Chapter 4

I stumbled to the sink and turned on the tap.

Unfiltered tap water rushed into my mouth. I gulped it down, one mouthful after another, then dropped to the floor, coughing so hard the tears came with it.

I looked at the bottled water spilled across the floor, and at the single thin layer of crumbs left in the bag. Lying flat on the ground, I cried until I couldn't catch my breath.

The crumbs were gone, and my vision still went black in waves. To quiet the aching emptiness in my stomach, that night I filled my stomach with tap water until I couldn't drink anymore. With a belly full of water, I finally felt a little less empty and managed to fall asleep.

The next morning, the moment I opened my eyes, Vanessa called.

"The smart scale at home shows that you gained another pound yesterday."

"Your weight is growing out of control."

"Starting today, your food allowance is cut in half."

Then today's amount came through.

Two dollars.

I didn't have the strength left for much. "Is this what Adrian wants too?"

"Yes."

And she hung up.

I didn't even have the strength to be angry anymore.

I looked at the two dollars sitting quietly in my phone. And I knew. If I ate like this again today, neither my baby nor I would make it.

I went to Adrian's safe. I hesitated, then entered my own birthday.

Thankfully, the code he'd set when we first started dating was still the same.

Inside were stacks and stacks of hundred-dollar bills. Several property deeds, too, and jewelry and jade of the finest quality.

I only pulled out one of the bills.

"Just one. I only need one. He won't even notice..."

Before I rushed to the restaurant downstairs, I shut the safe and put everything back exactly as it had been.

At the restaurant, I lifted a big mouthful with my chopsticks and shoved it in. But before I even swallowed the first bite, a police car pulled up at the door, with lights flashing.

The cuffs closed around my wrists.

"Someone reported you for breaking in and stealing. You're coming with us."

"Wait! I haven't finished eating! Please, let me finish! I'll cooperate with the investigation, I promise! Please!"

But they grabbed both my arms and hauled me out of my seat.

I heard Adrian had canceled a business trip with a major client just to deal with this.

At the station, he sat across from me and looked at me coldly. "Do you have any idea that was the money I'd set aside for our baby's nursery?"

I kept my head down and ate my sandwiches.

Adrian frowned. "Stealing from me is one thing. Now you're even using our baby as an excuse to get your hands on money."

"Are you even a mother?"

I picked up every last crumb that had fallen onto the table and ate it.

Then I looked up hopefully at the officer. "Can I get another one?"

"Sophia! Stop pretending to be crazy!"

Adrian slammed his hand on the table. "Where did you spend the money I'd set aside for the baby?"

"Don't bother me while I'm eating."

The officer handed me another piece of sandwich. I lowered my head and ate, each mouthful tasting bitter.

Adrian's patience wore thin. He gave up trying to get through to me, turned to the firm's best lawyer, and ordered, "Get her the maximum sentence. Whatever the law allows, I want the full punishment. Don't go easy on her."

"Yes, Mr. Preston."

"You're hiring a lawyer to put me away?"

I swallowed the last bite of the sandwich.

Adrian turned back, frowning.

I stood up. "Adrian, if you've really got what it takes, have your lawyer get me a life sentence. Then I'll never have to leave prison again, not for the rest of my life!"

"What are you talking about?"

His frown deepened.

"What am I talking about? Adrian Preston, let me make one thing clear. I'd be perfectly happy to rot in prison for the rest of my life!"

"At least in prison, I'd get enough to eat."

"And the state would even give me a few bucks a month to buy myself something extra to eat!"

"I'm done being Mrs. Preston! I'd rather spend the rest of my life in prison than another day as your wife!"

He looked at me like I was out of my mind.

"I cut your food allowance because you kept wasting money on useless luxury crap!"

I was so furious that I laughed.

"Luxury crap? Mr. Preston actually thinks I can afford luxury?"

"I'm not your secretary. I don't get a three-million-dollar necklace from you. I don't get to wear designer couture to your partnership summit. And I certainly don't get to play one half of the golden couple everyone envies!"

"Because I'm pregnant. Because I've gained weight. I'm no longer good enough to be seen with you in public!"

He went completely still.

He turned around and frowned at me.

"Why would you think that?"

"Isn't that exactly what you wanted?"

My eyes burned as I spoke, tears threatening to spill.

"You installed a scale in the house and made me weigh myself and record my weight every single day."

"The second I gained even a little weight, you cut my allowance."

"First it went from eight dollars a day to four, then from four down to two!"

"You can buy Vanessa Croft a three-million-dollar necklace, but the moment I spend a hundred dollars of your money on a piece of bread, you want to have me thrown in jail!"

His lawyer stared at me in shock.

"Mrs. Preston, Mr. Preston never—"

"Enough."

Adrian raised a hand to silence him, then walked over to me.

He bent down and looked at me.

"Go on."