Chapter 2

“I’m here, sweetheart. I’m here!”

I checked her pulse again, and my stomach dropped. The toxin was spreading much faster than it should have. I had already expected the poison to progress, but not at this speed. I started working immediately, trying to identify the toxin from her symptoms while giving her everything I could to slow its effects.

“Stay with me, Riley. Please.”

Her little body suddenly jerked violently in my hands.

“Riley!”

She looked at me with half-open eyes. “Mommy... it hurts.”

My hands shook as I tried another treatment. “I know, baby. I know. Just hold on a little longer.”

Nothing changed.

Her breathing became weaker.

“No, no, no.”

I checked her pulse again.

It was fading.

I started CPR immediately, pressing against her tiny chest while trying to keep my voice steady. “Come on, Riley. Come back to Mommy.”

Nothing.

“Come on!”

I kept going. I refused to stop even when my arms started hurting. “You’re my little girl. You don’t get to leave me. Do you hear me?”

Her pulse disappeared.

I froze for half a second before checking again.

Nothing.

“No...”

I started CPR again, tears running down my face as I fought to see through them. “Riley, please!”

Someone grabbed my shoulder.

“Donna, she’s gone.”

I shoved the person away. “No!”

I kept pressing against my daughter's chest. “She’s not gone. She’s not!”

But I already knew.

I was a neurologist. I knew what death looked like. I knew what a body looked like when the nervous system had stopped responding, when the heart had stopped, when there was nothing left to bring back.

And still, I couldn't accept it.

Riley's little body slowly went still in my arms.

My daughter was dead.

She was dead because I had been forced to save Vesper first. She was dead because Silas had decided Vesper's life mattered more.

I stared at Riley's face, unable to move. “Baby... I’m sorry.”

My chest hurt so badly that I couldn't breathe. I held her against me and kept waiting for her to move, to cry, to call me Mommy again.

She didn't.

Everything went black.

...

When I woke up, the first thing I smelled was disinfectant. I opened my eyes slowly and saw the hospital room around me. My body hurt, but I barely noticed. The only thing I could think about was Riley.

I sat up so quickly that the nurse rushed over to stop me. “Donna, you need to lie down.”

“Where’s my daughter?”

The nurse went silent.

I pulled myself out of bed and walked into the hallway. I ignored the nurse calling after me and headed toward the nurses' station, but then I heard a familiar voice nearby.

Silas.

I stopped before reaching the corner.

His secretary was speaking quietly. “Don Silas, I still don’t understand. Vesper has always been the person you care about most. She’s your second-in-command, your closest friend, and the woman you’ve protected for years. So why did you marry Donna Raven?”

I stood behind the wall, completely still.

Silas answered without hesitation. “You know how many enemies I’ve made in this business. Vesper is my weakness. If my enemies find out how much she means to me, they’ll use her against me.”

There was a short silence before his secretary asked, “So you married Donna to protect Vesper?”

“Yes.”

My fingers tightened around the edge of the wall.

Silas continued in the same calm voice. “I never loved Raven. I married her because she was someone I could keep outside my real life. As long as everyone believed she was the woman I loved, nobody would look too closely at Vesper.”

I felt something twist inside my chest.

His secretary hesitated before asking, “But Donna nearly died too. And Riley was your own daughter.”

Silas was silent for a few seconds.

Then he said, “We can have more children.”

I covered my mouth.

He continued as if he were discussing business. “Raven can remain my wife. Her position won't change, and she'll have everything she needs. But my heart has always belonged to Vesper.”

A tear slipped down my cheek.

So that was it.

Six years of being his wife. Six years of believing his kisses, his promises, and the quiet moments between us meant something. All along, I had only been a shield.

A convenient wife.

Someone Silas could sacrifice whenever Vesper needed protection and Riley had paid for it.

He had watched me choose Vesper while Riley was dying, knowing exactly what that choice could cost. Then, after Riley died, his only answer was that we could have another child.

How could he say that?

Did he really think another child could replace Riley?

I looked down at my trembling hands and slowly wiped away my tears.

“No,” I whispered. “Never again.”

...

I walked to the nurses' station and asked for a phone. There was one number I had kept hidden for six years, a number I had promised myself I would never call unless I had absolutely no other choice.

Now I had no reason to keep that promise.

I dialed.

The call connected after a few rings.

“Hello?”

I closed my eyes. “I agree to your conditions.”

There was silence on the other end.

I continued, “But I have two requests.”

“Tell me.”

“First, I want to know exactly what toxin was injected into my daughter and why Riley's condition progressed so much faster than Vesper's.”

My voice shook, but I forced myself to continue. “Second, I want Silas Thorne to pay for Riley's death.”

The man was silent for several seconds.

Then he answered, “Done.”

I tightened my grip on the phone.

“I’ll personally come to Europe and take you away in one month.”

“Fine.”

I ended the call and immediately contacted my lawyer.

“Prepare the divorce papers.”

I took a slow breath before continuing. “I want everything documented. File them as soon as possible.”

The ward door suddenly slammed open, and before I could even turn around, Silas pulled me into his arms.

“Raven, I know you’re hurting, but you can have another child. Riley’s death was an accident. The toxin acted too fast, and nobody expected it to progress that quickly.”

His voice was gentle, almost comforting. It was the same voice I had fallen in love with years ago.

Now it made me sick.

All I could hear was Riley’s weak voice in my head.

‘Mommy, it hurts.’

I shoved Silas away so hard that he took a step back. “Don’t touch me!”

He froze.