Three days later, Trudy was discharged from the hospital.
She barely made it to the front entrance before a bodyguard intercepted her, there to escort her to a gala.
She didn't want to get in the car. The bodyguard hauled her in anyway.
Inside the banquet hall, guests raised their glasses to Serena.
"Director Mason Fox is truly in a league of her own. She enters one little competition and the piece is already extraordinary. The whole collection sold out in three days."
"Director Mason and Mr. Simmons look so perfect together. Only a woman of her caliber deserves to stand beside him. I don't know how that plagiarist had the nerve to cling on for so long."
"And she actually showed up to the celebration? Disgusting."
Trudy swirled the wine in her glass, unmoved.
She'd heard every variation of this for five years. It bored her now.
She slipped outside the banquet hall. The cool night air brushed against her skin, and she closed her eyes, savoring the brief silence.
"Trudy. I'm surprised that little bastard in your belly was tough enough to survive."
"All that trouble, and it still didn't die."
Serena's venomous voice cut through the quiet.
Trudy frowned, stepping back. "What do you want?"
"If you know what's good for you, stay away from Zachary."
"You're an orphan. You never had the right to stand beside him. His wife can only be me."
Trudy let out a dry laugh. "So because you're the billionaire's daughter, that makes you better than everyone else?"
Serena lifted her chin. "Obviously."
She tapped the sapphire necklace at her throat. Under the night sky, the stones blazed with light.
"See this?"
"Every gem on this necklace is worth tens of millions. You're an orphan. If it weren't for Zachary Simmons, you'd never have laid eyes on something like this in your life."
Trudy had once asked her father whether there was anyone named Serena in the Mason family.
Her father said no such person existed.
There was, however, a servant's daughter living in the Masons' estate. Her name was Serena.
The thought curled Trudy's lips into a cold half-smile. She looked Serena up and down. "Miss Mason, stolen things always have to be returned."
"When the day comes that everyone finds out you're a fraud, I wonder if you'll be any better off than an orphan like me."
Panic flashed through Serena's eyes. She forced herself steady.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"If you dare run your mouth, I will make you regret it."
Trudy just smiled and said nothing.
On the wedding day, the truth would come out for the whole world to see.
Let Serena have her few days of glory. After all, the higher the climb, the harder the fall.
Serena stared at her, the unease in her chest growing wilder.
Her eyes darted. Then she pulled something from inside her dress and dangled it in front of Trudy's face with a smug grin.
"Miss Wren, I believe this belongs to you?"
Trudy's heart seized.
It was the protective charm Matron Grace had given her. Every child at the orphanage received one, and every child treasured it. Trudy was no different.
Because it was one of the few pieces of genuine love she'd ever received.
Looking at it felt like having Matron Grace right beside her.
"That's mine. Give it back."
A cruel smile spread across Serena's face. She glanced toward the pool nearby.
She raised her arm and hurled the charm into the water.
"You want it? Go fish it out yourself."
Trudy turned and dove in without a second thought.
She was grateful, in that moment, that she knew how to swim. But the instant her fingers closed around the charm and she turned back toward the edge, a hand shot up from below and locked around her right ankle, dragging her down.
"Help!"
Trudy screamed.
Serena watched her thrash, arms folded, the malice in her eyes barely concealed.
Zachary saw it happen. His pupils contracted.
"Trudy!"
He lurched forward, ready to jump in after her.
Then Serena let out a sharp cry of pain.
"Ah! Zachary, my stomach hurts so bad..."
"The baby. What if something's wrong with the baby?"
Zachary's expression changed instantly. He spun around and pulled Serena into his arms.
"Don't worry. I'm taking you to the hospital right now."
"The baby will be fine."
Trudy watched their silhouettes shrink into the distance, and despair swallowed her inch by inch.
She was carrying his child too.
For one fleeting moment, she wanted to stop fighting. Just let the water take her.
But she had finally found her real parents. And inside her was the baby she'd longed for.
She didn't want to die.
She refused to.
Fury and will surged through her. She kicked harder, legs thrashing beneath the surface, and the grip on her ankle broke loose.
Her right foot free, Trudy clawed toward the edge with everything she had.
Only when she hauled herself onto the tiles did she let herself breathe.
But the figure below surfaced after her. A man, climbing out of the pool, closing the distance step by step.
"Miss Wren, I admire your willpower."
"Too bad you crossed the wrong person. So tonight, you die here."
His hand was inches from her throat when someone burst from the shadows and drove a savage kick into his ribs.
The man flew backward into the pool.
"Who the hell are you?"
He clawed at the edge, trying to pull himself up, but a hand shoved him back under.
He struggled until his strength gave out and his body sank beneath the surface.
"Miss Wren, I was sent by your fiancé to protect you. You can call me Assistant Fox."
Trudy froze. Since when did she have a fiancé?
But before she could ask, her vision went black and she collapsed.
