His mouth curved into something ugly. “Suit yourself. At least she won’t inherit anything. And you—” his eyes dragged over me with venom “—you won’t give me another child anyway. After Sienna, you’re barren. So really, this is your loss. You’re nothing to me now.”
The words cut deep, but I lifted my chin. “Then you won’t miss me when I’m gone.”
Before he could say more, Bianca’s shrill scream echoed from the hallway.
“Aldrin! Please—my stomach hurts! Take me to the hospital!”
His attention snapped to her instantly, panic flooding his face. “If you leave this house, Amara,” he warned over his shoulder, “your punishment will be worse. Make sure everything is ready by tomorrow. Important investors are coming. Don’t disappoint me again.”
I smiled tightly. “Of course.”
He rushed away with Bianca clinging to him, leaving me alone among the wreckage of a marriage that had long since died.
But I didn’t prepare for his investors.
Instead, I canceled every supplier. I walked into his office, copied his presentation onto a flash drive, and erased the original from his laptop. If Aldrin wanted chaos, I would make sure he drowned in it.
By sunrise, I was gone.
Joseph’s black car arrived at dawn. He stepped out, smug and confident, like a man who already knew the ending. “Ready to leave?”
I nodded, gripping my bag tightly.
The moment I stepped onto the private plane, my legs gave out.
Sienna was there.
“Mommy!” she cried, running straight into my arms.
I collapsed onto the floor with her, holding her as tightly as I dared, tears soaking into her hair. “You’re safe… Mommy’s got you. You’re safe now.”
Behind us, Joseph’s voice carried, amused and triumphant. “Welcome back to me, Amara. Just remember—freedom always has a cost.”
For once, I didn’t care.
Sienna was with me. That was all that mattered.
Before the plane took off, I pulled out my phone and stared at it for a long moment. Then I removed the SIM card, my hands trembling, and flung it out of the open window just before the engines roared to life.
Aldrin’s POV
The sterile white walls of the hospital felt suffocating. Bianca lay on the bed, her face scrunched in pain, her hand clutching her stomach. I paced beside her, restless. The doctor stood at the foot of the bed, flipping through charts with an irritating calmness.