Chapter 4

I lost track of time.

The steel door opened again.

The bright light blinded me temporarily, and I shielded my eyes.

The sharp click of high heels echoed in the empty room.

Tiffany Vance walked in, wearing a Chanel tweed suit. She pinched her nose, looking at me with pure disgust.

Two muscular bodyguards followed closely behind her.

"Oh, so this is the pathetic rat who’s been begging Carter for scraps?"

Tiffany walked up to me and kicked my leg with the toe of her designer heel.

"You look so cheap. I have no idea how Carter tolerated you for five years."

I glared at her.

"What are you doing here?"

Tiffany giggled, pulled a document from her Hermès Birkin bag, and threw it in my face.

"Just checking on the loser."

"And, helping you take care of the mistake in your stomach."

I looked down at the paper.

It was an "Authorization for Termination of Pregnancy".

At the bottom right corner, Carter’s signature was written in bold, familiar cursive.

"No... he wouldn't..."

My head spun, and my blood ran ice-cold.

"Why wouldn't he?" Tiffany knelt down, grabbing my chin tightly. Her long acrylic nails dug into my skin.

"Carter said as long as it makes me happy, you and your bastard child are nothing but trash."

"My family has a reputation to protect. We can't have a low-life woman giving birth to my fiancé's child."

She stood up and wiped her hands with a wet tissue, looking disgusted.

"Do it. Carter said as long as she has enough breath to write down the password, she doesn't need anything else."

The two bodyguards immediately pounced on me like wolves.

"Get off of me! This is assault!"

I screamed, kicking and scratching with everything I had.

But I hadn't eaten in days. I was no match for two grown men.

One guard pinned my shoulders to the ground, while the other raised his heavy boot and stomped hard on my abdomen.

"AHHH!"

An agonizing pain ripped through my body.

I screamed, curling up into a tight ball.

"Keep going until she miscarries," Tiffany ordered coldly from the side.

Another heavy kick landed on my stomach.

Something warm and wet started flowing down my thighs, quickly soaking through my pants and pooling onto the concrete floor in a gruesome crimson stain.

"My baby... help..."

I weakly stretched out my hand, trying to grab onto anything.

Tiffany walked over and stepped on my hand, grinding her heel into my knuckles.

"Scream all you want. Nobody is coming to save you."

"Remember this pain, Stella. Know your place, and don't try to climb into a world you don't belong in."

She laughed, turning on her heel and leaving with her guards.

The steel door slammed shut again.

I lay in a pool of my own blood, my consciousness fading.

My life was draining away.

With the last bit of my strength, I reached into the hidden lining of my bra and pressed a tiny panic button.

It was the exclusive GPS tracker for the sole heir of the Kingswell Group.

"Beep—"

A faint blue light flickered once.

I closed my eyes, a single tear of blood slipping down my cheek.

"Carter. Tiffany."

"You will pay for this with your lives."