Maya's POV
"What do you mean the news isn't good?" Ethan's voice is sharp with panic.
The doctor looks at me and Derek standing in the hallway, then back at Ethan. "Perhaps we should speak privately?"
"They can hear it," Ethan says. "Just tell me. Is my sister alive?"
"She's alive, but unconscious. Someone injected her with a sedative—a very dangerous amount. If the nurse hadn't found her when she did, your sister would have died."
My legs feel weak. Someone tried to murder Ethan's sister. Because of us. Because of our revenge plan.
"Did you catch who did it?" Derek asks urgently.
The doctor shakes her head. "Security cameras were disabled. Whoever did this knew exactly how to avoid detection."
"My father," Derek says quietly, his face pale. "This has his fingerprints all over it. He always knows how to cover his tracks."
Ethan looks like he wants to kill someone. "Can I see her?"
"For a few minutes. She needs rest." The doctor opens the door to the hospital room.
Ethan disappears inside. I stand in the hallway with Derek, the silence between us heavy and uncomfortable.
"Why are you really here?" I finally ask. "Why would you warn us?"
"Because I just realized my father is a monster." Derek's voice breaks. "At the gala, when Ethan accused him of murder, I saw it in his eyes. The truth. My father is capable of killing people who get in his way."
"Like my mother," I say coldly.
Derek's eyes widen. "Your mother? What does your mother have to do with this?"
"Your father had her killed fifteen years ago. She was going to expose his crimes. He tampered with her car brakes and made it look like an accident."
Derek stumbles backward like I slapped him. "No. That's not—he wouldn't—"
"He would. He did. And your aunt Patricia helped him cover it up."
"Patricia isn't my aunt," Derek says automatically. Then he stops. "Wait. Patricia is Dad's sister? Since when?"
"Since always. Your father arranged her marriage to my father to control him. That's why my parents' relationship was so complicated. My father was already married to Patricia when he fell in love with my mother."
Derek sinks against the wall, his face white. "This can't be real. My whole life is built on lies."
"Welcome to my world," I say bitterly.
The hospital room door opens. Ethan steps out, his jaw tight with barely controlled rage. "She's stable for now. But the doctor says the sedative could have long-term effects on her brain. She might never be the same."
"I'm so sorry," I whisper.
"Sorry doesn't help." Ethan's eyes are cold, empty. "My sister was already broken. Now she might be destroyed completely. All because James Walsh wants to hurt me."
"He wants to hurt both of us," I correct. "He's attacking the people we love."
Derek pushes off the wall. "That's why I'm here. To warn you. My father held an emergency meeting after you left the gala. He's planning to destroy you both—financially, legally, personally. He has contacts everywhere. Judges, police, reporters. He's going to make you look like criminals."
"Let him try," Ethan says darkly. "I have my own contacts. My own resources."
"You don't understand." Derek grabs Ethan's arm desperately. "My father doesn't just want to beat you. He wants to erase you. He's done it before to people who challenged him. He'll make sure neither of you can work, can find housing, can exist in this city. And if that doesn't work—"
"He'll kill us," I finish. "Like he killed my mother."
"Yes." Derek looks at me with genuine fear in his eyes. "Maya, please. You need to get out of this city. Both of you. Disappear before he destroys you."
"I'm not running," I say firmly. "Not from him. Not from anyone."
"Then you're going to die!" Derek shouts. "Don't you understand? My father always wins! He's untouchable!"
"No one is untouchable," Ethan says quietly. "Your father has been winning because no one was strong enough to fight back. But we are. And we're not stopping until he pays for every life he's ruined."
Derek looks between us, seeing our determination. "You're both insane. This isn't a game. This is life and death."
"I know." I meet Derek's eyes. "And I choose to fight. Even if it kills me, I'm taking your father down."
Derek stares at me like he's never seen me before. "You've changed. The Maya I knew would never risk her life for revenge."
"The Maya you knew died when you abandoned her," I say coldly. "This is who I am now."
A nurse approaches us. "Excuse me, but visiting hours are over. You all need to leave."
Ethan nods. "I'll be back tomorrow morning. If anything changes with my sister's condition, call me immediately."
"Of course, Mr. Stone."
We walk toward the elevator in tense silence. Derek follows us like he has nowhere else to go.
"Where's your new wife?" I ask Derek as we wait for the elevator. "Shouldn't Vanessa be with you right now?"
Derek's face twists with anger and pain. "I don't know where she is. After the truth came out at the gala, she disappeared. Probably to plan her next manipulation."
"You're still married to her," Ethan points out. "That's not going to change just because you discovered she lied."
"I'll get it annulled. The marriage was based on fraud." Derek turns to me desperately. "Maya, after the annulment, maybe we could—"
"No." I cut him off sharply. "There's no 'we.' There never will be again."
"But I love you," Derek says, his voice breaking.
"You love the idea of me," I correct. "You love that I supported you and asked for nothing. You love that I was convenient and obedient. But you don't love me enough to choose me over your father's approval."
The elevator arrives. We step inside. Derek hesitates, then follows.
As we descend, my stomach churns. The morning sickness is getting worse. I swallow hard, trying to fight the nausea.
"Are you okay?" Ethan asks, noticing my discomfort.
"Fine. Just tired." I lean against the elevator wall, breathing slowly.
"You look pale," Derek observes. "Maybe you should see a doctor."
"I don't need a doctor," I snap. "I need everyone to stop hovering over me."
The elevator opens in the parking garage. We step out into the cold, echoing space.
"Maya, wait." Derek grabs my arm. "Please. Just give me five minutes to explain. To apologize properly. To—"
"Let go of her," Ethan says dangerously.
Derek releases my arm but doesn't step back. "I know I hurt you. I know I don't deserve forgiveness. But Maya, we had six years together. That has to mean something."
"It meant everything," I say quietly. "And you threw it away. Now it means nothing."
"I'll spend the rest of my life proving I've changed," Derek pleads. "I'll fight my father. I'll leave the family business. I'll do whatever it takes to show you—"
"You'll do it because it's the right thing to do," I interrupt. "Not because you want me back. I'm not your motivation anymore, Derek. I'm not your girlfriend, your fiancée, or your friend. I'm nothing to you."
"You're everything to me," he whispers.
My heart aches. Part of me—the part that loved him for six years—wants to believe him. Wants to forgive him. Wants to pretend yesterday never happened.
But I can't. Too much has changed. I've changed.
"Goodbye, Derek." I turn and walk toward Ethan's car.
Derek doesn't follow. He just stands there in the parking garage, broken and alone.
Ethan opens the car door for me. I slide inside, my whole body shaking with emotion and nausea.
As we drive away, I look back and see Derek still standing there, watching us leave.
"You okay?" Ethan asks gently.
"I don't know." Tears stream down my face. "I just told the man I loved for six years that he means nothing to me."
"Did you mean it?"
"Yes. No. I don't know." I wipe my face angrily. "How can I still care about him after everything he did?"
"Because love doesn't die instantly just because someone hurts you," Ethan says. "It fades slowly. Painfully. But it does fade eventually."
"How do you know?"
"I loved someone once. She left me when my father lost everything. Couldn't handle being poor." His voice is flat, emotionless. "Took me years to stop caring. But eventually, I did."
We drive in silence for several minutes. My nausea gets worse. I roll down the window, letting cold air hit my face.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ethan asks with concern.
"Just car sick." Another lie. I'm getting good at lying to him.
We pull up to the penthouse building. Ethan parks and we ride the elevator up. I grip the railing, fighting waves of nausea.
The elevator doors open. I rush to my bedroom and lock the door.
I barely make it to the bathroom before I'm sick. Again. The morning sickness is relentless.
When I finally stop, I brush my teeth and wash my face. I look terrible—pale, exhausted, eyes red from crying.
I'm pregnant with Derek's baby. Derek, who just begged me for another chance. Derek, who might actually deserve a second chance now that he knows his father's crimes.
Should I tell him about the baby? Does he have a right to know?
I don't know anymore. Everything is too complicated.
I change into pajamas and climb into bed. My body aches with exhaustion. It's been the longest day of my life.
Just as I'm drifting off, I hear Ethan's voice through the wall. He must be in his bedroom on the phone with someone.
I shouldn't listen. It's wrong to eavesdrop.
But something about his tone makes me nervous. I press my ear against the wall.
"—working perfectly," Ethan says. "She trusts me now. Completely. She's even defending me against Derek."
My blood runs cold.
"The pregnancy complicates things," Ethan continues. "But it also makes her more vulnerable. More dependent on me. I can use it."
Use it. Use me. Use my pregnancy.
"Soon I'll have everything I need to destroy them all," Ethan says with satisfaction in his voice. "James Walsh, Richard Chen, Patricia, Derek—everyone connected to what happened to my father. And Maya is the perfect weapon to do it."
Weapon. He called me a weapon.
"She has no idea that the real plan goes beyond simple revenge," Ethan continues. "Once James is destroyed, I'll take control of Walsh & Associates myself. And Maya's connection to both families makes that possible."
My hands shake as I back away from the wall. This whole time, I thought we were partners. I thought Ethan actually cared about helping me.
But he's been using me. Just like everyone else.
The pregnancy, my pain, my desire for justice—all of it is just tools for his real plan. Whatever that plan is.
I sink onto my bed, my mind racing. What do I do now? Confront him? Run away? Pretend I didn't hear anything?
I'm trapped in a penthouse with a man who's manipulating me for reasons I don't fully understand. I'm pregnant with my ex's baby. I'm caught between two powerful, dangerous men who both see me as a pawn in their game.
And I have no idea who I can trust anymore.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. A text from an unknown number.
"You heard him, didn't you? Now you know the truth. Ethan Stone is more dangerous than James Walsh ever was. Meet me tomorrow at noon. Corner of 5th and Main. I'll tell you everything—about your mother, about Ethan's real plan, about why you were always the target. Come alone. Your life depends on it."
I stare at the text, my heart pounding.
Who is this person? How do they know I overheard Ethan? Are they watching the penthouse somehow?
And more importantly—should I go to this meeting, or is it a trap?