Chapter 2

I arranged to meet Amelia at an upscale maternity center.

She appeared before me, her belly swollen, carefully supported by two nurses.

Her face carried the unmasked confidence of a victor. "Miss Walton, I never expected you to reach out first."

She sat across from me, deliberately placing her hand, adorned with a massive diamond ring, on the table. The ring's sparkle stung my eyes.

It was the wedding ring I designed, one of a kind in the entire world.

James once said my hand deserved nothing less than the best.

Now, that "best" rested on another woman's finger.

"James said you're a smart woman. Looks like he was right." Amelia sipped her soup slowly. "Realizing you can't win and ready to step aside?"

I looked at her delicate face and suddenly smiled. "Miss Harper, aren't you curious how I found out about you?"

She froze for a moment, then scoffed. "What's so surprising? James has been wanting to come clean with you. I stopped him, worried you might not handle it well."

"Oh? Really?" I slid the old phone across to her, the screen open to the "Baby Diary" note. "But James told me this was written by one of his friends."

Amelia's face changed instantly.

She glanced at the phone, then at me, a flicker of panic in her eyes. "That... he only said that to spare your feelings!"

"Is that so?" I leaned back casually in my chair. "I recovered something else too."

I placed the ultrasound image gently beside the phone. "This was in the phone's 'Recently Deleted' folder. James deleted it and made up the story about his friend. Miss Harper," I locked eyes with her, speaking slowly, "do you think he was protecting me, protecting you, or just protecting himself?"

Amelia's lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a word.

My smile deepened. "He told you he'd divorce me and marry you once the baby's born, didn't he?"

She nodded instinctively.

"And he said he'd transfer all our company's assets to your name, leaving me with nothing, right?"

She stared at me, terror in her eyes, as if I were some kind of demon.

"Miss Harper, have you ever considered one thing?" I leaned forward, close enough for my voice to feel like a whisper in her ear. "What makes you think a man who'd betray his wife of three years wouldn't do the same to you? That baby in your belly is just his bargaining chip to secure the family's heir. Once he gets what he wants, do you really think your fate will be any better than mine?"

Amelia's face went pale as paper.

She clutched the table, gasping heavily, sweat beading on her forehead.

Perfect.

To storm walls was but brute craft; to win souls was the art supreme.

I never wanted to compete with her for petty jealousy.

What I wanted was to use her, the perfect pawn, to dismantle their fortress from within.