Blake' s words, cold and sharp, hung in the air long after he had gone, leaving me alone in the wreckage of my former life. My legs gave out, and I crumpled onto the plush carpet, the silk threads a comfortless parody of luxury. The master suite, our sanctuary, now belonged to her. To them.

From upstairs, muffled by the thick walls but still painfully clear, I heard Chyna' s bubbly laugh, followed by Blake' s deeper, contented chuckle. "This is perfect, my love," he murmured, his voice laced with an affection I hadn't heard directed at me in years. "You are everything the guru promised. The true anchor of this family."

An anchor. I remembered Blake whispering those exact words to me once, during our honeymoon, as we watched the sunrise over the Mediterranean. "You are my anchor, Amelia," he had said, tracing patterns on my back. "My safe harbor." The memory was a cruel twist of the knife, reopening wounds I thought were clotted over. Lies. All of it.

I moved my few boxes to the guest room, a small, impersonal space on the third floor. The room smelled faintly of lemon polish and disuse. No personal touches, no familiar comforts. It was a clear message: I was no longer a wife, merely a transient, an unwelcome guest. Each item I placed, each book on the shelf, felt like an admission of defeat. I unpacked my rose seeds-the rare varieties my mother had cultivated, her legacy, my last tangible link to her-and placed them carefully on the windowsill, hoping for a sliver of sunlight, a flicker of life in this sterile corner.

Sleep offered no escape. I tossed and turned, haunted by Blake's cold eyes and Chyna's triumphant smirk. Just as I finally drifted into a fitful slumber, a piercing cry ripped through the quiet house. It was one of the babies, a raw, distressed wail that seemed to carry an almost physical weight. Then another. And another. Something was wrong.

A prickle of unease, cold and sharp, ran down my spine. I pushed myself out of bed, a strange premonition twisting my gut. The cries were frantic, echoing through the silent mansion, far too loud, far too desperate for a simple diaper change. I heard hurried footsteps downstairs, muffled shouts, and the frantic murmurs of Blake and Chyna. A feeling of dread washed over me.

I rushed out of my room, pulling on a robe, and hurried down the grand staircase. The cries led me not to the master suite, but towards the back of the house, towards the enclosed garden. My garden. The one place where I had cultivated a small patch of my own, where my mother's roses bloomed.

I burst through the garden door and froze.

My breath hitched. The scene before me was a tableau of utter devastation. My rose garden, carefully tended, vibrant with life, was being systematically torn apart. Workers, under the supervision of Blake' s estate manager, were ripping out bushes, overturning soil, and uprooting the delicate rose plants. My mother' s roses, the rare ones I had nurtured from fragile seeds, lay bruised and broken on the ground, their vibrant petals trampled underfoot.

"No!" The cry tore from my throat, raw and anguished. It was as if a part of my own heart was being ripped from my chest. I stumbled forward, my hands outstretched, a desperate plea to stop the destruction. "What are you doing?!"

Blake emerged from the shadows, his face grim, Chyna clinging to his arm, looking pale and distraught. One of the twins was still crying fretfully in her arms, his face flushed. "Amelia," Blake said, his voice clipped, "this is necessary."

Tears streamed down my face, hot and furious. "Necessary? This is my garden! My mother's legacy! How could you do this?" My voice cracked, thick with despair.

He cut me off, his hand raising dismissively. "The guru advised it. The babies are unwell, suffering from an inexplicable malaise. He identified your garden, specifically your roses, as sources of 'unharmonious energy' that are harming them. Their negative vibrations, he said, clash with the pure essence of the destined children."

I stared at him, my mind reeling. Unharmonious energy? My roses? The sheer, unadulterated absurdity of it struck me, followed by a wave of an icy, cutting despair. He was destroying the last piece of my mother, the last piece of me, for some fantastical, superstitious nonsense.

"That's insane, Blake!" I cried, my voice rising in a desperate plea. "My roses are harmless! They bring beauty, not negative energy!"

Chyna, pale and tearful, interjected, "But the guru was so clear, Amelia! The babies, they' ve been feverish all night. He said the roses were the source of their distress, draining their vitality!" She held up the crying infant, her voice laced with false concern.

Then, in a sudden, sickening movement, Chyna thrust the crying baby into my arms. "Here, Amelia! See for yourself! The negative energy is everywhere!"

My arms automatically closed around the tiny, squirming bundle. The infant's cries intensified, his small body burning with fever. My own maternal instincts, long suppressed by loss, surged to the surface. I instinctively tried to soothe him, rocking him gently.

But as I held the baby, Chyna stumbled back, crying out, "She's pushing me! She's trying to harm the baby!" She tripped over an overturned rose bush, falling dramatically to the ground, the other twin still safely in her other arm.

Blake roared, his eyes blazing with fury. He rushed to Chyna's side, ignoring me and the baby in my arms. "Amelia! What is wrong with you? Trying to hurt my child?" He snatched the feverish infant from my arms as if I were poison.

"I didn't do anything!" I protested, my voice raw. "She pushed herself! I was just holding the baby!"

"Silence!" he thundered, his voice laced with venom. "Your malicious intent is clear. Continue the work!" he commanded the estate manager, who hesitated, looking at me with pity. "Now!"

Before I could react, two burly security guards, always present but rarely seen, seized me. They twisted my arms behind my back, forcing me to my knees. The rough ground scraped against my skin, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the agony of watching.

Helplessly, I watched as the workers resumed their brutal task. The delicate petals were torn, the strong stems snapped, the roots ripped from the earth. My mother's rare roses, the last vestiges of our shared past, were systematically annihilated. Each crunch of a breaking branch, each tear of a fragile petal, was a stab to my soul.

The garden, once a vibrant tapestry of color and life, became a desolate patch of raw earth and broken foliage. My spirit withered with it, turning cold and numb. My mother' s legacy, gone. My children, gone. My life, now a barren wasteland. The guards held me, my body shaking, until the last rose was destroyed. Then, as the final blow landed, a wave of blackness washed over me, and I sank into unconsciousness, the taste of dirt and bitter tears on my tongue.

Chapter 3

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