Chapter 2

Ethan pinned my wrist and pressed me against the desk.

"Unlock the phone."

"In your dreams."

He pried my fingers open and forced my thumb onto the sensor. Then, with practiced ease, he logged into my cloud account and deleted the photos permanently.

My heart sank, inch by inch.

"You've been monitoring my account this whole time?"

"What did you think?" Ethan tossed the phone to the floor. "You think I spent three years dating you because I actually liked you?"

He leaned over me, his voice cold and unfamiliar.

"If the Carter family didn't still have some value, you wouldn't even be worth my time."

I stared at him.

Three years ago, Foster Industries was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was my father who quietly arranged investors for him. It was my mother's patents that landed Foster Industries contracts worth billions.

Ethan had always assumed my father was just a minor shareholder at Carter Group, someone without real influence.

Because I wanted a relationship built on something real, I'd never told him that the true power behind Carter Group was my father.

Now that he'd used the Carter family to secure his footing, he had the nerve to say we weren't good enough.

Lily walked into the study and dropped a confession statement in front of me.

"Just sign it."

I looked down.

Admit to leaking the company's bid price. Admit to forging marriage documents and harassing Ethan and his wife. Voluntarily relinquish all three patents and all Carter Group shares.

I tore the document to pieces.

Lily's expression darkened.

The next second, she grabbed my hand and smacked it hard against her own face.

The slap echoed through the room.

She clutched her cheek and collapsed into Ethan's arms.

"Ethan, I was only trying to talk to her..."

Ethan's face turned to ice. He backhanded me across the face.

The force sent me crashing into the edge of the desk. Pain shot through my lower back.

"Apologize to Lily."

I gripped the edge of the desk to steady myself, then swung my hand and slapped him right back.

"That's for the sham marriage."

Another slap landed.

"And that's for biting the hand that fed you."

Ethan's head snapped to the side.

Margaret screamed and lunged at me, grabbing my hair. "You psycho! How dare you hit my son!"

I caught her wrist and was about to wrench free when Lily suddenly clutched her belly and shrieked.

"My baby!"

"Emma, why won't you even spare the child?"

She crumpled to the floor. A red stain was already spreading beneath the hem of her skirt.

Margaret went white with panic. "Lily's bleeding!"

Ethan shoved me aside, scooped Lily into his arms, and rushed toward the bedroom.

As he passed me, his eyes burned with enough hatred to tear me apart.

"If anything happens to that baby, I'll make you pay with your life."

Lily clung to his chest, and over his shoulder, she shot me a look of pure triumph.

As she lowered her head, I caught a scent—the sweet, fermented tang of red wine.

I stepped into their path.

"She's not having a miscarriage. Lift her skirt and look. That's wine."

Lily's face went white.

Ethan kicked the back of my knee.

I dropped hard to the floor.

"You're still trying to slander Lily?" He towered over me, his voice like iron. "If anything happens to her or the baby, it's on your head."

He looked at Margaret. "Mom, keep her here. Don't let her call the police."

With that, he carried Lily into the bedroom.

Less than two minutes later, Lily's soft, wounded sobs drifted through the door.

"Ethan, I don't want to see her anymore. As long as she's here, I'm terrified something will happen to our baby."

Margaret marched to the kitchen and came back with a roll of packing tape. She wound it tight around my wrists.

She grabbed my hair and forced my head up.

"Lily is being merciful. Sign the papers and get out, and she'll let you walk away in one piece. Otherwise, that five million in leaked secrets is enough to put you behind bars for ten years."

I stared at her. "You know exactly who transferred that money."

Margaret smiled. "Of course we do. Your father took it."

She threw a bank statement in my face.

The name on the receiving account was my father's.

Before I could respond, the front door swung open.

Several Foster Industries board members, the company's legal counsel, and wedding guests filed in one after another.

They all looked down at me, kneeling on the floor, their faces full of contempt.

The head of legal held up his phone. "We have all the evidence that Emma Carter stole company secrets and conspired with her father to accept five million in bribes. Mr. Foster says he'll deal with her here tonight, in front of everyone."