Chapter 3
I was woken by the sound of arguing outside my hospital room.
Leo and Mia. Even through the door, their voices came through clearly.
"How could you do something like that? You had someone run her down with a car. Did you even think about the consequences?"
"I just needed you to prove it. Prove which of us actually matters to you! I was only gone a few years, and there she is, living in your house—are you really going to tell me you never felt anything for her?"
"How many times do I have to tell you. I've only ever loved you. She's a stand-in. That's all she is."
"Fine. Then prove it. Make sure she doesn't go to the police. Make sure she doesn't pursue this. Or I call off the alliance, and our families' deal falls apart."
I couldn't make out the rest.
So the whole accident had been a test of Mia's. She wanted to see which of us weighed more in Leo's heart.
Tears hit the sheet without a sound. Under the blanket, I dug my nails into my palms until the sting reached every part of me.
I wasn't a doll anymore. Not something they could pick up and put down whenever they wanted.
I reached for the phone on the nightstand. I started dialing for help. Before I could finish, a big hand knocked the phone out of mine. It hit the wall. The screen shattered beyond repair.
Leo was standing at the foot of the bed, his face black with rage.
"Eva. What the hell are you doing?"
"What am I doing?"
I looked up at him. The cold in my eyes was something I'd never had before.
"I'm calling the police. Mia tried to kill me. She's going to pay for it."
"I've kept you for five years. That was not so you could challenge me. That was not so you could go after my people."
Leo's hand shot out and gripped my jaw, forcing my face up. His eyes were pure warning.
"Your mother's ashes are still in my hands. I'm telling you—forget this accident. Be good. Because if word gets out about where a mistress's remains are buried, do you really think she's getting any peace?"
He said it calmly. Every word was a blade of ice going straight through me.
I went cold all the way through, like I'd fallen into an ice bath.
The pain I couldn't hold back anymore came out as tears. They fell one by one onto the back of his hand.
I reached up, pulled the engagement ring off my finger, and with everything I had left in me, I threw it at his face.
"Leo. This is over. I don't ever want to see you again."
The ring spun across the tile, ringing.
Something flickered in his eyes for half a second—something almost like regret. Then the door opened, and Mia's voice came in.
"Leo, let's go home. The smell of disinfectant in here is making me sick. You know how bad my nausea is in the first trimester. I can't handle it."
Leo's eyes went cold again. He let go of my jaw. He didn't even glance at the ring on the floor. He walked straight to the door, scooped Mia carefully into his arms, and carried her out without looking back.
Just before the door closed, I saw Mia look back at me, the smug little smile still on her lips.
She was telling me: now that she was back, there was no room for me anywhere in Leo's life.
The minute they were gone, the doctor came in with my chart. He was being careful with his words.
"Miss Eva, your body handled it well. You have a mild concussion and a fracture in your right leg, but the baby is fine. The pregnancy was not affected."
I went blank for a few seconds. Then I laughed. The laughter got wilder. I was still laughing when the tears started pouring down my face.
The cruelty of it.
The moment he threw me out for good, the moment I swore I was done with him, I was carrying his child.
A child his father didn't want from the start.
I made myself stop. I called the one private investigator I trusted—the only person I could still reach. I told him to immediately back up the traffic cam footage from the hillside road, and the hallway surveillance from the hospital where Leo had threatened me with my mother's ashes.
I knew Mia. She wasn't going to leave it alone. That evidence was the only thing standing between me and her.
The feeling in my gut got worse by the minute. I ignored the doctor, pushed through the pain of the fractured leg, and signed myself out.
I had to get back to the villa.
I had to get my mother's ashes and her relics. I had to get what she'd left me. I couldn't let those things stay in Leo's hands and become leverage.
My uncle was already on his way. I wanted to walk out with him carrying what was mine.
But when I got back to the villa on my crutches, every drop of blood in me went cold.
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