Chapter 2

Colton was gone before I woke up.

No note. No coffee left in the pot. Just the faint trace of his cologne — sandalwood and cedar — lingering in the hallway like a ghost.

I got dressed, ate a plain piece of toast because my stomach couldn't handle anything else, and took a cab to the attorney's office.

Margaret Hale was a silver-haired woman with reading glasses perched on her nose and the calm energy of someone who had seen every kind of marital disaster.

"Mrs. Steel." She gestured to the chair across from her desk. "Tell me everything."

So I did.

The contract marriage — arranged by his family's lawyers to secure a business merger with my father's failing company. The clause that said I'd receive nothing if I initiated the divorce before five years. The three years of being invisible in my own home.

Margaret listened without interrupting, then removed her glasses.

"Do you have evidence of infidelity?"

I showed her the article. The photos. The text messages I'd screenshotted before he could delete them.

"And you're pregnant?"

"Yes. He doesn't know."

Margaret nodded slowly. "That changes everything, Sophia. A child born within the marriage has legal claims to the Steel estate, regardless of your contract."

"I don't want his money."

"I understand. But your child deserves protection." She leaned forward. "Let me ask you something. If you walk away with nothing, can you support yourself and a baby?"

I thought about my savings — modest, but real. My graphic design freelance work, which I'd been building quietly on the side because Colton's mother had made it clear that "Steel wives don't work."

"Yes," I said. "I can."

"Good." Margaret smiled. "Then let's make sure you walk away on your terms, not his."

We spent the next hour going over strategy.

When I left her office, I felt something I hadn't felt in months.

Control.

My phone buzzed in my purse.

Colton: 「Where are you?」

I stared at the message. He never asked where I was.

Then another text: 「Mom wants us at dinner tonight. 7 PM. Wear something appropriate.」

Appropriate.

His code word for: don't embarrass me.

I typed back: 「I'll be there.」

The dinner was at the Steel family estate — a sprawling mansion in Greenwich that looked like it belonged in a period drama.

Colton's mother, Victoria Steel, greeted me at the door with her signature ice-queen smile.

"Sophia, darling. You look... tired."

"Thank you, Victoria. You look exactly the same as always."

Her smile thinned.

Colton was already inside, standing by the fireplace with a glass of whiskey. He barely glanced at me when I walked in.

"You're late," he said.

"Traffic."

"Hmm." He took a sip and turned back to his phone.

Dinner was a performance, as usual. Victoria talked about the family's latest acquisition. Colton's younger brother, Miles, tried to make small talk with me. Colton stared at his phone under the table.

Then Victoria dropped the bomb.

"Colton, I've invited Reign to the charity gala next Saturday."

My fork stopped mid-air.

Colton looked up. "What?"

"She's a major donor now. It would be rude not to." Victoria's eyes slid to me. "You don't mind, do you, Sophia?"

Everyone at the table waited for my response.

The old Sophia would have smiled and said, "Of course not."

But the old Sophia didn't have a divorce attorney on speed dial.

"Actually," I said, setting down my fork, "I won't be attending the gala."

The silence was deafening.

Colton's eyes finally — finally — focused on me.

"What do you mean you won't be attending?"

I met his gaze and smiled.

"I have other plans."