Chapter 22

The door creaked open. I didn’t look up until I heard the unmistakable voice of Sebastian’s mother.

“Pearl.”

She was as elegant as ever—graying hair swept up in a twist, pearls around her neck, dressed in quiet navy blue. Her husband was just behind her, tall and stoic, with eyes like Sebastian’s.

I rose quickly, straightening my coat, pretending I wasn’t breaking from the inside out.

“Mrs. Montgomery, Mr. Montgomery—”

She walked to me and took my hands, warm and steady. “No need for formality now, darling. You’re our family.”

Mr. Montgomery gave me a nod. “How is he?”

I glanced at Sebastian. “Still… still unconscious. They don’t know when he’ll…” My voice failed.

His mother gently squeezed my fingers. “And you? When did you last rest?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not. Pearl, you’ve been sitting vigil without food or sleep. That isn’t strength—it’s martyrdom.”

“I’m not leaving him,” I whispered. “I can’t. Not when he might…” I didn’t finish the sentence. Couldn’t.

His father stepped closer. “Let our men take you home. One night. Just one. We’ll be here the moment anything changes. You can come back first light.”

I shook my head. “No—”

But then, the nausea came. A sickening wave that rolled from my chest to my gut. I staggered backward, pressed a hand to my mouth.

“Pearl?” his mother asked, concern blooming across her features.

I didn’t answer. I rushed past them, into the private restroom down the hall. The moment I locked the door, I fell to my knees and vomited, choking back sobs between convulsions. My hair stuck to my face. I sat there panting, disoriented, shaking.

A knock. “Pearl?”

“I’m okay,” I lied through the door.

After splashing water on my face, I opened the door again. His mother stood there, a tissue in one hand, a gentle smile laced with worry on her face.

She touched my arm. “Forgive me if I’m prying, but… when was your last menstruation?”

The question froze me. My brain spun. Last month? No—wait…

I smiled quickly, too quickly. “Last week. Just stress.” I lied.

She didn’t press. Just nodded kindly. “Still. Go home tonight. Sleep. Eat. Take care of yourself, for his sake.”

2:08 pm

I gave in—not because I wanted to. Because I couldn’t ignore the shaking in my limbs anymore. “Alright,” I whispered. “Just tonight.”

Two of Sebastian’s best security men flanked me as we walked toward the sleek black SUV outside the hospital. I wrapped my coat tighter around myself. The air was cold. Too cold for May. Or maybe I was just hollow.

Halfway through the drive, I leaned forward. “Can we stop at a pharmacy? Just for a moment.” The guard in the front seat glanced back and nodded.

I slipped into the drugstore under cover of night, the hood of my coat pulled low. My fingers trembled as I grabbed the small white box—pregnancy test—and slipped it under my coat, paying in cash.

Back in the SUV, I sank into the seat, chest tight with exhaustion and fear and something that felt dangerously close to hope.

The roads were quiet. The world felt like it was exhaling. For a second, I almost drifted off.

Then—

Screech.

A black van cut in front of us. Another rammed in from behind.

“Go! Drive!” one guard shouted, pulling his weapon.

Doors flew open. Masked men. Armed.

Bullets shattered the windshield. I screamed as the glass exploded around us. The men fought back, but there were too many.

Blood sprayed. One of the guards collapsed, gurgling. I was yanked from the backseat. Kicking, clawing, screaming.

“LET ME GO!”

My heels scraped against the pavement. A hand grabbed my hair. Another slammed something against my neck. The last thing I saw before the world faded was Lavenia’s smile.

Not a grin. Not a smirk. A smile—the kind that had too many teeth and no soul behind it. Like a snake grinning before it bites.

She leaned down, close enough that I could smell her perfume—cloying and expensive, a synthetic kind of evil.

“Did you think I’d let you win twice?” she whispered, her voice dripping with venom.

Then—crack.

Her palm hit my face like lightning, and the world went black.

I woke up freezing. Aching. My wrists burned. Metal bit into my skin—chains.

The room was stone, damp, echoing. My breath came in short, ragged bursts. Every inhale tasted like mold and iron.

And then… click.

Chapter 22

2:08 pm

She walked in like it was her goddamn runway. Silk robe draped over her like a queen on bath day, wine glass in hand, perfectly made up like this was brunch.

Lavenia.

Unbothered. Unhinged. Untouchable.

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty,” she purred, twirling the wine in her glass. “How do you like your new accommodations?”

I stared at her, dazed. “You’re… insane.”

She laughed, loud and unbothered. “Oh Pearl, sweetheart, that’s old news.”

She stepped closer, crouching before me like she was about to pet a wounded animal. “You’ve been everyone’s darling for too long. You stole my life. My spotlight. My future. You walked around like it was owed to you, like you were untouchable.”

“I never stole anything,” I snapped, voice raspy but sharp. “You just weren’t enough, and it killed you.”

Her smile faltered. Just a flicker. But I saw it.

“Sebastian,” she said, casually, like she was discussing the weather. “Still in that little glass coffin, huh? Machines breathing for him. Tubes down his throat. You know, the doctors said he might be in a vegetative state if he wakes up at all. So tragic.”

My throat closed.

She leaned in. “You left him alone, Pearl. You abandoned him the moment it got hard.”

“I didn’t abandon anything,” I hissed. “You had me dragged out and beaten, you psychotic bitch.”

She sighed, mocking. “Details.”

I tried to hold it in. Really tried. But the dam cracked—tears slipped past my lashes, one by one. My shoulders shook as I whispered his name.

“Sebastian…”

That made her rage. She threw her wine glass against the wall, the stem shattering like my ribs did when I was pulled from that SUV.

“Say his name one more time,” she growled, storming toward me. “Say it like that again, and I swear—” She slapped me. Harder this time. My lip split. I tasted metal. “He’ll forget you,” she hissed. “By the time I’m done, you’ll be a nightmare he barely remembers. And if he wakes up, I’ll be the one at his bedside… I’ll have my face to look like you. Surgery.”

I spat blood at her heels. “You’ll always be second choice, Lavenia! Even in your delusions.”

Her smile was back. But now it was colder.

She nodded to the guards. One brought in something wrapped in a brown paper bag. She opened it with a flourish.

A pregnancy test. Untouched. The one I’d hidden in my coat.

My stomach dropped.