Chapter 1

The news of Mr. Donovan Sterling' s "invitation" arrived on a Tuesday, it wasn't a polite request, it was a summons. His name alone sent shivers down most spines in the city, a reclusive billionaire whispered to keep a "collection" at his estate, The Sanctuary, people, talents, no one knew for sure. Refusal meant ruin, especially for Ethan's tech startup, our startup, the company that was his life now.

Ethan didn't look at me when he told me, his eyes were fixed on the stock market ticker on his oversized monitor.

"You have to go, Ava," he said, his voice flat.

"Sterling wants you, if you don't, the funding for Innovatech collapses."

My husband, willing to send his pregnant wife into the den of a rumored monster to save his precious company, the baby inside me gave a small, protesting kick.

I felt a strange calm settle over me, this wasn't new, it was a replay. In another life, a life I remembered with chilling clarity, I had refused. Chloe Vance, his assistant then too, had gone in my place, she' d returned, pregnant with Sterling' s child, they said, and then she' d killed herself. Ethan, twisted by grief and rage, had blamed me, the day our own child was born in that life, he' d smothered it. This time, I wouldn't refuse.

"Okay," I said.

Maria, our housekeeper, heard, her gasp was loud in the otherwise silent room.

"Mrs. Miller, no! That man... they say terrible things."

Ethan shot her a look that could curdle milk, his indifference to my fate was a physical thing in the room, as tangible as the expensive art on our walls. Chloe Vance, now his executive assistant, walked in just then, her own belly slightly rounded, a smug look on her face, she knew.

Ethan' s coldness wasn't just about the company, I knew that, he remembered too, I was almost sure of it. His cruelty in this life, his paranoia, it all pointed to it, he thought I was a threat, a reminder. Going to Sterling was a risk, a huge one, but staying here, with him, with her... that was a guaranteed horror. Maybe, just maybe, Sterling' s "Sanctuary" offered a different path this time, my hand went to my stomach, I had to protect this child.

"I'll go," I repeated, louder this time, looking directly at Ethan.

Chloe glided to his side, her hand possessively on his arm.

"But before I do, Ethan, I want a divorce."

Chloe' s eyes widened in mock surprise.

"Oh, Ava," she cooed, her voice dripping with false sympathy.

"Don't say such things when you're upset, Ethan is just trying to protect everything we've all worked for, if it would help, I'd go to Mr. Sterling myself, but he specifically asked for you."

She looked at Ethan, her expression a perfect mask of selfless concern.

Her hand rested on her own small bump, a deliberate, taunting gesture.

"Besides," Chloe continued, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "Ethan needs me here, especially now."

She gave him a loving look, the implication was clear, a confirmation of what I already suspected, she was pregnant with his child, the betrayal was complete, out in the open.

Ethan finally turned to me, his face a mask of fury.

"A divorce? Now? Don't be ridiculous, Ava, you'll go to Sterling, you'll do what's necessary, and you'll keep your mouth shut, my company, our future, depends on this, don't you dare mess this up."

His eyes were chips of ice, no empathy, no concern for me or our unborn child, only his ambition.