"Mr. Anderson, a package arrived at the front desk for you." Assistant Cook pushed the door open, his expression grim.

"A package?" Maximus Anderson frowned. He took the padded envelope, tore it open, and dumped the contents onto his desk. A digital voice recorder slid out.

He toyed with the device, his brow furrowed. Who would send this? What was the endgame?

"Mr. Anderson, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head out."

Maximus nodded, lost in thought. He pressed play.

"Five hundred thousand. Make sure she gets a taste of prison hospitality," a voice crackled through the speaker.

Delilah Kelly? It was undeniably her.

Five hundred thousand? Hospitality for whom?

Maximus narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening on the recorder.

"Understood, Miss Kelly. Rest assured, we’ll take great care of her," a second voice replied, raspy and cold.

Miss Kelly. It was definitely Delilah. What was she planning?

Prison? The gears in his head turned. Rose Harrison—he remembered, dimly, that she had been brutally beaten in prison, an assault that had led to her miscarriage.

"Oh, and one more thing. Make sure you pay special attention to her belly. Do it right, and there’s another hundred thousand in it for you."

"The belly? She’s pregnant? Understood. It’ll be taken care of."

The recording cut to static.

Maximus’s gaze deepened, a dark, suffocating rage clouding his vision. For a long time, he just sat there, the silence in the office becoming absolute. Finally, he snapped out of his trance, grabbed his keys from the desk, and stormed out. He needed answers.

At the Anderson Estate, Delilah was lounging on a chaise, enjoying a sunbath.

From a distance, she spotted Maximus’s tall, imposing figure approaching. Her face lit up. She jumped to her feet, beaming as she hurried toward him. "Max! You’re home!"

Delilah threw her arms around him, burying her face against his chest like a happy bird returning to its nest.

Maximus pulled her close, his voice unnervingly calm. "How are you feeling today? Any better?"

"Much better! Martha has been fussing over me with bone broth and vitamins every single day. Look, I’ve even put on some weight." She pouted, patting her stomach playfully. "I’m getting a little chubby right here."

"You, though," Maximus murmured, reaching up to pinch her nose with a look of feigned doting.

"I have a question for you."

"Hm? Ask away."

"Do you really hate Rose Harrison?"

Delilah froze for a split second before forcing a laugh. "Max, why would you ask that? I mean... I guess I do? She’s the one who stole you away from me, isn't she?"

"So," Maximus’s voice dropped, turning into a blade of ice. "Is that why you hired people to torment her in prison?"

He stared at her, his eyes frozen over. Delilah’s face drained of color, her eyes darting frantically as she realized the trap she had walked into.

"I... I didn't... I didn't do anything!" She looked down, trembling, denying it with everything she had.

But her mind raced back to that day at the hospital—the moment she’d caught Rose walking out of the OB-GYN, clutching an ultrasound image with a pea-sized image of a fetus.

She felt a surge of pure venom. No. It couldn't happen.

She would never let Rose Harrison carry Maximus’s child. Not then, not ever. Mrs. Anderson was a title meant for her, and any heir to the Anderson fortune would only ever belong to Delilah Kelly.