Chapter 5

Kalea White POV:

The shock of the cold water was a violent slap, stealing what little breath I had left. I sank like a stone, my bound limbs rendering me helpless. Water rushed into my nose and mouth, a suffocating, burning torrent. Panic, primal and absolute, clawed at me from the inside. My lungs were on fire. The world was a blur of blue and distorted light.

Just as black spots began to swarm my vision, a rough hand grabbed my hair and yanked me back to the surface. I gasped, choking and sputtering, my body convulsing as I fought for air.

Kaden held my head just above the water, his face a grotesque mask in the moonlight. "Have you learned your lesson yet?" he sneered.

I couldn't answer. A fresh wave of excruciating cramps seized my abdomen, doubling me over in the water. This was it. It was happening. My body was trying to expel my child. My dead child.

"Please," I sobbed, the fight gone from me, replaced by a desperate, animal need. "Call an ambulance. I was wrong. I admit it. I'll say whatever you want. Just... please, save my baby."

Kaden spat, the glob of saliva landing on my cheek and mixing with the pool water and my tears. "It's too late for that. That thing is better off dead."

He raised his foot, preparing to kick me back under.

I closed my eyes, a strange sense of resignation washing over me. The terror of drowning was still there, but it was distant, muffled by the greater horror of what I had already lost.

Suddenly, a sound ripped through the night. Not the splash of my body hitting the water, but the deafening crash of metal against metal.

My eyes flew open. The main gates of the estate, forged from heavy iron, were buckled inward, torn from their hinges as if by a giant's hand. Headlights flooded the driveway, pinning us in their glare.

A car door slammed.

"KADEN!"

The roar was inhuman, a sound of pure, untamed rage that seemed to shake the very ground. Angus.

Kaden flinched, his foot dropping instinctively. He stumbled back from the edge of the pool, his face a mask of disbelief and fear. It was a fear I knew well-the deep, ingrained terror of a lesser man in the presence of an absolute power.

He quickly composed himself, a sickly smile spreading across his face as our father, Dorris Manning, emerged from the passenger side, leaning heavily on a cane.

"Father! Angus! What a surprise!" Kaden exclaimed, jogging toward them with a false, hearty bravado. "You're just in time. I've been handling a... delicate family matter."

Chelsey rushed to his side, clinging to his arm. "Thank goodness you're here, Mr. Manning. Kalea has been telling the most awful lies."

Kaden pointed a trembling finger at me. "She's pregnant, Father. By another man. She brought shame on our family. I was... I was just cleaning up the mess." He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Don't worry, I've already taken care of the little problem."

But Angus wasn't looking at him. His eyes, usually as cold and calm as a frozen lake, were blazing with a fire I had never seen. They were fixed on me-on my bound hands, my bruised face, the blood clouding the water around me.

He shoved Kaden aside with such force that his younger brother went sprawling onto the manicured lawn. He didn't spare a glance for our father as he sprinted to the edge of the pool.

He dropped to his knees, his hands trembling as he worked at the wet, tight knots of the rope. "Kalea," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Oh, God. Kalea."

When the ropes fell away, he saw the blood. A low, guttural sound escaped his lips, a sound of pure agony. "The baby?" he choked out, his voice shaking violently.

"Angus," I cried, clinging to him. "Save our baby. Please, save our son."

Behind us, Dorris let out a roar of his own. The sharp crack of his cane striking flesh echoed across the patio. "You fool! You worthless, arrogant fool!"

Kaden yelped, scrambling away. "She's lying! It's not Angus's! We've been gone three years! The timing is all wrong!"

"He's right, Mr. Manning!" Chelsey chimed in, her voice shrill. "She only found out she was pregnant two months ago! We've been back for three! It's impossible!"

Dorris struck her too, sending her shrieking to the ground. "You think you know everything?" he bellowed, his old frame trembling with a rage that matched his son's. "That child she's carrying... is my grandson!"

Kaden stared, his mouth agape. "No... that's impossible."

Angus gently lifted me from the water, cradling me in his arms as if I were made of glass. He stood up, turning to face his brother. His wet clothes clung to him, but he seemed oblivious to the cold. All of his focus, all of his rage, was directed at Kaden.

He took one step forward and kicked his brother squarely in the chest.

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