Chapter 3No Forgiveness, Only Payback

His confession fell into a dead silent room.

I slowly looked up at him. In that silent, charged space, he saw the dead, empty coldness in my eyes, and his heart gave a violent lurch.

His voice softened, turning pleading. "Ava, it's my fault. I can explain everything. Punish me however you want, but Lana is innocent in this. She's… she's pregnant with my child!"

Lana. Not the monster he claimed to hate, but Lana.

I stared into his eyes. "And what about our child? Did our baby die for nothing?"

He answered as if he'd rehearsed the lines, his tone sickeningly reasonable. "Lana has already agreed. She'll give you this child. We'll raise it as our own. Boy or girl, all our assets will go to them. The three of us will be a happy family."

His shamelessness left me stunned for a solid two seconds before I burst out laughing, a harsh, grating sound. "You lied to me, you got the woman who murdered my child pregnant, and now you want me to raise your bastard? And you think that's some kind of gift to me?"

My voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "Damian, aren't you afraid the ghost of my child will come for you in the middle of the night?"

His face instantly turned cold. "What do you mean, 'bastard'? This is our child too. When did you become so bitter and cruel, Ava? You can't even tolerate a child? You disappoint me." He sighed, as if burdened by my pettiness. "Just let her go, Ava. I'll make sure Lana only sees the child a few times a week. Hasn't she been punished enough?"

I was so furious I could only laugh. Then, I slapped him. Hard.

The words were squeezed from between my clenched teeth. "Let her go? In your dreams."

I pointed to the man who had offered the highest price. "Mr. Russo, she's all yours. Enjoy."

Russo hesitated for a moment, glancing nervously at Damian. I added, "If you don't take her, I'm not refunding the auction price."

That settled it. He clenched his jaw, stormed the stage, and started dragging Lana toward a back room.

Damian moved to follow, but I spoke from behind him, my voice a blade of ice. "Damian Thorne, if you take one step into that room, we are finished."

His body went rigid, his eyes looking as though they were about to bleed.

Suddenly, a woman's piercing shriek tore through the room. "Damian, save me—Ah!"

All rationality abandoned him. He charged into the room like a madman. A gunshot rang out, and his bodyguards swarmed in, dragging out a blood-soaked Mr. Russo. Damian completely lost control, kicking and stomping at the man's groin like a wild animal.

It was Lana's sobbing that finally broke through his rage. He lifted her into his arms and strode past me, bumping my shoulder without a second glance.

Just then, Lana, nestled safely in his embrace, lifted her head and shot me a look of pure, triumphant malice. "You pathetic bitch, did you really think you meant anything to him? Damian has always loved me! And here's something you don't know: after I beat that little bastard out of you, Damian himself ordered the doctors to have your uterus transplanted into me!"

"Shut up!" Damian's face went white. He shot a panicked look at me.

But Lana just laughed, emboldened. "You're useless now, Ava. A broken, barren hen that will never lay an egg."

The world went silent. I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. A roar filled my ears, and my mind went blank. No wonder my body had felt so alien after the D&C.

The man I had loved for six years. He had personally destroyed my chance of ever being a mother. All for the woman who had murdered our child.

A vicious, churning pain erupted in my chest, a pain so dense it felt like it was going to tear me apart from the inside out. I doubled over, each breath a fresh slice of agony, like death by a thousand cuts.

A flicker of guilt and pity crossed Damian's face. He started to step toward me, but Lana went limp in his arms. "Damian," she whimpered, "my stomach hurts… the baby… is something wrong with the baby?"

At the mention of the child, that fleeting trace of concern for me vanished. He looked at her, his priorities clear. Without another thought, he swept her up and rushed away.

As I watched his retreating back, the last ember of warmth in my heart died, leaving behind nothing but cold, hard ash. I leaned against the wall, my gaze empty, staring at nothing. It took a long time before I could raise my phone and dial a number that had lain dormant for years.

"I've made my decision. I'm coming back. The marriage alliance with the Hawthornes of the North… I'll accept."