Chapter 1

The day Payton threw a check in my face, I had just found out I was six weeks pregnant.

He sneered at me, his arm wrapped around his sweetheart. "Don't try to manipulate me with some bastard child."

I smiled and said okay.

He didn't know the child was Dr. Julian's, the man he looked down on the most.

He also didn't know that the divorce agreement he'd just signed didn't include a settlement fee, but evidence that would destroy his reputation.

Now he's on his knees in the rain, begging me to come back.

I touched my belly and looked at my husband beside me.

"Honey, who is this guy?"

Senna POV

At the end of the private hospital corridor, the wind cut through me like ice.

I had just tucked the ultrasound report marked "intrauterine early pregnancy" into my bag when I looked up and met a pair of cold, dark eyes.

Payton.

A man of overwhelming power and influence. Also the man who had kept me for seven years.

Standing beside him was Vivian Shaw.

The woman he could never forget. The woman whose return from abroad meant I-the "replacement"-had to pack up and leave immediately.

Vivian wore an haute couture snow-white coat. The crocodile leather bag in her hand was worth more than all the "selling price" I'd collected over the past seven years.

She leaned against Payton's side like a delicate vine that needed careful tending.

"Senna?"

Vivian spoke first, her voice timid, though her eyes concealed daggers.

"What a coincidence! Why are you at the OB-GYN? Are you not feeling well?"

Payton said nothing.

He held an unlit cigarette between his fingers, his narrow eyes slightly narrowed as his gaze swept over my hand instinctively protecting my abdomen like an X-ray.

I knew that look too well.

Scrutiny, amusement, and condescending contempt from someone high above.

"Hand it over."

Payton extended his hand, his voice cold.

I gripped my bag strap tightly, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Mr. Barrett, that's my privacy."

"Privacy?"

Payton let out a scornful laugh and stepped closer. The oppressive presence of someone used to power instantly enveloped me, making it hard to breathe.

"Senna, after being with me for seven years, when have you ever had privacy? Has that ten million dollar settlement made you forget what you really are?"

He had no patience and gave a look to the bodyguard behind him.

The bodyguard immediately stepped forward and, ignoring my struggle, forcibly grabbed my bag and dumped all the documents inside onto the floor.

The ultrasound report fluttered down beside Payton's polished shoes.

He bent down to pick it up.

"Six weeks pregnant."

When Payton read those words, his tone was terrifyingly calm, but I saw his fingertips turn white as he gripped the paper.

"This timing..."

Vivian covered her mouth, looking at Payton with feigned surprise.

"Payton, it's only been three months since Senna left you. This child, could it possibly be yours?"

She paused, her eyes immediately reddening, looking like she'd suffered a terrible grievance but was forcing herself to be magnanimous.

"If it's yours, then let's bring Miss Senna back. After all, it's a life. I don't mind..."

"Who said I'm taking her back?"

Payton coldly interrupted her, his dark eyes fixed deadly on me, with incomprehensible violence churning in their depths.

"Senna, you've got some nerve."

He threw the report in my face. The sharp edge of the paper sliced across my cheek, stinging painfully.

"What did I tell you when we broke up? Take the money, get lost, and don't get any ideas you shouldn't have. You think you can force my hand with some bastard child? Look at yourself-do you even deserve it!"

Bastard child.

Those words were like two nails driven hard into my eardrums.

Five years ago, I'd been pregnant once before.

Back then, I was so happy and wanted to tell him. What I got in return was his cold "get rid of it."

That's when I understood-a replacement didn't deserve to have a child.

But I wasn't the timid Senna from five years ago anymore.

I bent down to pick up the report, dusted it off, and raised my eyes to meet his chilling gaze.

"Mr. Barrett, you've misunderstood."

I curved my lips slightly.

"This child has absolutely nothing to do with you."

"It's my husband's."