Chapter 4

The dinner banquet for our third wedding anniversary was held in the grand ballroom at the top of the Peninsula Restaurant in the city center.

Dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, Lucas moved through the crowd with a glass of wine in hand.

The guests were all flattering him, praising his boldness in preparing to take over Holloway Group.

I sat quietly in the corner in the white mermaid gown he had personally chosen for me.

"Mrs. Ashford, you look stunning tonight." A sweet, cloying voice sounded above my head.

I looked up.

Vanessa stood there in a provocative red gown with a plunging neckline, a wineglass in her hand.

Around her neck was the blue diamond necklace that should have been mine.

"You look lovely too, Miss Wren. That necklace suits you perfectly." I smiled and took a sip of juice.

Vanessa clearly hadn't expected me to stay so calm.

She pulled out a chair, sat beside me, and lowered her voice.

"Claire, you really know how to endure, don't you? You saw those photos, didn't you? Lucas spends every night with me. What's the point of clinging to a marriage that exists in name only?"

"In name only?" I let out a soft laugh. "I think you misunderstand, Miss Wren. I've never cared about the title of Mrs. Ashford."

My attitude clearly infuriated Vanessa.

"Drop the act. After tonight, the Holloway family will belong to Lucas. You won't have even the slightest use left."

"Really?" I set down my glass and looked straight into her eyes. "And yet just yesterday, Lucas was on his knees begging me to have his child."

Vanessa's face turned ashen in an instant.

"That's a lie."

"Whether I'm lying or not, why don't you ask him yourself?"

I rose to my feet and deliberately brushed past her shoulder.

"Excuse me."

Vanessa stumbled, and the red wine in her hand splashed across the floor.

As she noticed the looks turning toward her, the jealousy in her eyes flared into something raw and uncontrollable.

I walked in my heels toward the spiral staircase leading up to the second-floor terrace.

Lucas was standing at the foot of the stairs, talking to several board members.

The moment he saw me approaching, he immediately put on that tender, devoted expression.

"Why didn't you stay seated a little longer, Claire?"

He reached out as if to steady me.

Vanessa came storming over from behind in a fury.

"Claire, say that again. Say it clearly."

She grabbed my arm, her nails digging deep into my flesh.

Lucas's expression changed instantly as he tried to pull her away.

"Vanessa, what are you doing? Let go of her."

"I'm not letting go. Lucas, tell her. Tell her you never loved her. Tell her the one you love is me."

Vanessa's shrill shouting brought the entire room to a halt.

Lucas's face darkened so badly it looked ready to drip storm clouds.

He grabbed Vanessa's wrist and tried to yank her away.

"Security, get this madwoman out of here!"

This was the moment.

I looked at Vanessa's face, twisted by rage and effort.

Then I let my body snap backward, following the force of her pull.

With a sharp scream, I tumbled all the way down the tall spiral staircase.

The white skirt of my gown twisted over the steps, streaked with great smears of blood.

Gasps and screams erupted all around me.

I hit the marble floor hard, and pain tore through my body at once.

But I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stay conscious.

A warm liquid slowly ran down the inside of my thigh.

It was the blood pack I had hidden in advance.

Lucas came charging down the stairs like a madman and dropped to his knees beside me.

At the sight of all that blood, his hands shook so badly he didn't dare touch me.

"Call an ambulance! Now!" he roared at the crowd.

I opened my eyes weakly and looked at his deathly ashen face.

"My baby..." I whispered, each word thin and breathless.

Lucas froze as if he had been struck by lightning.

"Baby? You were pregnant? Why didn't you tell me?"

I ignored him and stared straight at Vanessa, who stood frozen on the staircase in total shock.

"She pushed me."

I pointed in Vanessa's direction.

Every eye in the room snapped toward Vanessa.

"It wasn't me. She fell on her own." Vanessa shook her head frantically, stumbling over her own words in panic.

The wail of an ambulance siren sounded outside the hotel.

Medical staff rushed in and lifted me onto a stretcher.

Lucas tried to follow, but the bodyguards my father had arranged blocked him cold.

"Mr. Ashford, you should stay here and clean up your own mess."

The bodyguard delivered the line without a trace of emotion.

The ambulance doors slammed shut, cutting Lucas out of sight.

The moment the vehicle pulled away from the hotel, I sat up and tore off the monitors attached to me.

"Miss Holloway, everything has been arranged." The doctor riding with us handed me a clean set of clothes.

"Thank you." I changed out of the bloodstained gown and handed the doctor a document. "Please give this to Lucas."

It was a divorce agreement, already signed.

That pool of blood was the first grand gift I had prepared for him.

And the real show had only just begun.