2

Just as the panic started to crawl beneath my skin, the door creaked open again. Lila sauntered in, no longer pretending to play nice.

She spotted the phone still in my grip—I hadn’t had time to hide it—and let out a low, mocking chuckle. “Bitch,” she hissed, “you really thought you could call him?”

I said nothing. My arm curled protectively around Elara.

“He’s upstairs, you know. Entertaining some big-time clients. Even if you did reach him, he wouldn’t bother coming down here just for you. And guess what—I already told him some desperate bitch was trying to cause trouble at Hale. He told me to handle it.”

She pulled something from her pocket and held it up—letting it catch the dim overhead light.

A diamond ring.

No. The ring.

The Hale heirloom. Passed from Cassian’s great-great-grandfather down through the generations. Worn only by the women destined to carry the family name.

Now glinting coldly on her finger.

“This is our engagement ring,” she sneered. “Cassian gave it to me. Did you think having his child would win you a ring of your own? Think again. He loves me, you pathetic old bitch. You’re nothing but a threat to us. And I don’t allow threats.”

She stepped closer—and her gaze fell on the ring on my hand. The twin design. Same cut. Same twin stones.

Her expression cracked.

“Where did you get that?”

I didn’t answer. Didn’t move. Just kept my hand on Elara’s cheek, gently shielding her from whatever storm was brewing behind those wild eyes.

Of course she recognized the match. There were only a handful of those heirloom pieces left. Mine was slightly larger, heavier in the band. The one Cassian had seen me wear since he was a child.

Lila’s face contorted—heartbreak one moment, hysteria the next. “He gave you a better ring?” she shrieked. “He told me this was the heirloom! He lied! Why do men always fucking lie?!”

She started pacing the room like a caged animal, muttering to herself in a voice full of broken glass and unraveling thread.

I knew better than to interrupt. I could’ve told her the truth—that I was Cassian’s mother. That the ring had been mine since before he was born.

But in her state, reason would only pour gasoline on her fire.

And Elara was still unconscious in my arms, her blood staining my blouse, her breathing too shallow. I couldn’t risk provoking Lila. Not when my daughter was already slipping further away.

But Lila didn’t settle. She spiraled.

Her laugh burst from her lips—sharp and hollow, the kind of laugh that didn’t belong to a sane person anymore.

“How dare Cassian lie to me?” she cried. “After everything I’ve done for him! And you—another one of his filthy secrets for me to clean up!”

She spun on me, eyes ablaze.

“I hate you! I hate Cassian! I hate everyone!”

Her voice cracked into a scream, then plummeted back to a whisper as she stared at me like she was seeing something not quite human.

“I’m not his whore,” I said carefully. “Honey… please calm down—”

“Honey?” she snarled, face twisting in fury. “Honey? You think you can call me that after ruining everything? If it weren’t for you, I’d be upstairs right now—on his arm, not in this fucking basement!”

She paced again, muttering under her breath.

“What should I do? What should I do?” she murmured. “This bitch looks like work. I hate when I have to get my hands dirty…”

And then—clear as day:

“Maybe she needs to disappear.”

A pause.

“Kill her?”

My blood turned to ice.

Kill me.

This wasn’t just jealousy anymore. It was full-blown madness.

And we were trapped in the middle of it.

Before I could even react, Elara stirred in my arms.

Her eyelids fluttered, barely open, her little body trembling like a leaf in a storm. Her skin was ice. The blood on the back of her head had already begun to dry, sticky against my blouse.

“Lila, please—” I tried, voice cracking. “My daughter… she’s not okay. I need to get her to a hospital. She’s bleeding. I can feel it.”

Even one of the guards—probably a casino enforcer—shifted uncomfortably. “She really doesn’t look good, boss. Maybe we keep the woman here, but let the kid go?”

Another chimed in, quieter. “Yeah. Mr. Hale wouldn’t be too pleased if… you know, people start dying.”

But Lila just sneered, whipping around to face them.

“Oh, brilliant idea,” she snapped. “Take the girl to a hospital so she can rat us out? Are you all fucking stupid?”

The room went still.

“These two stay,” she said, her voice cold steel. “No one leaves. Did I stutter?”

The guards shut up instantly.

Lila pulled out her phone and began to dial. Her red-polished nail tapped the screen like a ticking bomb.

“Dad? Yeah, I need you at the Hale. Right now.” She paused, glanced at me. Her voice lowered, sultry and unhinged. “I caught her. Cassian’s whore—and the bastard kid he never told me about. He lied, Jake. Lied to my face. I’m fucking done. I want them gone.”

A beat. Then—

“Don’t tell me to calm down, dad. You both knew if this woman lived, there will be less chances that Cassian married me.”

She hung up and looked back at me with that glassy, dangerous smile.

“Don’t bother trying to talk your way out of this,” she spat. “You and your little brat should’ve known this day would come. You think you’re the only one Cassian slept with? Welcome to the club, whore.”

“No,” I snapped, loud and clear. “I am not Cassian’s whore. And she”—I gestured down to Elara, cradled in my arms—“isn’t his bastard daughter. She’s his sister.”

Lila blinked. Then laughed.

“Sister?” she echoed, mocking. “Right. And you’re what? His mother?” She let out a scoffing sound. “Give me a break. You don’t look a day over forty. Cassian’s in his thirties. You expect me to believe that math?”

The guards behind her chuckled, one even muttering, “Nice try.”

Shit. I knew she wouldn’t believe me.

“Then call him,” I bit out. “Ask him. He’ll tell you.”

For a moment, just a moment, something flickered in her eyes—doubt. But it vanished as quickly as it came.

“Oh, so now I’m the idiot?” she snapped. “Let you call him so you can talk your way out and disappear? I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“Call him!” I yelled. “Just call him and ask!”

That seemed to rattle her. She fumbled for her phone, casting a hard glare at me before stepping out of the room to make the call.

Time dragged.

Every heartbeat felt like a countdown. I held Elara close, whispering her name, hoping for any flicker of response.

Then the door creaked open.

Lila stepped back in—and her face was darker than before. Almost murderous.

“Well,” she said, voice venom-sweet. “I called him.”

She leaned in. “He said his mother’s on a trip. So tell me again, who the fuck are you?”