“That’s too much money,” he said flatly. “I’m not paying. If we ignore them, they’ll give her back.”
I stared at him in horror. “She’s your daughter!”
He smiled and wrapped his arm around Bianca. “I already have another child.”
They walked away together.
And I stayed there on the cold marble floor, realizing the truth at last—Aldrin had already erased me. Bianca was no longer a secret. She was his future.
And I was nothing at all.
My phone vibrated while I sat on the floor beside the bed, my back slumped against the mattress, my body emptied out by hours of crying. I wiped my face and forced myself to look at the screen.
Joseph.
Relax, the message read. That was only a test. I wanted to see if your husband would do anything. He didn’t. That tells you everything. Divorce him. Understood? Sienna is with me. She’s safe. Not a single scratch on her.
For a heartbeat, I forgot how to breathe.
Then relief hit me all at once—so overwhelming it nearly crushed me again. Sienna. My baby. Alive. Safe. Out of their hands.