The baby I believed I'd lost on that rainy night—lost by accident, lost through my own carelessness—had been murdered by its own father.

To repair his fake wife's womb.

So that woman, that fraud who'd been playing insane, could carry his child instead.

"I'll give you anything you want. You're carrying the Delgado heir now, so you can't get too worked up, understand?"

Alice smiled, sweet as poison. "Fine. I won't hold it against her anymore. After all, it was her baby that made it possible for me to conceive yours."

Breathing became almost impossible. My vision blurred again, and for one terrible instant, I thought I was dying.

Through the crack in the door, I could see them at the vanity counter—clothes disheveled, bodies tangled together. Alice's nails raked down the hard muscles of Dustin's back as they moved in a frenzied rhythm.

Then she saw me.

The moment our eyes met, her moans grew louder, more theatrical.

"Slow down—didn't that little mistress ever satisfy you, baby?"

Dustin's mouth swallowed her cries before she could say more.

I collapsed onto the toilet seat like a hollowed-out shell, every last drop of life wrung from my body.

An eternity passed before they finally finished. Alice told Dustin to leave first.

Then a knock came on the stall door.

"Come on out." Her voice was thick with lazy satisfaction. "He's gone."

I pushed the door open and stepped out.

She stood there, deliberately, unhurriedly pulling her dress down from her chest—putting on a show, displaying the fresh marks scattered across her skin.

"I'm going to keep you as the dirty little secret forever." Her voice was feather-soft, as casual as commenting on the weather. "So if you know what's good for you, walk away from him on your own."

Her gaze dropped to my belly. "You think you'll actually carry his child to term? No. I'll make you taste that loss all over again. Every brat you lose will be nothing more than a sacrifice on the altar of my love with my husband."

Pure, white-hot fury shattered whatever was left of my restraint. I swung my hand and slapped her across the face with everything I had.

"You vile woman—give me back my baby!"

"Ahhh!"

She crashed to the floor, and her shriek pierced through the entire restroom.

Dustin burst in within seconds, bodyguards and a crowd of guests flooding in behind him.