Chapter3

The elevator doors opened to the dim hospital parking garage.

The freezing winter wind bit my skin.

I wrapped my coat tight and walked toward my modest sedan.

My collarbone burned where Cassian had ripped the platinum compass from my neck.

Footsteps echoed sharply across the concrete.

"Lark! Stop!"

It was Cassian. His tuxedo collar was unbuttoned, his bowtie gone.

He had actually left Seraphina weeping in the maternity ward to chase me down into the basement.

He stepped directly in front of my car door, blocking my path.

He looked furious, his chest heaving with ragged breaths。

"You lost your mind up there," he said, his tone softening into a desperate, He stepped closer, "But I get it now. You snapped. You couldn't bear to share me with her."

I stared at him in absolute disbelief.

"Sera is hysterical. The baby is gone, and my mother's plan is ruined," he continued, his eyes darting as his mind actively warped the tragedy into a victory for his own ego.

He reached out to cup my face. "But you proved exactly how far you'll go to keep me, didn't you, Lark? You took my heir... but I forgive you."

My stomach twisted with profound disgust. I jerked my head away, rejecting his touch.

He genuinely meant it.

He believed I was a murderer, yet my "crime" was just the ultimate, desperate proof of my devotion. He didn't care about the dead baby.

He was actively using the tragedy as leverage to keep me permanently locked in his cage.

"I'll cover this up," Cassian promised smoothly. "I won't let the hospital board touch your license. You owe me your life now."

"Let go of me," I said. My voice was pure, uncompromising ice.

"Lark—"

"I didn't push her. She threw herself backward. But you don't care about the truth at all. You disgust me, Cassian."

I shoved past him, unlocked my car door.

Cassian was angry and pounded his fists on the glass, demand I open the door.

But I started the engine and drove out into the freezing rain, leaving him in the rearview mirror.

The drive back to the penthouse was a blur of neon city lights.

For eight years, I had played the obedient commoner, hiding the vast wealth of Skylark Bay, all for a man who prioritized his ego over my dignity.

It’s utterly not worth going through all this for him.

I swiped my access card for the final time. The private elevator shot up to the top floor.

When the doors opened, the penthouse greeted me with absolute silence.

It wasn't a home. It was a sterile house .

I walked through the massive living room.

There were no i photos of my surgical graduations.

Cassian’s mother, Octavia, had explicitly forbidden them, and Cassian had simply asked me to hide my things to "keep the peace."

I walked straight into the master bedroom. I pulled my duffel bag from the back of the closet.

I ignored the sprawling racks of expensive designer gowns Cassian had bought to make me look "presentable" at his corporate galas.

Instead, I packed my surgical licenses, my thick medical textbooks, and my faded blue scrubs.

I stopped in the massive marble kitchen .

The custom glass refrigerator caught my eye.

The top two shelves were entirely lined with imported macadamia nut milk and artisan macadamia cookies.

I have a lethal allergy to macadamia nuts. Cassian knew this.

But three months ago, Seraphina mentioned they were her "biggest pregnancy craving."

The next day, Cassian had his private chef stock the fridge.

“Just be careful when you open the door,” he had told me, dismissing my medical concerns. *“Sera might drop by. I want her comfortable.”

He had prioritized his mistress's minor cravings over my literal survival.

I grabbed a heavy black trash bag.

Then, I opened the fridge and aggressively swept my arm across the shelves.

Cartons, jars, and sealed cookies crashed into the bag.

Eight years of losing myself was finally over.

I tied the trash bag in a harsh knot and headed for the front foyer.

DING.

Theelevator chimed and doors slid open.

Cassian stood in the elevator car. He was drenched in rain.

He hadn't driven. He had taken his private corporate chopper to intercept me.

He didn't come to stop me from moving out. He didn't even glance at my duffel bag.

He seemed very angry.

"Cassian?" I took a cautious step back.

He didn't speak. He lunged.

He crossed the foyer in a heartbeat. His heavy hands clamped violently around my throat.

The sheer momentum drove me backward and my bag hit the floor.

"Cassian!" I choked.

His grip locked like a vise and restricting my airway.

"You hurt my family," he snarled, pressing his face agonizingly close to mine. "I barely recognize you. How dare you treat Mia so brutally? She is only a child!"

My mind spun. Mia. His four-year-old daughter.

"I... didn't..." I gasped, fighting for a sliver of air.

"Don't lie to my face!" Cassian roared "The nanny just called! Mia went into profound anaphylactic shock right after taking a bite of a cookie you sent to the estate tonight! Thank God the paramedics stabilized her in time. The courier box had your name on it, Lark, and the bakery label clearly listed organic peanut flour! How do you explain that?"

My heart turned to ice.

I had nothing to do with it. Seraphina.

She knew knew perfectly well that peanuts were deadly to Mia.

To guarantee I would be destroyed, Seraphina had weaponized her own four-year-old child's life to frame me.

"I... was... at the gala..." I gasped, my vision beginning to blur "I was standing... right next to you... all night..."

A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes.

"You scheduled the delivery in advance!" Cassian hissed, "Nobody walks away from me after hurt my family. Nobody!"

Physical force wasn't going to work against a man twice my size. I needed to play into his one true weakness: his god complex.

I stopped fighting.

I deliberately dropped my hands, letting them fall completely useless to my sides in a manufactured display of total defeat.

"Cassian..." I wheezed, forcing my eyes wide in a mock surrender. "Stop... please. I... I'll confess."

The brutal pressure on my windpipe fractionally paused. His eyes narrowed.

"Take me to Mia," I gasped, staring up at him. "Let me see her... let me apologize."

Slowly, his fingers uncurled from my throat.

I collapsed onto the floor, coughing violently .

I kept my head bowed, hiding the deadly, absolute ice forming in my eyes.

Cassian towered over me.

"Get up," he snapped coldly.

I stood up slowly, grabbing my duffel bag with a steady hand.

Then we left together and headed to the hospital.