She ran her hand over her still-flat belly.
"That day at the hospital, I said all of it on purpose so you'd hear every word."
"You saw it yourself. He only has eyes for me now. If it weren't for years of obligation and duty, he would've left you a long time ago."
"If you know what's good for you, you'll leave while he still has a shred of feeling left for you. Stop standing in the way of our happiness."
I paused. The words she wanted to hear were right on the tip of my tongue, but when I saw the brazen provocation in her eyes, I swallowed them back down.
A cold laugh escaped me instead.
"I know you're desperate to push me out so you can take my place. But no matter how desperate you are, it won't change a thing. As long as I'm here, you'll always be the other woman, and the baby in your belly will always be illegitimate."
"That child will still have to call me 'Mom.' He'll be the one taking care of me in my old age. And I'll make sure he grows up knowing that homewreckers are the most despicable creatures on this earth." I tilted my head. "Does that sound like a happy life to you?"
Joanna's fury was impossible to hide. Her eyes went bloodshot as she glared at me.
"You won't shed a tear until you see your own coffin! Fine. Keep running your mouth. Since you refuse to leave on your own, I'll help you on your way."
I ignored her empty threat.
When I stepped out of the restroom, Damien's worried gaze landed on me and instantly hardened into suspicion.
It wasn't until Joanna emerged behind me, perfectly unharmed, that his shoulders finally dropped and he exhaled.
The auction ended, and Damien got a work call. He told the driver to make sure both Joanna and I got home safely, then climbed into a separate car and headed to the office.
The ride was silent. Neither of us said a word.
But I noticed the road we were on wasn't the route home. It wasn't the route to Joanna's place either.
I opened my mouth to say something, and a sharp chop slammed into the back of my neck.
When I came to, the roar of waves crashed against my ears. Wind tore through me, and I couldn't stop shaking.
My arms were bound behind my back. No matter how hard I struggled, the restraints wouldn't give.
I looked up. Several men in black balaclavas stood before us, flipping knives lazily between their fingers.
Joanna was tied up too, standing right beside me on the edge of a cliff.
But she looked perfectly at ease, watching me without a trace of the panic a kidnapping victim should have.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
She let out a quiet, mocking laugh.
"Making sure you die knowing exactly why."
The moment the words left her lips, a thick strip of duct tape sealed my mouth shut.
They grabbed the ropes and lowered us over the cliff's edge, dangling us above the churning sea.
A phone rang, the sound swallowed and thrown back by the open water.
Damien's frantic voice came through the speaker.
"What do you want? Whatever it is, take it up with me! Let them go!"
One of the men laughed, dragging the edge of his blade across the rope in slow, deliberate strokes.
"What do I want? Payback. You ruined my life back then."
"Now your wife and your mistress's baby are both in my hands. Pick one. The other goes over the edge to feed the sharks."
Joanna burst into tears, sobbing so hard her whole body shook.
"Mr. Ashford, don't worry about me! You're the rising star of the business world. Everyone's watching you. I can't let you be branded a cheater who abandoned his wife and child because of me."
She turned to me, tears streaming. "Millie, I'm willing to die for him! Please, just make this stop!"
That single performance sent Damien into a blind rage.
"Millie Rowe, your jealousy has finally driven you over the edge! I already told you I wouldn't divorce you. What more do you want from me?"
"Now you're staging a kidnapping to threaten me? I don't have time for your games. If a single hair on Joanna's head is harmed, I will make you pay!"
I couldn't speak. All I could do was let the tears fall.
The kidnapper fixed me with a chilling stare.
"So you're choosing to let your wife feed the sharks?"
Damien faltered. A thread of unease coiled through him.
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind, but the instant he saw the terror on Joanna's face, it vanished without a trace.
"Cut the act! I'm not falling for this little stunt! She wants to jump? Let her jump! Maybe the ocean can wash that filthy heart of hers clean! Just bring Joanna back to me in one piece!"
I never imagined that in his eyes, I'd become someone whose life was worth gambling with.
I struggled, desperate to explain.
But the tape sealed my mouth shut, and the rope frayed strand by strand beneath me.
I watched Damien's face on the screen. Not a flicker of emotion. Not a single flinch.
Somehow, the weightlessness and the suffocation didn't feel so unbearable anymore.
Tears streamed from my eyes, caught by the wind and smeared across the camera.
His brow twitched, just barely.
He started to speak, but before a word left his lips, the rope snapped with a sharp hiss, and I plummeted into the void.
Through the camera, his panicked face grew smaller and smaller, blurring into nothing.
I closed my eyes.
But the instant I truly hit the water, sinking into the cold black depths, I heard it.
His voice, raw and shattered, screaming my name.
"Millie! No!"
