When My Ex Declared War Over Our Daughter

The champagne flutes caught the chandelier light like a thousand tiny stars. I stood at the edge of Sam Gordon's grand ballroom, watching Manhattan's elite swirl past in their designer gowns and tailored suits. Seven years I'd been part of this world—Sam's world—and I still felt like a ghost at my own funeral.

"Kenna." Lilliana Aguilar's voice dripped honey and poison in equal measure. She materialized beside me, her fingers wrapped around the delicate gold locket she always wore. Her sister's locket. The dead woman whose shadow I'd lived in for seven years. "We should talk. Upstairs."

I knew better. But the alternative was staying down here, watching Sam's hand rest on Victoria Blackwood's lower back as he introduced her to his business partners. The heiress he'd be announcing his engagement to by month's end, according to the whispers that followed me like smoke.

The grand staircase stretched upward, marble gleaming under soft lighting. My heels clicked against each step. Lilliana walked beside me, her smile sharp enough to draw blood.

"You must be so proud," she said when we reached the landing. Below us, the party continued, oblivious. "Seven years of playing house, and this is how it ends. Sam finally choosing someone worthy."

I turned to walk away. Her hand shot out, gripping my wrist. The locket glinted at her throat.

"My sister would have given him everything. A real family. A legacy." Her eyes narrowed. "What have you given him? Nothing but—"

"Let go."

"You're nothing, Kenna. You've always been nothing."

I pulled free, but she moved with me. Her palm connected with my shoulder blade—not hard, but precise. My heel caught the edge of the top step.

The world tilted.

Marble rushed up to meet me. My temple cracked against the bannister. Pain exploded white-hot behind my eyes. I tumbled, my body a rag doll in gravity's grip, until I hit the landing halfway down.

Warmth spread across my face. Wet. Sticky.

Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Lilliana scream. "She pushed me! Oh God, she attacked me!"

Footsteps thundered. Voices shouted. Someone's hands touched my shoulders, but I couldn't focus. The chandelier above me fractured into a dozen spinning lights.

"Call an ambulance!" A woman's voice, distant.

Then Sam's face appeared above me. For one heartbeat, I thought I saw concern. But his gaze slid past me, up the stairs.

"Lilliana?"

He was gone before I could speak.

---

The emergency room smelled like antiseptic and fear. Fluorescent lights burned my eyes. A nurse pressed gauze to my head while another checked my vitals. Blood soaked through the white fabric, blooming red.

The automatic doors burst open. Sam strode in, his tuxedo jacket gone, his shirt sleeves rolled up. My chest loosened. He came.

But he walked past my stretcher without breaking stride.

"Where is she?" His voice carried across the ER. "Where's Lilliana?"

A doctor pointed to a curtained area. Sam disappeared behind it. I heard Lilliana's soft crying, her trembling voice: