Chapter 4

The hallway was empty.

Nothing but the clean click of my heels on polished tile.

I leaned against the wall beside the elevator and felt every ounce of strength leave my body at once. I slid down until I was sitting on the floor.

I'm forty-six years old.

Twenty-two years ago, my husband died in a car accident. I buried my grief and rebuilt everything by myself — fought through boardrooms and hostile takeovers and years of being underestimated — until I had a company worth billions.

All that time, I never once raised my hand or my voice at Vivi.

I spoiled her. I admit it. Whatever designer bag she wanted, I bought it. Whatever country she wanted to visit, I chartered the flight. When she decided she wanted to try acting, I funded the production and got her on set.

And this is what I raised.

A girl so thoroughly fooled by a man that she carved out her own organ to prove her love.

I thought back to the night Vivi first brought Derek home — six months ago. He showed up in a cheap suit and spent the entire dinner holding court.

"Vivi is pure. Untouched by the corruption of money. I don't want that world to get its hands on her."

"Real love means stripping away all the materialism. Even if you're sharing instant noodles in a studio apartment, if you're together, it's enough."

"A woman's greatest achievement isn't her career or her net worth. It's standing beside a man who loves her and building a home."

Toxic nonsense. Every word of it.

Vivi had listened with tears running down her face.

She told me afterward that I was the problem — too obsessed with work, too consumed by money, too cold to understand what love actually felt like.

When I dug into Derek's background and found the debt and the manipulation and the pattern, I cut off Vivi's accounts and told her it was over.

She stopped eating. She disappeared.

She used her own suffering to force my hand.

A mother can never win against a daughter who's willing to destroy herself.

So today, I had come here ready to give in. Pay off his debts, swallow my pride, and accept him into the family.

Then I found out about the kidney.

I've spent decades in cutthroat business. I know a calculated move when I see one.

This wasn't impulsive. This was deliberate.

Derek knew I only had one child. One heir.

If he could permanently damage Vivi — make her physically dependent, emotionally broken, impossible to separate from him — then my entire fortune would eventually flow through her, and straight into his hands.

This wasn't a love story.

This was a predator executing a very specific plan.

The most heartbreaking part was Vivi.

She was the lamb on the chopping block, convinced she'd found the love of her life.

She'd decided that no matter how angry I got, my money would come to her eventually. She thought that gave her all the leverage she needed.

Ding.

The elevator opened.

My personal assistant and bodyguard, Cole, stepped out. He was holding a freshly settled hospital bill.

"Ms. Sullivan. All charges have been cleared."

Cole is thirty-two. Six foot two. Former Special Forces. Sharp features, composed face, not a word wasted. He's been with me for six years, and there is no one in the world I trust more.

I looked at his broad, steady shoulders, and a thought detonated in my mind.

Wild. Logical. Completely irreversible.

I'm forty-six, but I've invested heavily in my health for years — top-tier doctors, annual comprehensive screenings, tailored nutrition and training programs. Last month's full physical confirmed it: every metric, optimal. Fully capable of carrying a child.

Vivi had made her choice. She'd handed her body to a man who saw it as a transaction.

Why should I leave my life's work to someone who would hand it straight to him?

Starting over — was that really so far-fetched?

"Cole."

I stood up. I looked directly into his eyes.

"Come with me to the car."