Chapter 4

That afternoon, Jasper and Kimberly's engagement party unfolded with extravagant fanfare.

When Jasper's parents went onstage to give their speech, I stood right beside Kimberly as her bridesmaid.

Whispers rippled through the audience.

"So Mr. Prescott's wife really is obedient. Not only did she help arrange the mistress' engagement party, but she even dressed herself up as a bridesmaid."

"Obedient my ass. I've never seen anyone this cheap. She's an embarrassment to women everywhere."

Kimberly suddenly rested a hand on her stomach and turned to me with a bright smile. "Roxanne, I actually need to thank you. Thank you for giving me a child."

I frowned. "What did you say?"

She turned fully toward me. Her voice stayed low, but the triumph in it was unmistakable. "Roxanne, do you know why you always miscarried around the first month? Because every single time, Jas personally arranged the 'accident.'"

The accident?

Images surged up without warning: every emergency, every time he rushed me to the hospital with panic on his face.

Was it all an act?

Kimberly sighed softly, as if she were the wronged party. "My ovaries are damaged. I may never have children of my own. But I wanted a baby. Jas' baby."

She grinned. "He loves me so much. Of course he found a way."

She turned her back to me and looked down as though surveying a defeated opponent. "So every time you miscarried, it was just to extract the embryo for me. You were nothing more than my surrogate container."

The blood drained from my body.

All these years, every loss, every surgery, every collapse of mind and body, had been nothing more than raw material for their love story.

I lifted my eyes and met her gleaming gaze.

"Roxanne, your husband and your children all belong to me now…"

I slapped her. The sound cracked through the hall.

For a split second, no one reacted.

"Roxanne! Have you lost your mind?!" Jasper roared.

He seized my wrist, his face dark, his fingers crushing down hard enough to grind bone.

I sucked in a breath and looked at him. "That's what I should be asking you. What right do you—"

The words never finished. The massive screen behind us lit up.

Kimberly's face had been crudely photoshopped onto a pair of mating dogs. The image was obscene, deliberate, and impossible to mistake.

The room exploded.

"I knew it. No wife volunteers to be a mistress' bridesmaid. The quiet ones bite the hardest."

"Damn. Ruining the bride during her engagement party. That's vicious."

Behind Jasper's back, Kimberly looked at me and silently mouthed the words, *So what? He will always stand with me.*

Then she collapsed into frantic sobs and threw herself into his arms. "Jas! How could Roxanne humiliate me like this? Putting my face on something like that… how am I supposed to live?"

Jasper glanced at the screen, pain flashing across his face as he pulled her close. When he looked back at me, his eyes burned.

"Not me," I said, my lips barely moving. "I never touched her photos."

He did not listen. His hand came down without warning.

The blow sent me crashing to the floor. My forehead struck the edge of the table. Pain burst behind my eyes, followed by warmth as blood spilled down my face.

The room spun. Above me, his voice rang out icily. "On your knees. Apologize to Kimmy."

I pushed myself up with shaking arms. "Jasper, I didn't do this."

He bent down and clamped his hand around the back of my neck.

"Roxanne, this is the last time I will say it. Get on your knees and apologize," he said flatly. "Otherwise, I have no problem digging up your mother's corpse and letting everyone see what kind of woman she really was."

Even after everything, disbelief still struck me.

When people once called me the daughter of a whore, he had shielded me from the rumors. Now he used my mother's grave as a weapon against me.

For her peace in death, I closed my eyes. Under the gaze of the entire hall, I knelt.

Mockery erupted at once.

"Serves her right. She framed someone and still pretends to be pitiful."

"When a rich family's dog misbehaves, the owner disciplines it. Simple."

Only then did Kimberly lift her head from Jasper's chest and look at me with false magnanimity. "Get up, Roxanne. I forgive you."

She reached out as if to help me, but her stiletto heel came down instead. It crushed the back of my hand. Pain exploded as my skin split and flesh tore.

Jasper glanced at me once, his gaze cold and empty. Then he scooped Kimberly into his arms and walked away.

The engagement party raged on until deep into the night. After the guests finally dispersed, I looked at the clock on the wall.

Midnight had passed. The witch's gift had fully activated.

"Jasper, I hope you can bear the price of betraying a witch," I muttered darkly.

-

The sound of running water stopped.

Jasper stepped out of the bathroom in a robe and walked toward Kimberly, who still wore her engagement party dress.

Her cheeks were flushed as she lay on the bed.

He leaned down, his fingers tracing her body, his voice low and intimate. "Time to unwrap my engagement gift."

His long fingers hooked the zipper.

Suddenly, violent pounding shook the bedroom door.

The housekeeper's voice followed, nearly breaking. "Mr. Prescott! Something's wrong! The company's assets have been forcibly seized. Bankruptcy has been declared."