Chapter 3

Maya POV

The ultrasound photo felt heavy in my pocket, burning against my thigh like a brand.

I sat in the darkness of the living room, letting the silence of the sprawling house press in on me.

A baby.

An innocent life, tethered by blood to a man who corrupted everything he touched.

I couldn't keep it.

The thought made bile rise in my throat, but the alternative was a nightmare I couldn't survive.

Raising a child in this world?

Raising a son to become a monster like Liam?

Or worse, raising a daughter to be like me-a polished trophy, dusted off for galas and ignored in the quiet hours.

I needed to be sure.

I needed to sever the last fraying thread of hope that maybe, just maybe, this marriage wasn't a corpse I was dragging around.

I went down to the basement.

Liam kept a secure server room tucked away behind the wine cellar.

He assumed I didn't know the passcodes.

He had forgotten that I was the one who helped him architect his "legitimate" business networks, long before he decided I was better suited for hosting dinner parties and keeping my mouth shut.

I logged in.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, muscle memory taking over as I accessed the live audio feed from his office.

It was a high-tech surveillance system he had installed to spy on his enemies.

Now, his enemy was listening to him.

The feed crackled to life, the digital hum settling into clarity.

"Stop worrying, baby," Liam's voice filtered through the speakers.

It was mid-afternoon. He was at the headquarters.

"She's suspicious," a female voice whined. Ava. "She looks at me like I'm dirt."

"She's nothing," Liam said.

The cruelty in his tone was casual. Effortless. It didn't even sound like he was trying to be mean; he was just stating a fact, like commenting on the weather.

"She's a prop, Ava. A placeholder. You know who I want."

"Then leave her," Ava demanded. "You gave her fifty grand. Isn't that enough?"

Liam laughed, a dry, humorless sound.

"I can't just divorce her yet. The optics would be bad for the merger with the Rossi family. They like the 'family man' image. It makes me look stable."

"So I have to wait?"

"Not for long," Liam promised, his voice dropping an octave. "Once the deal is signed, I'll send her to the country house. She can rot there for all I care. You'll take her place at the table."

"And the title?"

"You'll be the Queen, Ava. Maya is just... damaged goods. She's frigid. Boring."

I yanked the headphones off.

My hands were trembling so hard I nearly dropped them.

*Damaged goods.*

*Frigid.*

The words echoed, mocking the nights I had waited up for him.

The nights I had swallowed my pride to initiate intimacy, only to be pushed away because he was "tired" or "stressed."

He had been gaslighting me for years.

He had systematically dismantled my self-worth, making me feel inadequate while he gave his best self to a mistress.

The pain in my chest was sharp, physical, like a rib had snapped inward.

But beneath the pain, something harder was calcifying.

Rage.

Cold, calculating rage.

"Loyalty is the only currency," I whispered to the empty room, repeating his favorite maxim.

He was bankrupt.

I stood up.

A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, forcing me to grip the desk.

Morning sickness.

A visceral reminder of the parasite growing inside me.

No.

Not a parasite.

A trap.

If Liam found out about the baby, he would never let me go. He would use the child as a shackle, binding me to him forever.

I grabbed my burner phone.

I dialed the clinic again.

"I need to schedule a procedure," I said. My voice sounded dead, hollowed out.

"An abortion?" the receptionist asked softly.

"Yes."

"When?"

"As soon as possible."

I hung up.

I went upstairs and packed a small bag.

Just the essentials.

Cash. Passports. The encrypted hard drive containing photos of his ledger.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand.

It was Liam.

*Running late. Don't wait up.*

I didn't reply.

I blocked his number.

Then I blocked Marc.

Then I blocked the house landline.

Silence.

That was my answer.

I sat on the edge of the bed and waited.

I needed more ammunition. I needed to know how deep the rot went.

I texted a contact I had made years ago-a low-level soldier named Dante who still owed my father a favor for saving his skin.

*What do you know about Marc Chen and Ava?*

The reply came an hour later.

*Marc is playing both sides. He introduced Ava to Liam. He's feeding her info to manipulate the Boss. He wants a bigger cut of the harbor profits.*

I stared at the glowing screen.

It wasn't just an affair.

It was a coup.

Marc was using Ava as a honey trap to distract Liam, to make him sloppy, while Marc consolidated power in the shadows.

And Liam was too busy chasing a skirt to see the knife at his throat.

They were all snakes.

And I was the mouse they thought they had trapped in the maze.

I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

Pale. Gaunt.

But my eyes were burning with a new fire.

I wasn't a victim anymore.

I was a witness.

And witnesses in this world had two choices: die, or speak.

I opened my diary.

I picked up a pen, my hand steady now.

*My child,* I wrote. *I am sorry. I will not let you be born into a cage. I will give you a clean future, even if it means I have to walk through hell alone. You deserve peace. And peace is the one thing your father cannot give.*

I closed the book.

Tomorrow, I would end it.

Tomorrow, I would start the fire.