Chapter 1

On my birthday, I received a jewelry box thinking it was the wedding band Yohan promised but inside rested a sleek silver flash drive.

I plugged it into my laptop, only to find a recording of an intimate moment between my fiancé and my adopted sister, Diana.

The camera had been propped up on a vanity in a dim hotel suite. On the screen, Yohan had Diana pressed against the edge of a mahogany desk, his hands tangled in her hair as he kissed her passionately. His breathing was heavy, the rustle of their clothing loud in the quiet room.

“Yohan…” Diana whispered, her voice breathy and flushed, her fingers pulling desperately at the collar of his shirt.

Yohan let out a low, rough groan. He leaned in closer, his lips trailing down her jaw to brush against the sensitive skin of her neck.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “I can’t get enough of you.”

The video continued as I stared blankly.

A year ago, I would have called him crying, begging him to explain, risking my own health just to get him to come back.

But today, with my eight-month pregnant belly resting against my lap, I simply watched the screen go dark.

I didn’t feel even the smallest shift inside.

I was truly worn out with him cheating on me for the 99th time.

I decided to pack my hospital bag, so I could leave him. But the moment I pushed the nursery door open, I froze on the spot.

The room was in chaos. The drawers were pulled open. The delicate baby clothes I had spent the last five months carefully knitting stitch by stitch were completely gone.

A loud ringing filled my ears. I pulled out my phone and opened Diana’s social media, scrolling through her recent posts.

There it was. Diana’s golden retriever was wearing the tiny, pale yellow sweater I had knitted for my baby.

The caption read: [Was feeling a little down today, but Yohan always knows how to cheer me up. He brought the cutest little outfits for my dog!]

My nails pressed into my palm, the small pain spreading slowly, barely keeping me alert.

The front door clicked open.

Yohan walked in.

“I thought you would be calling me crying right now,” Yohan chuckled, walking over to try and touch my hair. “What happened, little crybaby suddenly switched personality? You saw the flash drive, didn’t you?”

I stepped back, avoiding his hand.

“Yohan,” my voice scraped out of my throat with effort. “Why did you hand the clothes I knitted for our baby… to Diana’s dog?”

“Can you stop making such a big deal out of nothing?” he sighed.

“Nothing?” I stared at him, my voice shaking. “Those were for our child!”

“Diana was upset today,” Yohan said dismissively, walking past me to pour himself a glass of water. “She needed cheering up. I saw those clothes lying around and took them. What’s the issue?”

“Besides, those handmade things look cheap anyway. They’re worn-out trash fit for a dog. When the baby comes, I’ll buy brand-name clothes. Why are you being so narrow-minded over a few pieces of yarn?”

I looked at the man I had loved for years. The man who had once knelt on the ground to listen to my belly, promising to give our child the best in the world.

“You gave our child’s things to your mistress’s dog,” I said calmly.

“Mistress?” Yohan’s face darkened completely. He slammed his glass down on the counter. “Diana is your sister! She’s fragile, and she relies on me. You’ve been entirely unwelcoming to her since she moved back to the city.”

He pointed a finger at me, his tone carrying a set rule that allowed no pushback.

“I want you to call her right now and apologize for your attitude. If you don’t, don’t expect me to be at the hospital when you deliver.”

In that moment, the baby in my belly went still, and the heart in my chest went quiet too.

“You don’t need to be there,” I said.

Yohan frowned. “What did you say?”

I didn’t answer him. I turned around, picked up my phone, and dialed a number I rarely called.

“Dad,” I said the moment the line connected. “Come pick me up. I want to go home.”

My parents, the heads of the billionaire Lancaster empire, had never approved of Yohan. I had hidden my identity to be with him, wanting a simple life.

“We’re on our way, Lily,” my father’s steady voice came through. “Pack nothing. We will buy you everything new.”

I hung up.

Yohan let out a cold, short laugh. “Calling your parents to scare me? Fine. Let’s see how long you last before you come begging me to take you back.”

He grabbed his car keys and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Half an hour later, my parents’ understated black sedan pulled up to the driveway. I walked out of that house with nothing but the clothes on my back.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” my mother asked, her eyes red with worry as she helped me into the backseat.

“I’m fine, Mom. Let’s just go.”

The car rolled off the main road, heading toward the highway.

But we hadn’t even been driving for ten minutes when an unfamiliar, battered van appeared in the rearview mirror.

At first, I didn’t think anything of it. Until the van suddenly sped up out of nowhere and swerved hard toward us, slamming into our rear bumper.

“Hold on!” my father shouted, hitting the gas.

The van accelerated, pulling up alongside us. The tinted passenger window rolled down.

I recognized the man leaning out. It was Diana’s older brother, a man with a long criminal record.

“Pull over!” he yelled over the rushing wind, his face twisted with malice. “Diana wants that baby gone, Lily! You’re standing in her way!”

“Dad, don’t stop! He’s trying to hurt the baby!” I cried out, wrapping my arms protectively around my stomach.

My father swerved into the next lane, trying to shake the van off. The tires screeched against the asphalt. We were approaching a major intersection. The light was green for us.

“We’re almost at the police station, just hold on!” my father yelled.

We entered the intersection.

Suddenly, a blinding pair of headlights flashed from the right.

It was Yohan’s car but Yohan wasn’t driving.

Through the windshield, illuminated by the streetlights, I saw Diana’s face behind the wheel.

The metallic crunch of the collision was the loudest sound I had ever heard.