5

I woke a little bit earlier than Isla the next morning.

Today was the day. The day we’d face the Morettis and make the divorce official.

You’d think I’d feel empowered or liberated. But instead, there was a strange heaviness in my chest. A whisper of unease I couldn’t quite name.

And then I saw her.

Bianca. Standing on the courthouse steps like she owned the damn place, a baby cradled in her arms like some twisted prop in a redemption arc.

She looked radiant. Just… perfect. Like someone had spent weeks pampering her back to life.

The Moretti uncle and nephew must’ve taken good care of her.

As soon as she spotted us, her face crumpled. Tears welled up instantly, like she’d rehearsed it in the mirror.

“Serena, right? And Isla?” Her voice trembled with soft, practiced sincerity. “Please… don’t go through with this. Rafe and Adam are good men. They helped me when I moved back, after I broke up with my ex. He was—he was a monster. And then they helped me through the pregnancy, and the birth of my little girl. But there’s nothing going on between us, I swear.”

I raised a hand. “Stop.”

She flinched, like my words had slapped her.

“I admire the performance, Bianca. Really. But we’re not divorcing them because of you. We’re divorcing them because they failed us. They ignored us. They abandoned their wives, their families. That’s not on you. That’s on them. So no, your apology doesn’t change anything. And yes—we still want them gone.”

“But Serena, I—”

She didn’t finish.

Instead, she stumbled. Gracefully. Dramatically. Straight to the ground.

It was so well-timed, so deliberate.

But look at the baby in her arms, I instinctively reach out, wanting to help her up. But before I could touch her, Rafe appeared like a storm—shoving me back so hard I staggered.

“You bitch,” he snarled. “Have you lost your damn mind?!”

I nearly fell. Would’ve hit the concrete if Isla hadn’t caught me.

Rafe crouched beside Bianca, who now clung to him, whimpering like a delicate fawn. And as he helped her up, she glanced at me—

And smiled.

That smug, secret smile that only women like her know how to wear.

Bitch. She was faking the fall.

A sharp pain stabbed through my side—the wound from the kidnapping, now pulsing again. I pressed a hand to it, trying to breathe through it.

That’s when Rafe finally noticed.

“What’s going on with your stomach?”

Before I could answer, another voice cut in.

Adam.

He stepped out of the sleek black car like he hadn’t just ignored his wife for weeks. His eyes flicked between us, unreadable, until he landed on Rafe.

“Uncle,” he said, voice tight, “one of my men just called. Said someone left a message. A warning.”

He glanced my way—then quickly looked away.

“They said if we don’t return the casinos we took, next time... they’ll make sure your wife doesn’t survive. Said she was lucky to get out this time.”

Rafe went still.

His face, always so composed, drained of color.

“You were kidnapped?” he said, his voice low, cracking at the edges. “Serena… is it true? Tell me.”

I didn’t even blink.

“Does it matter?” I said softly. “Would you have believed me if I told you when it mattered?”

He didn’t respond. Because we both knew the answer.

Isla stepped forward, calm and shaking all at once. She reached into her purse and pulled out a folded document. Shoved it into Rafe’s hands like it burned.

“My sister didn’t just get kidnapped. She also lost her baby,” she said. “Here, Serena’s surgical report. Two months pregnant. Look.”

Rafe’s hands trembled as he opened it.

His mouth opened, then closed. The silence was deafening.

“You were… pregnant? So that day, you called me for something about the baby, you were trying to tell me you got pregnant?” he whispered, like the words hurt. “Serena, please. Tell me the truth.”

I met his eyes.

Cold. Steady. Done.

“You want the truth?” I said, my voice like broken glass. “Those bastards drove a knife into my belly.”

I took a step closer, close enough for him to see the fury behind my tears.

“And yes, Rafe—I lost the baby when you were too busy to answer your damn phone.”