Chapter 1

1

Silas Ford's assistant is pregnant.

On our seven-year anniversary, he brought the woman into our home.

He gave me orders with a casual, cold indifference.

"Her body is fragile. Her meals must be perfectly balanced and never repeated."

"She gets scared easily and needs someone to watch over her while she sleeps. Move to the servant's quarters and leave the master bedroom for her."

I stayed silent, gripped the handle of my pre-packed suitcase, and walked toward the front door.

The driver tried to step forward to stop me, but Silas spoke with a voice of ice.

"Leave her. She'll be back once she's had enough of this tantrum. I have plenty of patience to wait for her to beg for my mercy."

The people in the room burst into laughter.

They placed bets with millions on the line, wagering that I wouldn't last the night before I came crawling back, crying and begging him not to throw me out.

But they would never know that a luxury car had been waiting for me outside for a long time.

This time, I was really leaving. I was never coming back.

The light from the crystal chandelier was so bright it made my eyes ache.

I stood in the center of the living room, watching him carefully help a woman named Lyra Thorne into a seat.

She was wearing my silk robe.

It was a limited edition Silas had brought back for me from Paris last year. Now, it was wrapped around her bloated body like a piece of crumpled fabric. Her belly was slightly rounded, and her face held the smug smile of a victor.

When her eyes swept over me, they were filled with undisguised provocation.

And my husband, the man who once promised at our wedding to protect me for life, was barking orders at me with pure impatience.

"She's delicate and her morning sickness is severe. Her meals must be meticulously planned. No repeats. Everything must follow the nutritionist's list."

Silas's gaze flickered over me without a hint of warmth, as if he were discussing a trivial chore.

"Fresh pressed prenatal tonic at seven. Organic cherries at ten. Stewed supplements at three. Warm milk before bed at exactly ninety-five degrees. Not a degree higher or lower."

Lyra gave a soft, delicate cough. She clutched her chest and frowned, looking like she might break at any moment.

Silas immediately reached out to rub her back, his voice softening significantly.

"Are you still feeling sick? I told you to rest at home, but you insisted on coming. If I knew seeing her would make you uncomfortable, I would have sent her away already."

"Silas, don't blame your wife," Lyra said in a saccharine voice, though her eyes glinted with malice as she peeked at me.

"I just wanted to see what Mrs. Ford looked like. After all, I'll be needing her help quite a bit from now on."

"I'm carrying the Ford heir. If anything happens to the baby, I couldn't bear the weight of it."

Silas turned his head, the tenderness in his eyes replaced by a sharp warning.

"She scares easily, and she's a light sleeper since getting pregnant. She needs someone nearby."

"Starting today, you're moving to the guest wing. Leave the master suite for her. If she makes a sound at night, you must be there to serve her immediately."

"If she needs to use the bathroom, wants water, or craves a snack, you are on call. I don't want to hear a single complaint."