Chapter 5

I carry Jude into the villa entryway, and Kai nearly spills his black espresso all over his tailored suit.

He composes himself fast, masking his shock behind a cold, neutral expression.

“Jude clearly trusts you fully. Head to the city clerk’s office tomorrow morning to file our marriage papers per the contract.”

“Understood, Mr. Rossi.”

I lift Jude higher in my arms, pausing at the staircase landing to glance back over my shoulder.

“Quick question—our monthly salary doubles once we’re legally married, right?”

A faint, hidden smile tugs the corner of Kai’s mouth.

“That’s the clause we agreed on.”

Relief floods my chest. Ten grand each month is life-changing money.

The next day, we exit the municipal clerk building holding a crisp official marriage certificate, and I can’t stop grinning.

Kai sits beside me in the town car, his gaze drifting to my reflection in the car window, a quiet happy smile playing across his face that he thinks I won’t notice.

Months slip by after we file the license, and I settle into a steady routine with Jude.

He’s transformed entirely—once quiet, lonely, and bitter, now he laughs constantly and begs for my attention every single day.

He refuses to sleep alone through thunderstorms anymore, demands bedtime stories every night, begs me to teach him hand-to-hand combat, and drags me to climb estate trees, splash each other in the garden fountain, and feed every lizard and tarantula in his collection together.

The estate butler watches our chaotic daily antics with a weary fond grin.

“Master Jude has never laughed half this much in all seven years of his life. You two match perfectly, like you were always meant to be together.”

Kai also changes drastically. He used to leave the mansion before sunrise and return long after midnight, buried under syndicate and corporate work. Now he sits at every single family breakfast, lunch, and dinner without fail.

On weekends, he drives us to high-end supermarkets, amusement parks, and aquariums, pushing back dozens of critical business meetings just to tag along.

The butler pulled me aside one afternoon to whisper a secret.

“Mr. Rossi canceled more board meetings these past few months than he skipped in the entire six years before Jude was born combined.”

I brush the comment off casually.

“He neglected his son for half a decade. He’s just making up for lost time.”

A week later, I take Jude shopping in a luxury downtown mall—and run straight into Chloe and Ezra.

Chloe’s stomach bulges with her pregnancy, and she smirks when she spots me, voice dripping with mocking disdain.

“Sage? You left the Hale family just to become a live-in maid? How utterly humiliating for our family name.”

Ezra wraps an arm around her waist, his eyes sliding judgmentally over Jude’s designer clothes.

“Chloe’s due in two months, and she’ll need someone to handle newborn care full-time. Word on the street claims you can’t have children of your own. Instead of tending to a stranger’s boy, come work for us as a live-in maternity nurse—at least you’ll get to pretend you have a kid of your own.”

Jude’s jaw tightens, ready to snap back, but I place a hand on his shoulder to hold him quiet. I level a sharp glare at the pair.

“Your mouths reek so bad I’m shocked you didn’t brush your teeth before leaving the house. Have some decency for your unborn child and stop spewing garbage. I know you forged that fake medical report to ruin my wedding day, Chloe.”

“You two schemed to destroy my life for wealth and status. Don’t act like you hold any moral high ground. Scum belongs with scum.”

Ezra lifts his palm to strike me, but I twist his wrist hard with one sharp motion. A sick pop echoes through the mall corridor, and he screams in excruciating pain.

“Sage! How dare you hurt Ezra!” Chloe shrieks.

I wipe my palms clean of invisible dust, cold and unyielding.

“If either of you harass me or my kid again, I’ll lay both of you flat. I held back all those years only out of respect for Jesse’s memory—no more mercy from now on.”

I grab Jude’s hand and walk away, Ezra’s furious shouts echoing behind us.

“I’ll track down every detail of your new job! I’ll make sure every high-society venue in Manhattan blacklists you for good!”

That evening inside Kai’s private study, his lead assistant lays a full incident report across the mahogany desk.

“Boss, Mrs. Voss-Rossi ran into Ezra Carter and Chloe Hale at the mall today. Ezra attempted to strike her; she dislocated his wrist. Before leaving, Ezra swore he’d ruin her reputation across the city.”

Kai closes the file, his tone icy and lethal.

“Let him dig all he wants. Send formal gala invitations for Jude’s seventh birthday charity ball to both the Hale and Carter families. I’ll publicly reveal Sage’s official identity as my wife in front of every elite socialite and mafia affiliate in New York that night.”

“Every humiliation Sage endured at their hands these past three years— I’ll repay every last ounce of it.”