Chapter 1

"What was Vesper thinking? She knew Celine was frail, yet she still opened the window and let her catch a severe cold. She must have done it on purpose to harm her!"

Ronan Blackwood hurled the thermometer onto the expensive cashmere rug. The sharp crack of shattering glass echoed through the living room, matching the violent fury burning in his eyes and dragging the entire space into a suffocating chill.

The servants nearby didn’t dare breathe. They shrank into the corners, trembling.

Old Alfred Reeves, the longtime butler, forced himself to step forward. His voice carried a faint, uncontrollable tremor. "Sir… Madam only felt the room was stuffy and opened the window for some air. The wind wasn’t strong that day, and Miss Celine may have simply kicked off her blanket during the night—"

"Enough!" Ronan cut him off sharply, his gaze colder than ice. "You dare speak for her, too? Celine has been weak since childhood. She can’t handle even the slightest draft. Vesper has lived here this long, and you expect me to believe she didn’t know that? She’s jealous of Celine’s place in my heart. She seized the chance to get back at her."

The Celine he spoke of — Celine Ashcroft — was the girl who had grown up by his side. In Ronan’s heart, she was gentle, kind, fragile, a treasure that needed his protection for the rest of her life.

As for me, Vesper Whitlock, I was nothing more than a wife imposed on him by a family alliance. A woman who occupied the title of Mrs. Blackwood but had no place in his heart.

"Bring her here." His voice did not hold a trace of warmth.

Soon, two bodyguards dragged me into the living room.

At five months pregnant, my belly had already begun to show. Even the loose maternity dress couldn’t hide the soft curve. The moment I heard his words, my face went pale. I struggled, desperate to explain.

"Ronan, I didn’t do it on purpose. I only opened the window to let some air in. I never thought Celine would catch a cold—"

"You never thought?" He let out a cold laugh and stepped closer, looming over me. The disgust in his eyes was naked, undisguised.

"Vesper, don’t think that just because you’re carrying my child, you can do whatever you want. In my eyes, you’re not even worth a single strand of Celine’s hair. She’s lying in bed suffering right now. You will pay for this."

I trembled uncontrollably, instinctively clutching my stomach. Tears spilled down my face.

"Ronan, I know I was wrong. I’ll never open the window again. I’ll take good care of Celine from now on. Please… for the baby’s sake… let me go this once…"

"Let you go?" He sounded as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world. "You'll repay the pain Celine suffered a hundredfold. Take her to the ice cellar in the back hills. She stays there until Celine recovers."

"No!"

The scream tore out of my throat.

The ice cellar stayed below freezing year-round. At five months pregnant, how could I possibly survive that?

"Ronan, it’s too cold in there. I’ll freeze to death. The baby won’t survive either. Please… punish me some other way. I’ll do anything!"

He didn’t even look at me. "Carry out the order. Anyone who pleads for her will be punished as well."

The bodyguards dragged me away as I struggled desperately, pulling me toward the ice cellar behind the estate.

I looked back at Ronan’s indifferent silhouette, my heart twisting like it was being carved apart.

We had been married for a year. I had believed that if I treated him with sincerity, I could eventually warm his heart.

Only now did I understand that, in his eyes, neither the child I carried, nor I, had ever been worth as much as a single finger of Celine Ashcroft.