"Quinn, I'm fine." I sank into the back seat, letting my head fall against the leather. "Take me back to the estate."
The car pulled smoothly away from the hospital.
The cabin was quiet. Then Quinn's phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen and let out a soft, humorless laugh.
"Stephens canceled your credit cards. He also froze that savings account you'd been using as a cover identity." Quinn's eyes found mine in the rearview mirror. "He even put the word out to every hotel in Crestfield: anyone who takes you in is making an enemy of the Stephens Group."
I tugged at the corner of my mouth.
William Stephens was nothing if not controlling.
He thought cutting off my money would send me crawling back to the mansion the way I had for the past five years, ready to apologize, maybe even pour tea for Alma Harding like a servant.
"He's always believed those few thousand dollars a month in living expenses were some kind of gift he was graciously bestowing on me."
I closed my eyes. "Let him."
"Miss Ashford, say the word." Quinn's voice held no warmth at all. "The Stephens Group will be gone from Crestfield by tonight."
"No. That would be letting him off too easy." I opened my eyes, my gaze ice-cold. "Stephens Group is going public next month on the back of my neural degeneration patent. I want him standing at the very top before he watches everything he has shatter to pieces."
Over the next few days, I stayed at the Ashford family's private estate on the outskirts of the city, resting for the baby's sake.
William didn't come looking for me.
He'd decided that a pregnant woman with no money couldn't hold out for long.
Instead, he started interacting with Alma on social media constantly. Paparazzi even caught him taking her to try on jewelry.
Then, on the third day, Director Jonathan Lambert called Quinn, his voice panicked.
"Mr. Harding, we have a problem! Mr. Stephens got his hands on one of Director Ashford's prenatal reports from somewhere and posted it online. He's claiming the baby has severe genetic defects. That it's deformed!"
I shot to my feet. The room tilted.
"Genetic defects? That's impossible!"
My prenatal records had been handled exclusively through Quinn. The baby was perfectly healthy.
Quinn pulled up his tablet immediately.
The top trending story read: Stephens Group CEO in Tearful Confession: Socialite Wife Concealed Deformed Fetus to Secure Family Fortune.