Chapter 4

"Your fiancé and his sister-in-law are truly despicable!"

The private detective, no stranger to filthy, sordid business, spent a full ten minutes cursing them up and down without holding anything back.

And as I looked over the documents he'd sent, tears streamed down my face.

Before I could work out my next move, HR called me again.

"Yolanda, you're getting married and starting a family—there's really no need to quit, is there?"

"Your promotion to manager was basically a done deal. Even the boss thinks it's a shame."

I froze, then asked in a hoarse voice:

"What marriage? I only took one day off. I never quit!"

HR sent me the stamped resignation letter.

"Your fiancé came into the office today to process your resignation for you. He said you were pregnant and couldn't come in. Finance will settle your final pay tomorrow."

I'd only taken one day off to look for a place, and Aaron had pulled a dirty trick behind my back.

No wonder he'd looked so skeptical when I said the company was sending me on a business trip.

That lie I'd blurted out was probably enough to make him suspicious of me.

Serena had already gotten her hands on my brother's inheritance, but she still wouldn't let me take Maurice away.

Would she hurt the child because of this...?

The thought made me forget all about salvaging my job. I quickly changed and headed out.

But then Aaron called, and the background was full of Maurice's crying.

Aaron laid into me, frantic:

"Yolanda Sheldon! No wonder you ran off so fast! So you deliberately switched Serena's calcium tablets for abortion pills! How could you be so vicious? You knew how frail she is, and you still drugged her—were you trying to kill her?"

"Get back here right now! Serena's in the hospital trying to save the pregnancy, and Maurice has a fever again. I can't get him to settle no matter what I do!"

When I got to the hospital, Maurice's face was flushed red from the fever.

His voice was hoarse from crying.

My heart ached, and I quickly took him into my arms to comfort him.

Children aren't stupid; they know exactly who means it and who doesn't.

Once the doctor confirmed Maurice had no injuries and was only sick with a fever, my heart finally settled back where it belonged.

And Maurice fell asleep peacefully in my arms.

Aaron watched me from behind as I tucked the blanket around Maurice, and suddenly spoke:

"Yola, if that child of ours were still alive, he'd be due any time now..."

I cut him off:

"There are no 'ifs.' Since the two of you can't take care of Maurice, once his fever breaks, I'm taking him with me."

"Taking him? Is he your child, that you can just take him? Besides, you don't even have a job now. What are you going to raise him on?"

"And you nearly made Serena miscarry. In her grief and rage she threatened to jump off a building. To calm her down, I had no choice but to call the police."

"When they get here, own up to what you've done. Go in for ten days, maybe two weeks, and let Serena cool off. She still can't get over being sentenced for saving you. If you really care about Maurice, stop making trouble. When you come back, we'll go back to how things were..."

But from the moment my brother died, we were bound to be on opposite sides.

The next second, the police officers pushed open the door and came toward me:

"Yolanda Sheldon, you're suspected of intentional poisoning. We'll need you to come with us."

I stayed where I was, ignoring the wink Aaron threw me.

I lowered my head and looked at the new material the detective had just dug up.

Seeing that I still had the presence of mind to look at my phone, Aaron grew frantic:

"Yola, be good. As long as you smooth things over with Serena, I'll register the marriage with you the moment you get out."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud:

"Aaron, as long as you confess everything to the officers right now, it still counts as coming clean for a lighter sentence."

"Otherwise..."

Looking at how certain I was, Aaron felt deeply uneasy.

But without a moment's hesitation, he chose to keep up the tough act:

"What do I have to confess? All I did was make the same mistake every man makes..."

Before he could finish, I handed my phone to the officer in front of me.

In under two minutes, the officer turned to him, his face cold:

"Aaron Rowe, we'll need you to come back to the station with us for questioning!"