Chapter 4

"Harper, I know you hate me, but you didn't have to push me!"

"Ah, it hurts! My stomach..."

Kate crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, clutching her stomach and groaning, her palm sliced open by the shattered glass on the floor.

Miles dropped the first-aid kit and bolted down the stairs, his eyes wild with anguish.

"Kate! Don't be scared. I'm taking you to the hospital, right now."

He swept her into his arms and dashed for the door.

Just before he stepped out, he stopped and looked back at me, his gaze icy and unfamiliar. His tone was grim.

"Harper, I never thought you could be this cruel. To actually harm a pregnant woman."

"If anything happens to my child, I swear to God, Harper, you will regret the day you were born."

I watched him carry Kate away and whispered to the empty room, "We never had a future anyway."

I calmly grabbed a tissue and began picking up the glass shards, one by one. The bleeding from my ankle had already stopped.

But the wound in my heart was still raw and gaping.

The anger simmering in my chest prompted me to make an encrypted call overseas.

I contacted the other shadow partners in the Sterling family's money laundering network.

This thirty percent controlling stake was a guarantee from the old Don himself, a concession to the Romanos given at our engagement.

When they heard I was selling my shares, I could almost hear their breathing quicken over the line.

I wasted no words. Highest bidder wins.

Within half an hour, the online transaction was complete. The buyer was Miles's own uncle, a man he had always distrusted.

Ambitious and ruthless, he had long wanted to usurp Miles's position as heir.

Armed with this massive stake, he now had enough power to start a bloody civil war within the family.

I hoped Miles would appreciate my wedding gift.

My phone vibrated again. It was the subordinate in charge of wedding coordination.

His voice was grim. "Ma'am, Miles just gave another direct order. He's demanding the wedding venue be restored. But all the custom decorations have been destroyed. How am I supposed to pull that off in the middle of the night?"

I felt bad for dragging my people into this, but it wasn't my fault.

I apologized, then gave him an idea.

"Tell him my original request is void and the deposit is non-refundable. If he insists on the venue, he'll have to place a new order at ten times the original price for breach of contract."

My subordinate gasped. "The Boss will have my head for that."

"Don't worry," I said. "He'll pay."

Because he desperately needed a grand performance to cover up his personal scandal.

By the time I'd handled everything, it was two in the morning.

I decided against going back to the family estate and drove straight to a hotel near the airport.

On the way, the coordinator texted me. Miles had been so furious he'd smashed a table, but he still signed the massive check on the spot.

I smiled, set my alarm, and fell fast asleep.

So I wasn't surprised when my phone started blowing up with calls from Miles.

I just turned it off and closed my eyes.

Until the sound of violent pounding on the door woke me up.

"Harper Romano! Open this door!"

Hearing Miles's enraged voice, I remembered I'd forgotten to turn off our location tracking.

His furious roars echoed down the hall. An image of Kate tumbling down the stairs flashed through my mind.

It seemed her little miscarriage act had worked.

Or maybe he'd discovered my retaliation with the shares.

With a loud crack, the solid wood door of the luxury suite was kicked in by two of his men.

Miles stormed in, his eyes bloodshot, and dragged me out of bed by my wrist.

"You caused Kate's miscarriage. Her uterus is so damaged she can never have children again. And you're just lying here, sleeping peacefully?"

I struggled against his grip. "Get your hands off me. I didn't push her. She threw herself down those stairs."

But Miles just turned violent, hoisting me over his shoulder and shoving me roughly into the armored car waiting downstairs.

"That baby was her everything. Why would she risk her own body like that?"

The doors locked, and he sped toward the family's private clinic.

Two of his men forced me to my knees before Kate's hospital bed.

Miles looked down at me, his expression faltering for a moment before his cold mask snapped back into place.

"Harper, you know I don't want to do this."

"But when you do something wrong, you face the consequences. Apologize to her. Then sign this agreement transferring your art foundation to her as compensation."