3: Revenge!

Delilah’s POV

Everywhere was calm and quiet but the pain I felt as I opened my tired eyes was no longer just physical. It was cosmic. It was a pain that fractured timelines and bent the soul. Why does my body ache so much?

Where was I? The last thing I remembered was going to his company… did I pass out?

Slowly my memories returned in fragments, causing my heart to lurch with pain.

Then the sickening antiseptic smell made me understand I was at the hospital.

I clawed at the sheets, trembling as I sat up. Oh no.

Something was wrong.

No.

Everything was gone.

I grabbed at my stomach. It was soft. Deflated. Hollow.

Empty. No.. no this can't be. This isn't happening to me. I already bought a crib…I got clothes, toys he would need. I decorated his room. ..no! I can't lose my baby.

“No,” I croaked. “No, no—where is he?!”

The door burst open and a nurse walked in, followed by a man in dark clothes—one I never expected to see again.

Thorne Weston.

“Delilah—”

“Where is my baby?!” I screamed, voice raw, unrecognizable. “WHERE IS MY SON?!”

The nurse moved to touch me. I thrashed away. “Don’t touch me! Don’t come near me! Where is he?! I'll kill you all of you don't give me my son!”

The nurse looked to Thorne helplessly. He stared at me. Stone-faced but his eyes were red. Was he crying? Nevermind that, where is my child? Why are they all so damn quiet?

“He’s gone, Delilah.”

The world stopped. Then, the room spun as if gravity broke loose. I clutched my chest, my scream tearing through the walls of the hospital like shattered glass. My whole body caved.

So I've lost my child, huh? The son i…I finally had after so many attempts. When I found out I was pregnant, it was the happiest day of my life. Although Estelle didn't stop with her hatred and venomous words, I was content because I believed a child would change things. Now?

Gone.

Gone.

My head started spinning, and I fell back weakly onto the bed.

“Delilah!"

Then I blacked out.

***

I woke up again. still in the hospital.

But Thorne was still there. He was sitting on the leather chair across from me, elbows on knees, staring calmly at me.

“You stayed,” I rasped. My throat still hurts from screaming too much.

He nodded. “You kept calling out for someone. In your sleep.”

I turned my face toward the window. “My son.”

Thorne said nothing.

I sniffed. “Why are you here, Thorne? Really? You hate me. You bullied me into nightmares. I thought you’d be the last person—”

“Don’t,” he cut in, voice low and tight. “Don’t pretend you don’t know why I’m here.”

I glanced at him.

He sat back, rubbing his jaw. “I was the one who brought you here. Caleb… wasn’t answering his phone. Not the hospital’s. Not mine.”

“What else is new,” I whispered bitterly. Of course he'd rather fuck his secretary than to come here, to see his wife spiral into oblivion. He's been so distant and emotionally unavailable yet I never complained.

Then he said, “He’s not who you think he is.”

I stared at him. “I know that now.”

“No,” Thorne said. “You don’t.”

He stood and walked to the window, pulling something from his coat pocket. A USB drive.

“What’s that?”

“Everything. Bank records. Transfers. Shell corporations. Fake charities. Bribes. Offshore accounts linked to Caleb Weston. He’s been laundering money through the company for years.”

I blinked. “What… what the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ve been investigating him for months.” He turned, eyes sharp. “He used your name. Your identity, Delilah. You’ve unknowingly signed documents that tied you to criminal activity. If the Feds come knocking, you go down with him.”

Pour more fuel into the fire, you bastard! How dare Caleb do this?

My breath left my lungs. “You’re lying.” I tried, hopelessly.

He tossed the drive onto my lap. “I don’t need to lie. I’m trying to save your damn life.”

“No. No, Caleb wouldn’t…” I trailed off. But even as I denied it, my heart sank under the weight of truth. I remembered the business trips. The odd phone calls. The passwords he wouldn’t share. The way he’d kiss my forehead and tell me, Don’t stress over the numbers, sweetheart.

“I thought he was just busy,” I whispered. “Trying to build a future for us. I thought—”

“You thought he was loyal?”

His voice was dry. Cruel.

And I remembered the card. Cheryse’s handwriting. Those haunting words.

Thank you for the sex.

Maxwell misses you.

A fresh wave of nausea hit me. I sat back, the pain no longer sadness. It was rage now. Ice under my skin.

“Maxwell,” I whispered. “She named their bastard child after his father. Her child with my husband.”

Thorne’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t know about the kid?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t know about the affair until last night. Until I found her thank-you note. On our anniversary. I didn’t know about any of this!”

He knelt beside the bed, his voice quieter now. “You do now. And I can help you, Delilah. I want to destroy him too.”

“Why?”

“Because he took everything from me too. My adopted father left the company to me. But somehow, golden boy Caleb ended up with the throne. With the business. With… you.”

My breath hitched.

“You want revenge… I want you. Be mine and I'll destroy him for you.” Thorne said coldly.

My heart fluttered.

**”

I arrived at the mansion, and stepped out of the car calmly. Caleb didn't even come or call. Although the doctor said I should stay overnight in the hospital, I bluntly told him I'm fine.

“My god, Delilah! Where did you fall? Why didn’t you call? I got the news as soon as I landed—I was on the next flight out! I was worried sick!” Caleb said, immediately I got inside.

What a fucking liar. Flight out? This son of a bitch!! Wasn't he we the office with her? I can't believe this is the man I loved and confided in. It's actually funny, Caleb was my crush since highschool – while his brother was my bully– and I thought I knew everything about him.

I stared at him with utter hatred..He looked fresh. Shaved. Overdressed. A bottle of expensive perfume still clung to him.

Cheryse’s. Duh.

I blinked at him, cold inside.

He rushed forward to hold me. “Darling, look at you—my sweet girl, I’m so sorry. I should’ve been there. I swear, I had no idea…”

I let him touch me. I even leaned into him slightly. Why? Because he'll never see it coming.

“Did the hospital say anything about your condition?” he murmured. “I'm sorry about the baby."

“I’m recovering,” I said with a tiny smile. “Just exhausted.”

He cupped my face with concern. “We’ll get through this together, alright?”

Of course we will.

“We’ll be a family again. Even Cheryse—poor woman—her apartment burned down. She’s lost everything. I told her she can stay here… just for a while. Until I get her a new place. She’s been so loyal.”

I laughed softly.

He blinked. “What’s funny?”

I tilted my head. “Yeah. Loyal on your bed, you mean.”

His eyes flashed, but I quickly added, “I’m kidding. You’ve been through a lot. We both have. I want us to be… peaceful now. Focus on healing.”

He relaxed again, stroking my hand. “That’s what I want too.”

Liar.

I smiled wider. “Tell Cheryse she’s welcome. I’ll prepare the guest wing. I'll make dinner for us, right now. Your favorite, right? I know I went through hell, but we'll move past it and build a future.”

"That's my baby.” He pecked my forehead.

I smiled softly– because I wasn’t going to scream or cry. Or even throw things.

No, not yet.

Because I wasn’t the same woman who bled on that hospital bed. I was planning something far more exquisite than heartbreak.

Revenge.

And Caleb Weston?

Was already walking into my trap.