CHAPTER 1 — THE KENNEL
Raina could still feel the cold metal beneath her palms.
She had stopped crying twenty minutes ago.
Not because she wasn't afraid.
Not because she wasn't hurt.
But because something inside her had gone completely still.
The baby inside her shifted.
A slow, heavy movement beneath her ribs.
Raina lowered one trembling hand to her stomach.
“It's okay,” she whispered.
The words were meant for the baby.
But they were also meant for herself.
“Mommy's here.”
Outside the kennel, Damon stood with his arms folded.
He didn't look ashamed.
That was the part Raina couldn't understand.
He didn't look conflicted.
He didn't look angry.
He looked bored.
As if locking his eight-month-pregnant wife inside a kennel was merely an inconvenience he had been forced to deal with.
Behind him stood Lacey.
Raina's robe hung from Lacey's shoulders.
It was the ivory silk robe Damon had bought for Raina three Christmases ago.
The initials R.M. had been embroidered into the cuff.
Raina remembered opening the box.
She remembered Damon kissing her forehead.
She remembered him telling her that no other woman would ever wear anything that belonged to her.
Now Lacey was wearing it.
And smiling.
“Damon,” Raina whispered.
He finally looked at her.
“Let me out.”
“No.”
“I'm pregnant.”
“I know.”
“I'm your wife.”
Damon's jaw tightened.
“Not for much longer.”
Raina stared at him.
The words didn't hurt because they were unexpected.
They hurt because she finally understood that he had already made his decision.
There would be no apology.
No explanation.
No sudden realization.
Damon had chosen Lacey.
And he had chosen to humiliate Raina before destroying her.
“Why?” Raina asked.
Lacey laughed softly.
“Still asking that?”
Raina turned toward her.
Lacey walked closer to the kennel.
She crouched.
Their faces were almost level.
“You really don't understand, do you?”
“Understand what?”
“That none of this belongs to you anymore.”
Raina's eyes narrowed.
“What are you talking about?”
Lacey stood.
She slowly adjusted the belt of the silk robe.
“This house.”
She pointed toward the mansion.
“Your closet.”
She glanced down at herself.
“Your husband.”
Then she smiled.
“And soon, your baby.”
Raina's stomach tightened.
“Don't you ever talk about my child.”
Lacey's smile disappeared.
For the first time, something colder appeared in her eyes.
“You should be careful, Raina.”
“Careful of what?”
“People who have nothing left to lose.”
Raina stared at her.
Then Damon spoke.
“Enough.”
He walked toward the kennel.
Raina instinctively moved backward.
Damon reached down and wrapped his hand around the latch.
“Tomorrow morning, lawyers will come.”
Raina's breathing stopped.
“What lawyers?”
“You'll sign the divorce papers.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I won't.”
Damon looked at her without emotion.
“You don't have a choice.”
Raina gave a broken laugh.
“Of course I have a choice.”
“No, you don't.”
“You can't divorce me and take everything.”
“I already can.”
Raina's face changed.
“What?”
Damon smiled.
It was the smile she had once loved.
Now it terrified her.
“The company accounts are frozen.”
Her heart sank.
“The house has been transferred.”
“What?”
“The cars too.”
Raina stared at him.
“You transferred our property?”
“Your name was removed.”
“That isn't legal.”
“It is when you signed the documents.”
“I never signed anything.”
Damon's expression hardened.
“You did.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“I would remember.”
“You were pregnant. You were sick. You were exhausted.”
Raina's blood ran cold.
“What did you do?”
Damon turned away.
Lacey answered for him.
“He used your medical authorization.”
Raina looked at her.
“What?”
“Your signature.”
Lacey smiled.
“Your husband knows how to make paperwork disappear.”
Raina's mind raced.
She remembered documents Damon had brought home months earlier.
Insurance forms.
Banking documents.
Company restructuring papers.
He had told her they were routine.
She had signed some.
But not property transfers.
Not ownership documents.
Not anything giving Damon control over her personal assets.
“Show me,” Raina demanded.
Damon laughed.
“You're not in a position to demand anything.”
Then the sound of tires approaching came from beyond the gates.
Everyone turned.
A black SUV rolled slowly onto the property.
Another followed.
Then another.
Damon's smile vanished.
Lacey straightened.
Raina looked through the bars.
The first SUV stopped.
The rear door opened.
Orson stepped out.
Raina's father.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Orson looked at the mansion.
Then at the kennel.
Then at his daughter.
His face changed.
Not dramatically.
That would have been easier to understand.
Instead, it became completely expressionless.
That was what frightened Damon.
Orson walked forward.
“Raina.”
Her lips trembled.
“Dad…”
He reached the kennel.
His eyes moved over her swollen stomach.
Then to the metal bars.
Then to Damon.
“Open it.”
Damon swallowed.
“Orson, this isn't—”
“Open.”
The word wasn't loud.
But Damon stepped backward.
One of Orson's bodyguards moved forward.
The lock was opened.
Raina stumbled out.
Orson caught her before she fell.
She buried her face against his chest.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then came the words Orson would remember for the rest of his life.
“They put me in here because I'm pregnant.”
Orson closed his eyes.
His hand tightened around her shoulder.
“I know.”
“They moved my things.”
“I know.”
“Dad…”
She looked toward Lacey.
“She is wearing my robe.”
Orson slowly turned.
Lacey suddenly looked less confident.
Orson studied her from head to toe.
Then he looked at Damon.
“Is this the woman you replaced my daughter with?”
Damon lifted his chin.
“Yes.”
Orson nodded.
“Fine.”
Damon blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Orson's voice remained calm.
“Keep her.”
Damon frowned.
“Gladly.”
Orson looked at him.
“But you're leaving with her.”
Damon's face hardened.
“This is my house.”
Orson smiled faintly.
“No.”
Damon froze.
Orson reached into his coat.
He removed a thin black folder.
And placed it on the hood of the SUV.
“That's where you're wrong.”
Damon looked at the folder.
“What is that?”
“Your first warning.”
Damon didn't touch it.
Orson continued.
“You think this mansion is yours.”
He glanced toward the enormous house.
“You think the company is yours.”
Another pause.
“You think the money is yours.”
Orson stepped closer.
“But you never asked one important question.”
Damon stared at him.
“What question?”
Orson's eyes became ice.
“Who actually owns the assets you stole?”
Damon's face went pale.
Raina looked at her father.
“Dad?”
Orson turned toward her.
“Come home.”
Raina shook her head.
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“They'll take the baby.”
“No.”
“They said—”
“I said no.”
Orson gently touched her cheek.
“Because they don't know what I know.”
Raina frowned.
“What do you know?”
Orson looked toward Damon.
“Your husband has spent the last eighteen months stealing from the wrong family.”
Damon's eyes widened.
May you like
Orson smiled.
“And tomorrow morning, we're going to show him exactly how expensive that mistake was.”
