Chapter 3

KAIA

Betraying and throwing me in jail wasn’t enough for Bryce Holloway. He just had to divorce me so everything would be finalized.

With a heavy heart and shaky fingers, I signed the divorce papers. No more begging, no more fighting, and most importantly…

Not a single word about my pregnancy.

I was going to find a way.

But the last thing I’d ever do was tell him about our baby.

My vision blurred with tears when I looked at him after signing the papers. He didn’t even look at me, and my voice was unsteady when I said…

“It’s all done, Bryce.”

He reached for the papers and folded them back into his suitcase. I didn’t wait for another second. I stood up immediately, turned around to leave, but his voice halted me.

“I hope you understand why I’m doing this, Kaia.”

I swallowed hard, my tears flowing freely. I didn’t understand why he did everything he did, but I didn’t bother to argue with him.

My ears picked up the sound of his shoes already leaving. And while I stood there, crying, Bryce said his final words to me.

“Goodbye, Kaia.”

*

Two days later I sat hopelessly in my cell when Jessie came again. I didn’t even bother to stand up or move because I had nobody else to visit me.

“Kaia,” she muttered. “Someone wants to see you.”

My eyes narrowed as I stared at her. Who had come to see me? Did Bryce return? Did he come to resolve things and make them right?

“Who is it?” I asked.

She opened the gates and shook her head. “You’ll see when you get there.”

She led the way towards the waiting space and I halted when I saw who was there, waiting for me.

It was a man, but it wasn’t Bryce.

He stood tall with a commanding physique. His eyes narrowed when they saw me, and I panicked as I dragged my feet closer.

Roman Ashford.

My father’s Attorney.

I sat down quietly, my throat tightening in fear as I thought of all the possible reasons he was there.

“Good morning, Ms. Bennett.”

Ms. Bennett. I reckoned that the news of my divorce must have made headlines everywhere.

“Attorney Ashford,” I muttered.

He placed his briefcase on the table, fixating his eyes on me before continuing.

“I’m here because your father left me with instructions.”

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What instructions?”

He sighed. “To protect you if anything ever happened to him. Your father feared something like this would happen.”

My confusion grew. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I knew that my father hated Bryce and always had negative feelings towards him.

“So, you’re going to help me?” I asked. “My ex-husband forged evidence against me.”

“Forged?” He asked like he didn’t believe me. “You’re saying that you’re innocent?”

“Yes!” I cried. “I’m innocent. The only thing that happened that morning was the argument I had with my father. I left after that, and only heard the news of his death later that evening.”

Roman stared at me for a few more minutes, and I groaned in frustration. My hatred for Bryce grew, and I regretted ever meeting him in the first place.

“It’s going to be really difficult to prove your innocence,” Roman stated. “I’ve seen the forensic evidence, and everything points at you being the killer.”

My stomach churned. Tears returned in my eyes, and my words refused to form even after I parted my lips.

“Right now, I don’t know if you’re innocent or guilty, Ms. Bennett,” Roman said. “But I promised your father I’d do what he wanted. And that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

“Thank you,” I whispered through the tears.

“In the meantime, take care of yourself. I’ll have a few conversations so you’d be transferred to a better place rather than sharing a cell with other inmates.”

I nodded quietly, wiping the tears off my face. The three days I’d spent there were a living hell. Knowing I was pregnant was another painful thing.

A wave of nausea suddenly rolled through me. I instinctively placed a hand against my stomach before lowering it the moment Roman glanced in my direction.

I contemplated telling Roman about my pregnancy, but didn’t know if it was the right thing to do.

After pondering in silence for several minutes, I decided to keep it until I was sure that I could trust him.

Roman stood up, already preparing to leave. “I’ll visit soon, Ms. Bennett. Since the evidence Bryce Holloway dropped was tangible, finding a way out would take much longer than expected.”

I stood up as well, slight relief surging through my body. I prayed silently that Roman would find a way, and I appreciated that my father still cared about me, even in death.

“Okay, Attorney.”

He looked up at me again. “Ms. Bennett.”

“Yes?”

“Eat whatever they give you,” I nodded in confusion before he added. “You’ll need your strength.”

Roman took his leave after that. Before Jessie could take me back to my cell, I received another visitor.

It was the last person I expected to see, but it wasn’t shocking to know she’d come. If anything, she was there to mock me because it was what she’d always done.

Daniella Bennett.

My stepsister who hated me with everything she had. She loathed me.

“Orange really suits you, Kaia,” she smirked, halting in front of me. “You finally look exactly how I imagined.”

My teeth clenched as I glared at her. From childhood, Daniella constantly saw me as her rival, and it didn’t help matters that my stepmother had the same issue.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

She answered dryly. “Don’t be like that, sister. Is it bad that I came to pay you a visit?”

A visit? I snorted.

“I was about to return to my cell,” I said. “You can take your leave now.”

I turned around to leave, but her words halted me in my tracks.

“How could you kill our father?”

That sounded like a joke to my ears because Daniella knew I was the last person who’d ever do that.

Still, she always had this opposite view of me in her head where I was despicable and evil.

“It’s not a surprise that you’d say that,” I said.

She stepped forward, her eyes blazing as they bore into mine. Something glistened on her finger, and I caught sight of the ring on it.

“You’re going to pay for your crime,” she snarled. “And while you’re doing that, I’ll be getting married to the love of my life.”

She raised her finger to my face, waving the ring for me to see. I rolled my eyes, crossed my arms, and asked her…

“Congratulations. And who’s the unlucky man that asked you to be his wife?”

Daniella’s eyes flashed with anger before they settled into something neutral. Her lips parted, and her voice slowly responded.

“It’s someone you know.”

I hissed, totally uninterested. “I don’t care.”

“Well, you should,” she laughed, stepping closer as she whispered in my ears. “It’s the man of your dreams… Bryce Holloway.”

I froze. My breath caught, and before I could fully grasp what she’d said, Daniella added scornfully.

“Your husband proposed yesterday, Kaia,” she murmured. “He said he should’ve chosen me from the beginning.”