Introduction

The air in the abandoned warehouse was thick with rust, and my arms ached, tied tight. Across from me, Chloe, my fiancé' s mentee, sobbed theatrically. Liam, my fiancé of ten years, the man I built a tech empire with, stood pale before our kidnapper, Marcus. Then, Marcus offered Liam a choice: save the loyal fiancée or the cute, young mentee.

"Choose her," Liam whispered, looking at Chloe, not me. My world tilted. This couldn' t be. He chose her, the 'fragile' one, over me, his partner, the woman with his ring on her finger.

The humiliation was a physical blow. Then, I screamed, "I'm pregnant! We're having a baby!" Liam froze, but Chloe' s venomous voice dismissed it as a lie, and he believed her. Just like that.

Marcus kicked my chair. I crashed to the concrete, desperately trying to protect the tiny life inside me. Liam shouted, but not for me; he shielded Chloe. As sirens wailed, he hovered over her, ignoring me, lying bleeding on the floor.

I woke in a hospital, the baby gone. A nurse handed me a tablet: "Gallagher Tech CEO Liam Gallagher and Mentee Chloe Evans Rescued... Ava Monroe Steps Down for Health Reasons." My career, everything, wiped away.

He had taken my love, my future, my child, my career. He had left me with nothing. But a cold, quiet calm settled in. This wasn't an end. It was a beginning.