Chapter 2

Ethan' s face was a mask of cold fury, his reborn memories painting Sarah as the eternal villain.

"You always were a conniving bitch," he spat, his voice laced with a conviction that chilled Sarah to the bone.

"In our last life, you killed Chloe and my child. You think I'd let you try again?"

His eyes, those eyes she once loved, now held only suspicion and a terrifying paranoia.

He truly believed she was the monster. Chloe had twisted his past, his very soul.

Sarah, blood matting her hair, her body screaming in protest, tried to speak.

"Ethan, no... I... the babies..."

She wanted to tell him she' d tried to protect them, to protect his idea of an heir by letting Chloe' s son be born first.

But he wouldn' t listen. He couldn' t.

"Silence!" he roared. "Your lies mean nothing to me."

He saw her pain, her blood, as just another manipulation.

His delusion was absolute, a fortress Chloe had built around him.

He then laid out his demands, each word a hammer blow.

"You will publicly declare that Chloe' s son, my son, is the sole Sterling heir."

His voice was cold, devoid of any emotion but a chilling certainty.

"You will state that Chloe was merely a surrogate for us."

A cruel, impossible lie.

"And you will sign over all your personal assets, every penny of your prenuptial agreement, to Chloe and my son."

Sarah stared at him, horrified. He was stripping her of everything.

Then came the final, devastating threat.

"Refuse, and your father... Mr. Miller... his specialized care at the facility will be... adjusted. Drastically."

Her father. Incapacitated, vulnerable. Her greatest weakness.

Ethan knew it. He always knew where to strike.

Tears streamed down Sarah' s face, mixing with the blood.

"Ethan, please... my father... he' s innocent in all this."

Her voice was a broken whisper.

Ethan remained unmoved, his expression a study in callous indifference.

"The choice is yours, Sarah. Cooperate, or he suffers the consequences of your... stubbornness."

He then turned, took Chloe' s arm, and they swept out of the suite, leaving Sarah in a spreading pool of her own blood, surrounded by the moans of the other drugged women.

Alone, with an impossible choice.

The pain was a roaring inferno now.

Sarah could feel her life, and the lives of her unborn twins, slipping away.

"Help me," she gasped to one of Ethan' s guards still posted by the door. "Please... I need a doctor."

The guard stared through her, his face impassive.

She was dying, and they were watching.

The world began to tilt, the sounds of the room fading into a dull roar.

This couldn't be happening again.

Suddenly, the door opened again. Not Ethan.

Eleanor Sterling, Ethan' s mother, stood there, her face a mask of shock and horror.

She took in the scene – Sarah on the floor, the blood, the other distressed women – and her eyes, usually so composed, widened in disbelief.

"Sarah! My God, what has he done?"

Eleanor rushed to her side, her usual icy demeanor completely gone.

"We need to get you to a hospital, now!"

She pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen.

But then she paused, her face paling further.

"No... all the prominent obstetricians... Dr. Alistair, Dr. Chen... they' re all listed as 'attending to Mrs. Chloe Evans for a severe migraine' at the Sterling Pavilion."

A trivial complaint. A blatant lie.

Ethan, or Chloe, had ensured no reputable doctor would be available for Sarah.

They had isolated her completely.

Eleanor' s voice was tight with fury as she dialed Ethan.

Sarah could hear his voice, dismissive and cold, even from across the room.

"Mother, I' m busy. Sarah is merely being dramatic, as usual. She' s fine."

Fine? Sarah was hemorrhaging, her vision blurring.

Eleanor' s voice rose, sharp and commanding.

"Ethan, she is bleeding to death! If you don't get her medical help, I swear to you..."

He cut her off, his tone bored.

"She' s always been a good actress. Don' t fall for it."

The line went dead.