarlett dropped to her knees in front of me. She wrapped her arms around my legs and bawled her eyes out until her makeup was running and her face was a mess of tears and snot.

"James, I'm begging you, you have to save Mr. Trent!"

Scarlett slammed her forehead onto the concrete floor with a dull thud. "I... I'm pregnant with Mr. Trent's child! You can't let this child lose his father before he's even born!"

Zachary cocked his brow before curling his lips.

Scarlett cried even louder. "Think about it, James. I've been with you for seven years. Have I ever asked you for anything? Please help me out just this once! If you go to prison, I promise I'll visit you with the baby every single month."

The fluorescent light in the dressing room hummed and buzzed.

I lowered my head and looked at the small patch of blood she had left on the floor when she slammed her forehead against it.

Scarlett kneeled at my feet, her hands clamped around my calves and her fingernails digging into my pant legs.

Zachary slapped the utility knife against the table and urged, "Stop dilly-dallying. Are you going to sign it or not? Give me a straight answer."

He pulled a cigarette out of the pack and stuck it between his lips. The flame of his lighter flickered twice before dying out.

He cursed under his breath and threw the lighter onto the table. "I'll ask you one last time, James. After everything we've been through these past three years, can't you do this one thing for me?"

I reached out and picked up the pen on the table. The soft click of the cap coming off sounded deafening in the silent room.

Zachary leaned forward, staring intently at my hand. The tip of the pen touched the confession, leaving the first streak of ink on the page.

When I wrote my name, the corners of his lips began to curl upward. Scarlett released her grip on my calves and let out a sigh of relief as she sank to the floor.

Just then, a loud crash rang out from the end of the hallway. What followed was a security guard's scream and rapid footsteps.

The smile on Zachary's face froze.

The door to the dressing room was kicked off its hinges. The lock tore free from the doorframe and ricocheted off the corner of the wall.

More than a dozen people in suits barged in, followed by four uniformed FBI agents. Everyone parted to make a path.

Sabrina strutted in, her four-inch stilettos clicking sharply on the floor. She was dressed in a skirt suit with her hair pinned up. The gemstone earrings dangling from her earlobes swayed with every step.

Zachary knocked over his folding chair and backed away until his back hit the wall. "H-Honey… why did you bring the cops? This is just a minor internal company matter..."

Sabrina didn't even bat an eye. Her gaze swept past Zachary and settled on me.

She walked up to me, the tips of her heels stopping just an inch from my dress shoes. Then, she lowered her head and looked at the confession in my hands, which only had my first name on it.

Sabrina reached out and took the piece of paper from my hand. Then she ripped it in half before tearing it into quarters.

The scraps of paper fluttered down onto Scarlett's head. The latter cowered in the corner, her body trembling uncontrollably as she clutched her lower abdomen with both hands.

Sabrina's gaze landed on her. In the end, her gaze rested on her hands that were covering her lower abdomen.

Sabrina tilted her head. "Did you just say you're pregnant with Zachary's baby? But my husband had a vasectomy five years ago. I personally chose the surgeon who performed it."

The color drained from Scarlett's face. I tossed aside the pen in my hand. The sound of it hitting the floor rang out with startling clarity.

I rose to my feet, wrapped my arm around Sabrina's waist, and pulled her into my embrace. I lowered my head and looked over her shoulder at Zachary, who had collapsed onto the floor, his eyes hollow and vacant.

I smiled. It was the first genuine smile I'd worn in six months. "Mr. Trent, thank you for taking care of my baby on my behalf for the last six months."