Chapter 5

An earth-shattering wail erupted from the bedroom.

"Nathan! I can't live like this—that *lunatic* ruined me!"

Eva's voice was so shrill it sounded like her throat was tearing itself apart.

Nathan stormed out.

His face was a mask of livid fury—a rage I had never seen before, burning white-hot behind his eyes.

His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles went bloodless, veins bulging along his forearms like cords.

"Lily Sawyer, have you lost your *mind*?!"

He practically roared the words.

"Do you have any idea what you've done? Using such filthy, low-class methods—are you trying to destroy her life?"

I stood up slowly.

Smoothed my skirt.

Met his murderous gaze with a cold laugh.

"Destroy her?"

"When she took a permanent marker to my face—when she made me the laughingstock of the company—did she stop to think about destroying *me*?"

I stepped closer.

"Nathan, she wrote her own fate."

"That is *not* the same!" He sputtered, flustered and furious. "She was just joking—it was childish playing around! You are *physically scarring* her!"

"Oh?"

I dragged the syllable out, dripping with mockery.

"So when she humiliates me, it's a 'joke.' But when I return the favor, I'm 'vicious.'"

The bedroom door creaked.

Eva stumbled out.

Her hair was a bird's nest. Her skin was marred by the ridiculous, ugly black squares of the QR codes, stamped across her arms, her collarbone, the side of her neck.

She looked as though all the life had been drained from her body.

She collapsed into Nathan's arms.

"Nathan..."

A sob. A gasp for air. One hand clutching her lower abdomen.

"My stomach... it hurts so much. The stress, the pain... Nathan, save our baby."

*Baby?*

The smile froze on my face.

The word was a serrated blade—stabbed precisely into the softest part of my chest and twisted.

So.

It had come to this.

A bitter laugh bubbled in my throat. I laughed at myself—for treating this shabby rental apartment like a sacred temple of our love.

Nathan stiffened as he held her.

Guilt flickered across his eyes. Panic. He couldn't even look at me.

But the remorse was fleeting.

Eva's weeping pulled him back, fueling his anger, allowing him to convert that tiny spark of guilt into a towering inferno of rage—all of it directed at me.

"Lily!"

He scooped the trembling Eva into his arms, holding her with a tenderness and anxiety he had *never* shown me.

He glared at me, his eyes cold, as if looking at a mortal enemy.

"You really are becoming a monster."

"If anything happens to Eva or the child, I will destroy you."

With that final threat, he carried his precious cargo and rushed out without looking back.

The heavy slam of the door felt like a slap across my face.

I stood alone in the wrecked living room, listening to the engine roar to life downstairs, marking their decisive departure.

After a long silence, I finally laughed aloud.

The sound was hollow. It bounced off the walls and came back empty.

I pulled out my phone and dialed my assistant.

"Hello?"

"Freeze every bank card under Nathan Butler's name."

"Immediately. Do it now."