Chapter 4

The night air was thick with tension, heavy and suffocating. The paternity test results had arrived, delivered by a grim-faced assistant just after midnight. My hands shook as I held the sealed envelope. Kane stood opposite me, his face unreadable, while Cristy hovered nearby, a predatory glint in her bandaged eyes.

I ripped open the envelope. The words swam before my eyes, then slammed into me with the force of a physical blow: Probability of Paternity: 0%.

My breath hitched. My mind went blank. This couldn' t be real.

"No," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "This is a mistake. It has to be." I looked at Kane, pleading, searching for understanding, for a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

"I never betrayed you, Kane," I insisted, my voice rising. "Never!"

Cristy stepped forward, a triumphant smirk twisting her lips beneath the bandages. "See? I told you! She' s been cheating on you, Kane. All this time, pretending to be the innocent wife, while carrying another man' s child!"

Kane cut her off with a sharp glare. "That' s enough, Cristy." His voice was cold, distant.

"But Kane, she-"

"I said enough." His tone was absolute, brooking no argument. Cristy flinched, her smirk faltering, and she retreated to the corner of the room, her shoulders slumping in defeat as Kane' s attention shifted away from her.

The silence that followed was deafening, suffocating. My fingers trembled around the damning paper.

Kane finally spoke, his voice low and dangerous. "Explain this, Anastasia. Explain how a child I believed was mine, born of our marriage, carries no trace of my blood."

I clutched the paper tighter, my knuckles white. "I... I don' t know. This isn' t right. I haven' t... I never..." Words failed me. How could I explain something that defied my own reality?

He scoffed, a sneer twisting his lips. "Don' t tell me this is a lab error. We had a private, reputable lab conduct the test, right here, with no external interference."

My head spun. I had no defense, no explanation. All I could do was stare at the impossible results. A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "Then let' s get a divorce, Kane. It' s what you wanted, isn' t it?"

He lunged forward, grabbing my arm, his grip like steel. "Divorce? Oh, no. I' m not letting you off that easily, Anastasia. You' ve been waiting for this, haven' t you? To walk away, to leave me with this... this shame." He pulled me closer, his eyes burning into mine. "Who is it, Anastasia? Who is the father of that child?"

My breath caught in my throat. I shook my head, tears welling in my eyes. "I... I don' t know. I swear, I don' t know."

He searched my face, his grasp tightening, a raw anguish flashing in his eyes. He squeezed my arm, almost painfully, as if trying to force the truth out of me. Then, just as I felt myself blacking out, his grip softened. He pulled me into a tight embrace, burying his face in my hair.

"We' re even now, Anastasia," he murmured, his voice hoarse. "You had your secret, I had mine. We' re even. So we stay married. I' ll raise the child as my own. We' ll pretend none of this ever happened."

His words were a twisted parody of comfort, an insult wrapped in an offer of false peace. My mind reeled, unable to process his pronouncement. His scent, the sterile smell of the hospital, mingled with Cristy' s perfume, made my stomach churn. I felt faint, my vision blurring at the edges.

Kane stayed up all night, smoking furiously on the terrace outside my dressing room, the acrid smell of nicotine seeping into the air. He left abruptly just before dawn, a hurried phone call pulling him away, a new emergency, no doubt, but not for me.

The moment he was gone, a cold clarity washed over me. I sat up, my body still weak, but my mind sharp. I knew instinctively that the paternity test was wrong. I knew I had not betrayed Kane. Not like that. I reached for the phone, dialing Liam' s number.

"Liam," I said, my voice low and steady. "I need you to investigate something for me. This paternity test." I handed him the crumpled document. "Find out how it was manipulated. And find out who the real father of my son is."

Liam nodded, his face serious, and left without a word.

Just as he vanished, the nanny, a young woman I barely knew, rushed into the room, her face pale with alarm. "Mrs. Powell, the baby... he has marks on him."

My heart seized. "Marks? What kind of marks?"

I rushed to the nursery, my weak body moving faster than I thought possible. My son lay in his crib, his tiny arms and legs covered in small, angry bruises, purplish and unmistakable.

"My baby!" I cried, scooping him up, my blood running cold. I immediately called for the family doctor, my voice an urgent whisper.

Dr. Harrison arrived within minutes, his kind face etched with concern. He examined my son carefully. "These are... finger marks, Mrs. Powell. He was pinched, quite forcefully."

My mind raced. The nanny had been with him all night, but she was a gentle woman, terrified of me. She wouldn' t do this. My gaze darted to the baby monitor. A thought, cold and horrifying, pierced through me.

"Liam," I called out, remembering he hadn' t left the house yet. "Bring me the security footage from last night. From the nursery."

The footage flickered to life on the large screen in my study. It showed Cristy, her bandaged face contorted with malice, creeping into the nursery while Liam was collecting the paternity test results. She leaned over the crib, her hands reaching for my sleeping child. I remembered the blood draw for the test, how dizzy and disoriented I had been. I hadn' t noticed her absence. I hadn't noticed.

My breath hitched. My hands clenched. The video showed Cristy, her face twisted, pinching my baby, a cruel smile on her lips. She had done this. While I was fighting for my life, while I was confused and heartbroken, she had hurt my son.

A primal scream tore from my throat. All the grief, all the betrayal, all the pain coalesced into a single, burning rage.

"Get her," I snarled, my voice low and dangerous, each word laced with venom. "Bring Cristy Taylor to me. Now."

An hour later, Cristy was dragged into my living room, bound to a chair, her eyes wide with terror. She tried to maintain her defiant facade. "You think you can get away with this, Anastasia? Kane will protect me! He loves me!"

My arm moved before I even thought about it. The sharp crack of my palm against her cheek echoed through the silent room. Her head snapped to the side, a crimson mark blossoming on her pale skin.

"You pathetic excuse for a woman," I hissed, my voice dripping with contempt. "You think you' re clever, don' t you? Manipulating a paternity test, hurting my child? You' re not just a homewrecker, Cristy, you' re a monster."

I pulled out my phone, dialing Kane' s number. He picked up on the second ring, his voice curt. "What is it now, Anastasia? I' m busy."

Cristy, seeing her chance, let out a pathetic whimper, trying to appear vulnerable. "Kane! Help me! She' s... she' s hurting me!"

I silenced her instantly. My high heel, sharp and pointed, pressed down on her cheek, just below her eye. A tiny gasp escaped her lips.

"Don' t speak," I warned, my voice cold as ice. "You think you can call out to your knight in shining armor? He' s not here for you, Cristy. He' s never truly been." I disconnected the call.

The bloodcurdling scream that ripped from Cristy' s throat filled the villa, shattering the eerie silence.