"Today's incident is Jesse's fault," Patrick said, his voice gruff with guilt. "Treat this as compensation. Repayment for what the Gilbert family owes you from ten years ago."
Ten years ago.
The Gilbert family had been targeted by a corporate conspiracy, pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. I was the Matthews family's only daughter, an heiress, yet I chose to marry down—binding myself to Jesse Gilbert to save them.
But on our wedding night, I wasn't held in my husband's arms. I was kidnapped by his enemies.
For three days and nights, I disappeared. When I was returned, I was battered and broken, tossed onto the pavement of the city's busiest district like trash for the world to see.
I remembered how Jesse looked back then. He had knelt before me, slamming his forehead against the ground until blood ran down his face.
"I will avenge you," he swore. "I will wipe away this humiliation. My life is yours, Tessa. Everything I am belongs to you."
But promises are cheap. He couldn't die for me, and he certainly couldn't live for me.
After the incident, humiliating photos flooded the internet. At first, Jesse channeled his rage into business. He used the capital I provided to stage a miraculous comeback—reclaiming what the Gilberts had lost and surpassing it. He sent my captors to prison, scrubbed the photos from the web, and issued a gag order so strict that mentioning the kidnapping became social suicide.
But I don't know when the silence broke.
Rumors began circulating among the elite again. Some men even dared to joke in front of Jesse, asking if he enjoyed "wearing a second-hand shoe" or "damaged goods."
It was during that resurgence of malice that I discovered I was seven weeks pregnant.
I went to his study, eager to share the news, hoping this child would bridge the distance between us. But through the oak door, I heard his voice—cold and detached.
"Damaged goods or not, what business is it of yours?"
He didn't defend me. Didn't deny the slur. His tone only betrayed annoyance—not because they insulted his wife, but because they made him lose face.
That single sentence shattered me.
The stress was instantaneous. A cramp seized my abdomen, violent and absolute.