Chapter 4

I woke up in a hospital bed. Not the clinic, but a real hospital. The first thing I saw was Andrew' s face, etched with worry, his eyes red-rimmed as if he' d been crying. The performance was flawless.

"Jen, thank God," he breathed, clutching my hand. "You passed out. The doctors said you overexerted yourself. I was so scared."

I just stared at him, my mind a cold, clear lake of hatred. The fog of love and trust had been burned away, leaving only the stark, ugly truth.

He let me rest for a while, playing the part of the devoted husband, fluffing my pillows and fetching me water. Then, when he judged the moment was right, he delivered his next blow.

"Jennifer," he began, his tone gentle, "we need to talk about Leo."

I tensed.

"I love him more than anything. You know that. But we have to be realistic. He's... broken." The word hung in the air, a deliberate, cruel choice. "He'll never be the boy he was supposed to be. It's not fair to him, or to us, to pretend otherwise."

He took a deep breath. "I was thinking... maybe we should consider adopting a healthy child. Someone to raise alongside Leo. To give him a companion, and to give us... a chance at a normal family."

My blood ran cold. He wanted to replace our son.

"It's a strange coincidence," he continued, watching my face carefully. "Sabrina, the woman you donated blood for... she's going through a hard time. She's thinking of giving her son up for adoption. A bright, healthy little boy named Caleb. It seems like fate, doesn't it? A perfect solution for everyone."

He wanted to bring his bastard son into our home. To raise him on the fortune that should have been Leo's, while my own child was cast aside like a broken toy.

The sheer audacity of it, the monstrous, breathtaking cruelty, left me speechless. A cold, hard resolve settled in my chest. I would not break. I would not let him win.

I looked at him, my expression carefully neutral.

"Okay, Andrew," I said, my voice steady. "Let's meet him."