Seven Years Ago
The rain hadn't started yet, but the wind had picked up — brushing through the garden like it was trying to whisper secrets.
Lumina Harrison stood under the grand arch of the Blackwood estate, her coat clutched tight around her shoulders, her stomach twisting with unease.
She was three months pregnant.
And no one knew.
Not Adrian. Not her father. Not Clarisse or Elise. Not even Seraphina — though Lumina had a feeling that woman suspected everything.
She had been waiting to tell Adrian. Waiting for the moment he'd look at her not like a corporate obligation, but like a husband.
That moment never came.
---
Adrian was late.
He was always late lately.
She watched the time flicker across her phone screen, each minute a slap to her pride. He had promised to meet her here. To talk — really talk — for the first time in weeks.
He had said he wanted to "start fresh."
But instead, Seraphina showed up.
Gliding down the stone hallway like she owned the place.
"Adrian's busy," she said with that perfect, polished smile. "Board meeting ran long. You know how it is."
Lumina blinked. "He texted me to meet him here."
Seraphina shrugged, stepping closer. "Well, you know how men lie when they're uncomfortable."
There was something cruel in her tone. Something knowing.
Lumina kept her voice steady. "Tell him I'll be waiting outside."
"Oh," Seraphina purred. "You might not want to do that."
Lumina narrowed her eyes. "Why?"
But Seraphina was already walking away.
---
Outside, Lumina paced the driveway, trying to calm the pounding in her chest.
She wanted to believe Adrian hadn't lied. That maybe he really was stuck in a meeting. That maybe Seraphina wasn't slipping into his life piece by piece.
But the signs were there.
The way he stopped asking her how she felt
The way he started consulting Seraphina more than her
The look in his eyes — not cold, but distant
And the text messages she'd found on his burner phone
She hadn't wanted to go through them. But Clarisse had warned her.
> "Men like him don't stay loyal, Lumina. Not when women like her are waiting in the wings."
And Clarisse never said anything unless it served her purpose.
Which meant... there was a reason she wanted Lumina to doubt her husband.
Lumina gripped her coat tighter.
She didn't trust Clarisse.
She didn't trust her father.
She didn't trust Elise, or the Harrison staff, or even her own shadow sometimes.
But the one person she wanted to trust… was Adrian.
And that was her biggest mistake.
---
The storm hit as she got into the car.
The driver was new. She didn't recognize him.
"Mrs. Blackwood?" he asked, polite.
"Yes," she replied.
He pulled away from the estate without another word.
But something felt off.
The route.
He wasn't taking the usual turn.
"Excuse me," she said, leaning forward. "You've missed the—"
His hand slid under the dashboard. A quiet click.
Lumina's blood froze.
"What did you just do?"
He didn't answer.
The car kept moving. Faster now.
She fumbled for the door handle. Locked.
Panic surged through her. She reached for her phone — no signal.
Then she saw it.
A large gas truck turning at the intersection ahead.
Moving slowly.
Perfect timing.
"No," she whispered. "No, no, no—"
She slammed her foot against the back of the driver's seat. "Stop the car! Stop!"
The driver didn't flinch.
He braked hard. Lumina lurched forward — and in that second, she made a choice.
She threw herself across the back seat, curled her arms around her stomach, and closed her eyes.
And the world exploded.
---
Hours Later
When she woke, everything was orange and smoke.
Pain sliced through her chest, her legs, her arm — but she was alive.
She heard voices.
Not paramedics. Not firemen.
Men. Talking. Whispering. Arguing.
"She's still breathing—"
"Take her. They'll assume she burned with the wreck."
"Someone's paying a lot to make sure she never comes back."
Darkness pulled her under before she could hear more.
---
Present Day
Lumina stood on the balcony of her safehouse, five years older. Wiser. Colder.
Mara joined her, handing her a file. "We traced the driver from the explosion. Name was fake, of course. But the money? Traced back to a Harrison shell account."
Lumina nodded slowly, her grip tightening.
"Clarisse," she said. "It had to be her."
Mara hesitated. "There's something else. The payment authorization was… double-signed."
Lumina turned.
"By who?"
Mara looked her in the eye.
"Adrian."
Silence fell between them like a death knell.
Lumina's chest rose and fell slowly. Not surprise. Just confirmation of something her heart had feared for years.
Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it wasn't.
But one thing was clear now:
She had loved a man who had either abandoned her…
Or tried to destroy her.
And either way, he was going to pay.