Chapter 2

My heart stopped. This wasn't possible. I had buried every trace, every record.

"There must be a mistake," Stellan said, but his voice had lost its edge. He was staring at me now, really staring, his brows furrowed.

"Ms. Vance," he said slowly, "have we met before?"

"No." The lie came easily. I'd practiced it a thousand times.

But my mind was racing. Who had done this? Who had found my children and connected them to Stellan?

Only three people knew the truth. My lawyer. My nanny. And my dead father.

"I need to handle a personal matter," I said, rising from my chair. "We'll continue this meeting tomorrow."

I didn't wait for a response. I walked out, my heels clicking against the marble, every step controlled, measured, even as panic clawed at my chest.

In the elevator, I called Sofia, my nanny.

"Where are Lily and Lucas?" I demanded.

"Ms. Vance, I don't understand—two men came with official documents. They said there was an emergency transfer. I tried to call you, but—"

"Who sent them?"

Silence. Then, a shaky breath. "The paperwork was signed by… by your mother-in-law. Margaret Ashford."

The elevator doors opened. I didn't move.

Margaret Ashford. The woman who had called me "common trash" on my wedding day. The woman who had orchestrated my marriage's destruction from the shadows.

She knew about my twins.

And she had taken them.

My phone buzzed. An unknown number.

I answered.

"Hello, Liora. Or should I say, Ms. Vance?" Margaret's voice was smooth as silk and sharp as a blade. "I must say, you've done quite well for yourself. But did you really think you could keep my grandchildren from me forever?"

"If you touch them—"

"Touch them? Darling, I'm their grandmother. I'm simply… introducing them to their father. You should come to the Ashford Estate. We have so much to discuss."

She paused.

"Oh, and Liora? Stellan is already on his way. I wonder how he'll react when he sees his children for the first time. When he learns what you've hidden from him."

The line went dead.

I stood frozen in the lobby, my perfect mask cracking.

Three years of building an empire. Three years of becoming untouchable.

And she had just torn it all down with a single phone call.

My phone buzzed again. A photo this time.

Lucas and Lily, sitting in the Ashford mansion's living room, looking scared and confused.

And standing behind them, with a hand on each of their shoulders, was a woman I recognized.

Lily Chen.

Stellan's mistress. The woman who had stolen my husband, my jewelry, my dignity.

She was touching my children.

A cold, deadly calm settled over me.

If she thought she could take what was mine twice, she was about to learn how wrong she was.