Chapter 3

Sabine's POV

The next morning, I pushed open the heavy oak doors of the top-floor CEO office at Calder & Oak.

My husband, Hollis, was sitting in my leather swivel chair. At the sound of the door banging, he sprang up like he’d been electrocuted, frantically slamming his laptop shut.

"Sabine?!" Hollis quickly plastered on a look of utter shock and deep concern. He rushed over, grabbing me by the shoulders. "You had Iris less than a week ago! Why are you in the office?"

I stared at him coldly. "The financial reports need finalizing..."

"Sweetheart, listen to me," he interrupted gently, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear. "You need rest more than anything right now. Felix just got home, Iris needs her mother. I’m holding down the fort here. I’ll handle every decision for you."

Looking at his sickeningly affectionate, hypocritical face, a memory struck me—in my previous life, it was this exact speech that sent me packing back home. I handed over executive control to be a full-time mother. And what happened? Iris suffered constant high fevers and seizures. Eventually, I was ousted entirely, and he stole my empire.

I clenched my fists, letting my fingernails bite deep into my palms.

"You're right," I lowered my eyes, acting weak, and leaned into his chest. "I’ll leave the company in your capable hands for now."

Hollis exhaled heavily, a triumphant smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. Just as he was about to kiss my forehead, my phone suddenly vibrated wildly in my pocket.

It was Maria.

"Ma'am! Help! Iris can't breathe! Her little face is completely purple! I've called 911!"

My heart was crushed in a vice grip.

"I'm on my way!"

I sprinted out of the office, entirely ignoring whatever Hollis was shouting behind me.

Once in the car, my hands shook so badly I could barely turn the ignition. The second I tore onto the highway, I pulled up the mansion's security feed—I had secretly installed a pinhole camera in the nursery's exhaust fan.

Steering with one hand, my eyes bored into the playback footage on my phone.

On screen, Hollis walked into the nursery dressed to the nines. He quickly scanned the room, confirming Maria was gone, then pulled a small, unlabeled glass vial and a syringe out of his pocket.

He walked over to the incubator, pulling out a bag of breastmilk I had pumped at dawn.

The needle pierced the seal. Clear liquid was injected inside.

He gently swirled the bag to mix the solution, placed it back, and casually strolled out of the room like nothing ever happened.

Tires screeched as I slammed the brakes.

A violently overwhelming wave of nausea hit me. I collapsed against the steering wheel, my entire body shaking.

In my past life, Iris didn't die because of "premature weakness" or a "weak immune system."

Hollis had been steadily poisoning her the entire time.

Fifteen minutes later, I burst into the downtown Pediatric Emergency ICU.

Thank God, Maria caught it early. The paramedics saved Iris on the ambulance ride over.

I covertly handed the contaminated breastmilk to a private investigator waiting outside, instructing him to send it to an independent lab as concrete evidence. Faced with Hollis’s "sobbing and devastated" act in the waiting room, I forcibly pushed down the urge to plunge scissors into his throat. I played along with his trauma for three days.

Three days later, Iris was discharged.

Hollis personally drove us back to the estate.

"Where's Maria?" I asked coldly the moment I walked in.

"I fired her," Hollis said flatly while shrugging off his suit jacket. "She couldn't even keep an eye on a baby. Iris almost choked to death on her watch."

Suddenly, the sharp click of high heels echoed from the living room, followed by a soft, sugary voice that made my stomach churn.

"Sabine, you're finally back. I was worried sick."

I snapped my head up.

My golden assistant, Colette, was standing in the middle of my living room, acting exactly like the lady of the house.

And that little boy, "Jasper", was obediently hugging her leg, sweetly calling out: "Colette!"

"Hollis said your body was too weak and you needed someone trustworthy to run the house," Colette stepped toward me, a provocative, hidden smile dancing on her lips. She reached out her hands to take Iris from me. "Give the baby to me. From now on, let me share the burden of running this household for you."