Chapter 2

The voice that had whispered sweet nothings against my bare skin in the dark now sounded like a stranger’s.

"You're not leaving, Shaina," Lucas stated, his tone devoid of any warmth or emotion. "You will remain in this penthouse under twenty-four-seven surveillance. You will eat what we tell you, sleep when we tell you, and you will not take a single step outside until that baby is born and the stem cells are harvested."

"You're a monster," I breathed, my whole body trembling so violently I could barely stand.

I looked past him, my tear-filled eyes locking onto the man standing near the study. "And you... Ethan. How could you do this to me? I'm your sister! I'm your own flesh and blood!"

Instead of looking ashamed, my brother’s face twisted in arrogant annoyance. He marched up to me, jabbing a harsh finger in my face.

"Don't you dare play the victim with me, Shaina," Ethan yelled. "I gave up my entire twenties for you! I raised you after Mom and Dad died! I paid for your food, your clothes, your life! You owe me! This is your duty to this family. You're finally paying me back for everything I sacrificed."

"Paying you back?" I screamed, tears of absolute, soul-crushing betrayal spilling down my cheeks. "By selling me to a psychopath? By forcing me into a fake marriage? We weren't even trying for a baby! I was on the pill! I trusted you!"

Ethan let out a dark, mocking laugh that sent a shiver down my spine.

"You really think you just 'accidentally' got pregnant?" Ethan sneered. "Lucas gave me a strict medical timeline for Carl's treatment. I couldn't leave it to chance. I swapped your birth control pills with sugar pills months ago. You were bred exactly on schedule, little sister."

My stomach violently heaved. The sheer, calculated violation of it all made my knees buckle. I grabbed the edge of the marble console table to keep from collapsing to the floor.

Before I could process the sheer horror of his confession, Paula emerged from the hallway. She walked over to me, her eyes brimming with crocodile tears, and gently gripped my shaking hands.

"Shaina, please, you have to understand," Paula cried. "Do you know how much it broke my heart? I never wanted to share my husband. It was absolute torture watching him kiss you, touch you, pretend to make love to you every single night. But I had to endure it. I had to do it for my son's survival. Any mother would do the same."

She let go of my hands and reached into her designer bag, pulling out a thick stack of legal documents.

She slid them across the glass coffee table, placing a heavy silver pen on top.

"This is a relinquishment of parental rights," Paula said, sniffing delicately as she wiped a fake tear from her cheek. "Sign it. It states that immediately after birth, you surrender all claims to the child. You won't even have to look at it. Once Carl gets his stem cells, Lucas will make sure you are taken care of, and you can disappear."

I stared at the stark white papers. I was physically imprisoned, completely cut off from the outside world, and emotionally battered by the three people I had trusted most in my entire life.

I looked at Ethan’s greedy, expectant smirk. I looked at Paula’s fake, manipulative tears. I looked at Lucas’s cold, demanding glare.

I picked up the silver pen.

And then, I snapped it in half, throwing the jagged pieces directly at Lucas's chest.

"I will never sign that," I hissed, my voice dropping to a lethal, unwavering whisper. I placed my hands protectively over my swollen stomach, a fierce maternal instinct overriding my terror. "I don't care about your forged marriage. But hear me right now: I will die before I let you monsters touch my child. I will destroy this baby myself before I let you harvest it for parts."

The room went dead silent.

Paula’s weeping act vanished instantly. Her eyes narrowed into dark, venomous slits. She realized in that exact moment that I wasn't going to be a compliant victim.

She took a slow step backward, positioning herself right at the edge of the short flight of marble stairs that led down into the sunken living room.

She looked at Lucas, then locked eyes with me, a wicked, calculated smirk flashing across her beautiful face.

Then, Paula intentionally threw herself backward.

She tumbled down the three marble steps with a sickening thud, landing hard on the plush rug below.

"Ahhh!" Paula shrieked in absolute, blood-curdling agony. She curled into a ball, clutching her pregnant stomach and pointing a violently trembling finger directly at me. "Lucas! She pushed me! She tried to kill our baby!"

"Paula!" Lucas roared.

He rushed down the stairs, dropping to his knees beside her. He frantically checked her over as she sobbed hysterically into his chest, playing the victim to absolute perfection.

When Lucas finally looked up at me, his eyes were pitch black with murderous rage.

Before I could even scream, his massive hand wrapped around my throat. He slammed me against the wall, lifting me until my toes barely grazed the floor.

I gasped for air, clawing desperately at his iron grip, my vision spotting with black stars as he choked the life out of me.

"If you have so much energy to hurt my family," Lucas snarled, his breath hot against my face, his voice dripping with pure evil. "Take her to the basement clinic."