Chapter 2

The second I got back to the townhouse, I could hear voices inside. Loud ones.

"Clarity, this is your fiancé's place? Oh my God, it's huge! It's gorgeous!"

"No wonder Clarity gave up that job in London to come back to New York. Who wouldn't wanna marry into a family like this!"

My chest tightened. I reached for the door.

But the lock let out this weird warning beep.

I tried again. This time, the door opened from the inside.

The girl standing in front of me was head-to-toe in this season's latest. Every piece put together just so.

A single hair clip probably cost a few grand.

A girl raised on Sebastian's money and attention. Yeah, she had presence. I'll give her that.

Clarity's friend was the first to frown.

"Clarity, is this your housekeeper? Why's she making that face?"

"She reeks of disinfectant. I'm gonna throw up."

Clarity didn't bother explaining. She just covered her mouth and smiled.

My voice was cold. "The divorce hasn't even been finalized yet, and you're already moving in as lady of the house?"

"Get out. Now. Or I'm calling the cops."

I was just pulling out my phone—

Clarity clapped her hands. A bodyguard snatched my phone and shoved me back, pinning me in place.

Some of them were the same guys I'd once hired to investigate Sebastian.

"Nadia, you're kidding, right?"

"The door lock already gave you your answer, didn't it?"

Clarity walked up and grabbed my hand, pressing it against the fingerprint scanner again.

The warning beep echoed through the whole house.

"Whoever gets in—that's the owner."

I clenched my fists.

"I bought this townhouse with Sebastian. My name's still on the deed."

"You think wiping my fingerprint is gonna make this place yours?"

The second the words left my mouth, Clarity's smile got wider.

She told the housekeeper to bring over the property papers. Opened them up.

The name on the deed? Already changed to Clarity Sinclair.

"I liked this house, so Sebastian transferred it to me."

"Nadia, you're the one trespassing now."

My chest seized.

Half a year ago, Sebastian brought over some company filing documents—and tucked inside were a few blank signature pages.

I didn't think much of it at the time. Just signed.

Turns out, even back then, he'd already decided to erase me from his world completely.

The people around her started chiming in. "Housekeepers these days, huh? Just gonna walk in and claim the house is theirs!"

"Of all the people she could've crossed, she chose Mr. Cross's fiancée. She brought this humiliation on herself."

I looked around. That's when I noticed—every piece of furniture had been replaced.

I shoved the bodyguard off me and ran up to the master bedroom on the second floor. Glass shards sliced into my foot the second I stepped in.

The ultrasound from before the crash—ripped out of its frame, torn to pieces, scattered across the broken glass on the floor.

"I didn't really like that piece of paper, so I had the housekeeper take care of it."

"But looking at the date—the baby was only two months, right?"

She let out this sweet little laugh. "Too bad. Now the last trace of your baby in this world is gone..."

My eyes burned. I raised my hand to slap her.

A team of uniformed officers appeared in front of me.

"Nadia Graves, someone reported you for unlawful entry. You need to come with us."

Then Sebastian stepped through the doorway—still wearing his hospital gown beneath his coat.