Chapter 3

Theron and Daphne whipped their heads around.

Through the immaculate glass wall, our gazes violently collided.

The tender smile on Theron's face froze dead.

Daphne froze too, but only for a fraction of a second. Then, a slow, provocative smirk twisted the corners of her lips.

Theron catapulted off the sofa. A fleeting spark of panic flashed across his face, only to be instantly swallowed by a vicious, defensive rage.

"Elara! Are you out of your damn mind? Who the hell gave you permission to come here?!" He threw the door open and stormed toward me. "Do you realize you could kill Flynn doing this?! Get out! Now!"

He reached out to shove me. I stepped aside with icy precision, letting his hand hit empty air. My gaze swept over him as if looking at a pile of rotting garbage.

"Kill him?" I echoed, a mocking smirk curling my lips.

"Monster Mommy! Go away!" Flynn suddenly peeked out from behind Daphne, screaming at the top of his lungs. "You're a bad lady! You want to kill me! Mommy Daphne is my real mommy!"

My heart violently contracted.

I stared at the son I had carried in my own womb for nine excruciating months. Looking at that selfish little face—a perfect, miniature replica of Theron's—he suddenly felt like a complete stranger.

"Flynn... do you honestly think I'm a monster?" I asked him.

"You are!" Flynn snatched a heavy ornamental apple from a nearby table and hurled it at me with all his might.

The apple struck me hard right in the face.

Daphne let out a triumphant laugh. She strolled over to Theron and possessively looped her arm through his.

"Well, Elara, since the cat's out of the bag, I suppose I can drop the act." Daphne peered down her nose at me, looking at me like I was a pathetic bug. "Who do you think you are? Theron has loved me from day one. You were nothing but a convenient incubator used to help me get a child."

Daphne whipped a document out of her designer bag and slammed it directly into my chest. "Open your eyes and take a good look. Did you really think you and Theron were legally married? That cheap little Vegas marriage certificate he got you was completely forged! In the eyes of the law, I, Daphne, am Theron's one and only true wife!"

The papers fluttered to the ground.

I looked down, my eyes locking onto the glaring official seal and their undeniable signatures.

The marriage I thought I had, the family I thought I built, was a grotesque scam from start to finish.

Then, entirely without warning, disaster struck.

A fierce gust of wind suddenly howled through the estate, followed immediately by a deafening, metallic screech from the domed ceiling directly above.

A massive, shattered pane of structural glass dislodged, plummeting straight toward Flynn's head!

"Flynn!"

In that split second, raw maternal instinct overrode all logic.

Before my brain could even process the danger, my body launched forward like a fired arrow.

I tackled Flynn to the hardwood floor, curling my body entirely over his to shield him in a desperate embrace.

The heavy pane of glass smashed violently across my back, exploding into thousands of razor-sharp shards upon impact.

Warm blood instantly gushed from the deep lacerations, rapidly soaking through my clothes.

The sheer agony was so blinding it nearly ripped away my consciousness.

But the physical pain paled in comparison to the utter despair of what unfolded right in front of my eyes.

In the exact moment the glass fell, Theron didn't even spare a glance in my direction.

He had lunged frantically toward Daphne, aggressively throwing his own body over hers to shield her from harm.

And the son trapped beneath me... the moment the immediate danger passed, Flynn shoved my bleeding, shattered body away with all his might.

He scrambled backward and ran sobbing toward Daphne. "Mommy Daphne! Are you okay? Are you hurt?!"

In that instant, the entire world went deafeningly silent.

I lay paralyzed amidst a sea of shattered glass, my blood dripping onto the floorboards, blooming into glaring, horrific red flowers.

I watched Theron frantically inspecting Daphne's body for scratches. I watched Flynn burying himself desperately in Daphne's arms.

Compared to the excruciating agony tearing through my flesh, my heart suddenly stilled, becoming as perfectly calm as a pool of dead water.

Relying on sheer, numbed willpower, I braced my thoroughly broken body and slowly dragged myself up from the debris.

I didn't spare a single glance at that impenetrable, flawless family of three. I just turned around. Dragging my profusely bleeding body, I walked out the door, never once looking back.

Goodbye, Theron. We will never cross paths again.

...

When the frantic panic finally subsided, Theron whipped his head around.

The spot where I had fallen was entirely empty.

All that remained was a shockingly thick, gruesome trail of smeared blood dragging all the way out the open door.

The breath instantly hitched in Theron's throat.

A violent, suffocating wave of utter panic suddenly seized his heart in a vice grip, the agonizing dread so intense it actually made his heart skip a beat.