Chap 2
For several seconds...
No one moved.
Scarlett's confident smile vanished.
She hadn't expected Damien to return until the following morning.
She certainly hadn't expected him to arrive with armed detectives.
Damien rushed past everyone and dropped to his knees beside Sophia.
His trembling hands gently cupped her face.
"Sophia..."
"Look at me."
She barely opened her eyes.
"...Damien..."
"Our baby..."
Her voice broke.
"Please save our baby."
Damien carefully wrapped his tuxedo jacket around her shoulders.
His fingers brushed against blood soaking through her dress.
Every instinct inside him screamed.
His bodyguards immediately called for paramedics.
One officer secured Scarlett before she could move.
"I'm innocent!"
She shouted.
"She slipped!"
"It was an accident!"
Damien didn't even acknowledge her.
His entire world existed only in the woman lying in his arms.
Then...
His phone vibrated.
A secure notification flashed across the screen.
BLACKWOOD SECURITY DIVISION
Priority One
He answered instantly.
A calm voice spoke.
"Sir..."
"Our cyber unit recovered the deleted surveillance files."
Damien frowned.
"The cameras were disabled."
"They tried."
"But the hidden backup system continued recording."
The technician sent the file.
Damien pressed play.
The suite appeared exactly as it had looked thirty minutes earlier.
Sophia welcoming Scarlett inside.
Scarlett locking the door.
Then...
The attack.
Every shove.
Every slap.
Every kick.
Every threat.
Scarlett's voice echoed through the speaker.
"There won't be any baby."
"There won't be any heir."
"I'll take everything."
The room fell silent.
Even the detectives stopped breathing.
When the recording ended...
Damien slowly lowered the phone.
His hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From a rage so deep it frightened everyone around him.
He stood.
Turned.
And looked directly at Scarlett.
She took one terrified step backward.
May you like
For the first time in years...
She realized she had made the worst mistake of her life.
