Chapter 3

The Rolls-Royce Phantom glided to a seamless halt.

A middle-aged man stepped out, wire-rimmed gold glasses perched on his nose, radiating the effortless, silver-fox aura of generational wealth.

Arthur. My husband of twenty years. To the outside world, he was the ruthless titan of a mega-conglomerate, the West Coast's most captivating billionaire.

But I knew the truth. Every silk thread on his back, every luxury car in his fleet, even those flashy vanity investments he paraded around—they were all just crumbs that had slipped through my fingers.

"Darling!" Sienna threw herself into Arthur's arms, weeping beautifully. "You're finally back! If you'd been a second later, the baby and I wouldn't have survived!"

Arthur's arm slipped around Sienna's waist with practiced ease. But as his gaze swept over the blood-stained grass and landed on my figure, his brow furrowed into a deep, dark scowl.

"What the hell is going on? Who dares to cause a scene on my estate?"

His mere presence silenced the entire lawn. The crowd of elite guests stared at him with a mix of awe and obsequious greed. To them, Arthur was the undisputed master of the empire, the absolute apex of power.

Sienna dialed up her sobbing. "Thank God you're here! You have no idea—some crazy bitch brought a little beggar in here. She ruined my dress and actually tried to hit me! I'm carrying your flesh and blood! What if she had hurt our baby?"

Julian quickly stepped forward, eagerness practically dripping from him. "Dad, it's just a gardener who forgot her place. I've already had security handle her. We won't let her ruin your day."

"A gardener?" Arthur scoffed coldly. "If she doesn't know the rules, break her legs and throw her out."

He didn't so much as cast a glance in our direction, casually tossing out our death sentence like he was discarding trash.

Holding Lily tightly against my chest, I slowly got to my feet.

Mud and drying blood caked my clothes. My hair was a tangled mess. By any metric, I was a wretched, broken sight. Yet, I straightened my spine, locking my eyes onto Arthur with a gaze as sharp as a slaughterhouse blade.

"Arthur," I said, my voice ice-cold.

It wasn't loud, but in the hushed silence of the lawn, it cut through the air with devastating clarity.

Arthur went rigid. With an irritated sigh, he finally turned his head toward the sound.

The moment his eyes locked onto my face, the imperious arrogance and casual cruelty plastered across his features utterly froze. His pupils dilated wildly. The blood drained from his face with sickening speed, leaving him a ghastly pale, as if he had just locked eyes with the devil herself.

"Ca... Caroline?" His voice was a pathetic, fractured wheeze.

"Honey, do you know this crazy bitch?" Oblivious to the sudden shift in gravity, Sienna continued to nestle against him, her voice sickeningly sweet. "She was so aggressive earlier. Hurry up and have them lock her up!"

"Shut up!" Arthur roared, shoving Sienna away with such violent force that she collapsed hard into the dirt.

"My baby!" Sienna shrieked.

But Arthur didn't spare her a second glance. Under the utterly horrified stares of the assembled elite, the untouchable, almighty tycoon suddenly buckled. His knees hit the ground with a heavy thud.

The high-society guests stared, their jaws practically unhinged in absolute shock.

Julian stood rooted to the spot, looking as if he'd just been struck by lightning.

"W... Wife..." Arthur was trembling violently now, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. "W-what are you doing here? A-aren't you supposed to be vacationing in Switzerland?"

I walked toward him, step by agonizing step, towering over the useless parasite I had fed and funded for years.

"If I wasn't here, how else would I get to witness the great Mr. Arthur throwing his weight around?" I sneered. Then, I swung.

A cracking slap echoed across the lawn, striking him squarely across the face.

I put every ounce of my fury into it. The impact busted his lip, drawing a thick line of blood, and half his face began to swell instantly.

A collective gasp ripped through the crowd.

"Is this how you discipline your son? Is this how you parade your whores around?" I barked, my voice echoing with pure venom. "This estate, this company, every single thing you own—which of it didn't come from me, Caroline? Who the hell do you think you are, letting someone maul my daughter's leg on my property?!"

Clutching his bruised face, Arthur didn't dare breathe a word of defiance. He threw himself forward, desperately groveling. "I was wrong! Caroline, I swear to God I was wrong! I didn't know it was Lily! I wasn't thinking—please, just forgive me this once!"

"Forgive?" I looked down at the pale, fading life of Lily in my arms, and the hatred in my chest erupted like hellfire.

Right on cue, the piercing wail of police sirens and the frantic howl of an approaching ambulance ripped through the evening air.