Chapter 4

When I got home, a team of stylists and makeup artists was waiting for me. Emilio had arranged everything. They fussed over me, transforming my grief-stricken face into a mask of polished elegance, dressing me in a gown of midnight blue silk that clung to my frame. I looked in the mirror and saw a beautiful, lifeless doll.

At dusk, Emilio arrived, his own tuxedo perfectly tailored. His eyes lit up when he saw me, a look of genuine awe on his face.

"You look breathtaking, Elana."

I just gave him a cool, detached glance and let him lead me to the car.

The gala was a glittering affair, the ballroom dripping with chandeliers and the clinking of champagne glasses. We walked in to a ripple of applause, our entrance met with smiles and envious glances from people who saw only the perfect surface.

"You're so lucky," a woman I knew whispered as we passed. "To have a man who adores you so much."

I used to revel in that envy. Tonight, it felt like a collective delusion we were all participating in.

Emilio played his part perfectly, his hand possessively on the small of my back, his eyes full of a love that was a lie. He presented his anniversary gift, a heavy box from a famous jeweler. Inside was a diamond watch from a brand I had once told him I disliked.

He had forgotten. Or perhaps, he was remembering someone else's favorite.

As the evening reached its peak, a small body collided with my legs.

I stumbled back, catching myself on a table.

"Daddy!" a child's voice cried out.

My heart seized. It was Leo. He was clinging to Emilio's leg, his face buried in the expensive fabric of his trousers, sobbing.

"You're too close to my daddy!" he wailed, pointing an accusing finger at me. "Are you going to make him leave me and Mommy?"

The entire hall fell silent. Every eye was on us. Most of the guests, especially the business partners, didn't know me. They only saw a strange woman standing too close to the CEO and his son.

Whispers erupted around the room. "Who is she?" "Is that his son? She must be the other woman."

My carefully constructed world was shattering in public, under the bright lights of my husband's celebration.

Then, Hayden Cleveland pushed through the crowd, her face a picture of maternal distress. "Oh, I am so, so sorry! Leo, honey, come to Mommy."

She tried to pull the boy away, but he clung to Emilio, his little face a mess of tears and accusations. "You bad woman!" he screamed at me. "You want to steal my daddy!"

My gaze fell to the child's wrist. He was wearing a small, hand-braided bracelet, a perfect miniature of the one I had made for Emilio in college. It had been our private symbol of luck and love. He had given our keepsake to another woman's child.

A surge of rage, hot and powerful, broke through my shock. I took a step forward, my hand outstretched, needing to see, to confirm. "That bracelet..."

"Elana, don't!"

A powerful force slammed into my chest. It was Emilio. He had shoved me, hard. His face was twisted in a panic I had never seen before, his eyes wild as he shielded his son.

My high heels caught on the plush carpet. I fell backwards, my body clumsy and out of control.

My head hit the sharp corner of a glass table with a sickening crack.

The world exploded in a shower of splintering glass and searing pain. Shards from a broken wine glass sliced into my arm. I gasped, the air knocked from my lungs.

I looked up, my vision blurring. Emilio wasn't looking at me. He was fussing over Leo, who had a tiny scratch on his knee. He scooped the boy into his arms and pushed through the crowd toward the exit, Hayden following closely behind.

She glanced back at me, a flicker of pure, triumphant malice in her eyes. It was a look that confirmed everything. This was all her plan.

Emilio left without a single look back. He left me bleeding on the floor.

The pain in my head and my arm was sharp, but a new, deeper, more terrifying cramp was seizing my abdomen.

The whispers around me grew louder, turning into a tide of judgment.

"Did you see that? She tried to grab the little boy."

"How shameless, to cause a scene like this at a man's company event."

"Mr. Thomas is such a good man, protecting his family like that."

The pain in my stomach intensified, a brutal, tearing sensation. I looked down. The midnight blue of my dress was stained with a spreading patch of dark, wet crimson.

My baby.

The last thread of my strength snapped. The room tilted, the lights blurring into streaks as the world faded to black.