Chapter 4

Maya POV

The charity gala for the Children's Hospital wasn't just the social event of the season. It was the stage for my public execution.

I wore white. It was a floor-length silk gown that hugged every curve like a second skin, punctuated by a high slit that climbed dangerously up my thigh. It was a statement. Pure. Untouchable. A lie.

Liam wore a tuxedo that cost more than most people's mortgages. He gripped my hand as we walked the red carpet, playing the role of the doting husband with practiced ease. Cameras flashed in blinding staccato bursts. Reporters shouted over one another, a pack of wolves baying for a quote.

"Mr. Goldstein, is it true you're donating a new wing?"

"For the children," Liam lied smoothly, flashing that charming, billion-dollar smile. "Family is everything to me."

I wanted to scream. Instead, I smiled until my jaw ached.

Inside, the ballroom was suffocating. Crystal chandeliers dripped light onto champagne towers and false smiles. Liam steered me to our table, front and center, a king displaying his queen.

"I have a surprise for you," he murmured, pulling a velvet box from his pocket.

He flipped it open. A sapphire necklace glittered under the lights.

"To match your eyes," he said.

My eyes are hazel. He didn't even know the color of my eyes.

"Thank you," I managed, letting him clasp the cold metal around my neck. It settled against my throat, heavy and constricting. Like a collar.

The murmurs started ten minutes later. A ripple of silence spread through the room like a contagion, killing conversations in its wake.

I followed the gaze of five hundred people toward the entrance.

Ava Sinclair had arrived.

She wasn't just attending; she was invading. She wore a dress that was barely legal-red, sequined, and slashed down the front to her navel. A walking sin.

And she wasn't alone. She was flanked by two of Liam's own bodyguards.

The audacity was breathtaking. It was a declaration of war.

She walked straight toward our table, cutting through the crowd like a blade. The elite parted for her, their eyes darting between the wife in white and the mistress in red, starving for the drama.

Liam stiffened beside me. "What is she doing here?" he hissed, the charm evaporating.

Ava stopped right in front of us. She smiled, a predatory baring of perfect, veneered teeth.

"Hello, Liam," she purred. She didn't even acknowledge my existence.

Then, she lifted her wrist.

"I just wanted to thank you," she said, her voice projecting clearly over the suddenly silent room. "For the gift."

She was wearing a sapphire bracelet. The exact match to the necklace currently choking me.

"It matches perfectly with... everything," she said, her eyes finally flicking to me with cold amusement.

The room gasped. It was a public claiming. A branding. She was telling the world that what was mine was also hers.

I felt the blood drain from my face. The room tilted on its axis.

Liam stood up, his chair scraping harshly against the floor. "Ava, this isn't the place."

"Isn't it?" She laughed, a sharp, brittle sound. She reached into her clutch and pulled out a small, velvet box. "Oh, and I brought something for Maya. Since we're sharing everything else."

She tossed the box onto the table. It slid across the linen and clicked against the base of my wine glass.

I stared at it.

"Open it," Ava challenged.

I didn't move. I couldn't.

Liam grabbed her arm. "Enough. Get out."

"Don't touch me!" Ava snapped, jerking away theatrically. "You didn't mind touching me this morning!"

The humiliation hit me like a physical blow. I felt stripped naked in front of New York's entire social registry.

I stood up. My legs were trembling, but I forced them to hold my weight.

"Liam," I said. My voice was quiet, but it cut through the tension like a razor.

He looked at me. For the first time, I saw panic in his eyes. Not for me. For his reputation. For his stock price.

"Maya, let's go," he said, reaching for me.

"No," I said.

I looked at Ava. Then at Liam. The man I had vowed to love.

I raised my hand and slapped him.

The sound cracked like a gunshot.

His head snapped to the side. The room went dead silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Liam slowly turned back to look at me. His eyes were dark, dangerous voids. The mask of the gentleman slipped completely, revealing the monster beneath.

"You shouldn't have done that," he growled.

He grabbed my wrist. Hard. His fingers dug into my pulse.

"Let go," I said.

"We are leaving," he commanded.

He yanked me. I stumbled. My heel caught on the delicate hem of my dress.

I fell.

It wasn't a graceful swoon. I crashed into the sharp edge of the heavy oak table. The corner drove hard into my lower abdomen.

Pain.

Blinding, white-hot pain exploded in my stomach, tearing a scream from my throat.

I crumbled to the floor, gasping for air that wouldn't come.

"Maya!" Liam shouted.

He let go of me, looking shocked. Not concerned-shocked.

I curled into a ball, clutching my stomach. I felt it immediately. A warm, wet sensation spreading between my legs.

I looked down.

Blood.

Bright, arterial red blood was soaking into the pristine white silk of my gown, blooming like a grotesque rose.

The crowd screamed.

Liam stared at the blood. His face went pale. He took a tentative step toward me.

But then, Ava grabbed his arm. "Liam! The press! We have to go! If they see you here with this... it's a scandal!"

His Capos swarmed around them, forming a wall of black suits.

"Boss, we need to extract you," Tony said urgently. "The cops will be here any second."

Liam looked at me, bleeding out on the parquet floor. Then he looked up at the cameras flashing in the distance, capturing his ruin.

He hesitated.

And in that second of hesitation, my love for him died.

"Call an ambulance," he barked at a waiter.

Then, he let his men surround him and Ava. He turned his back on me.

He walked away.

He left me bleeding on the floor of the ballroom while he escorted his mistress to safety.

I lay there, the pain tearing me apart from the inside out. My vision blurred at the edges.

Through the haze, I saw Ava look back over her shoulder. She smiled. She mouthed something I couldn't hear.

Then I saw the box she had thrown on the table. It had fallen to the floor near my face. It had popped open.

Inside wasn't jewelry.

It was a crumpled piece of paper.

I reached out with a trembling, blood-stained hand. I unfolded it.

*"Miscarriage. You deserve it."*

She knew. She knew about the baby before I had even told him.

The darkness crept in, swallowing the light. The sounds of the ballroom faded into a dull roar.

I closed my hand around the note, crushing it.

*Phoenix Plan.*

The words echoed in my mind as I slipped into the abyss.

Liam Goldstein didn't just kill his marriage tonight. He killed his heir. And he killed Maya.

When I woke up, I would be someone else. Someone who would burn his world to ash.