ManyWriters

I sold my body to my husband, Cade Sterling.
One hundred thousand dollars. That was his price for a night with me. The only thing keeping our son, Leo, alive.
My stepmother whispered lies in his ear, and he believed them. He forced another woman into our bed while I was forced onto an operating table.
"You're pregnant," the nurse said, her voice a sterile blade. "Mr. Sterling has requested a termination."
Then, I was forced to watch my son Leo, my only reason for living, leap from a cliff to save me from further torment.
He was gone.
My husband had murdered our first child, and now our second. There was nothing left to live for.
In the cold, scarlet water of the bathtub, I finally let go.
But as darkness claimed me, I didn't know the truth was a far more cruel and twisted thing than I could have ever imagined.
And that Cade Sterling, my tormentor, was about to pay a price far greater than money could ever cover.

His Ruinous Price

Logan stood waiting for Cade just outside the emergency room doors.


Cade emerged, his expression a mask of grim impatience. "Find everything. I want a full report on what happened to her during those years."


Even if their breakup had been as vicious as he believed, it made no sense for Julian to inflict such a permanent, savage injury.


"Consider it done." Logan watched Cade start back toward Aria's ward, then hesitated before stepping in his path again.


He was aware he was overstepping, but the truth had to come out. He owed a debt to the Montgomery family for their kindness years ago, a debt he intended to repay.


"Sir, there’s something else I think you need to see."


"A few days before the incident, I met with young Mr. Montgomery. He asked for my help, so I went to him."


Logan paused, gauging Cade's reaction. Seeing no immediate explosion, he pressed on. "Sir, Leo wanted me to get a sample of your hair. He wanted to run a paternity test."


"You refused to believe he was your son, and you made... you made Ms. Montgomery pay for it," he stammered, his voice low. "He decided to find the truth for her. I got the hair sample, and I ran the test."


Cade’s hands clenched into fists at his sides as he struggled to process the information. All the pain, all the punishment he had inflicted on her... it would all be for nothing if Leo was his.


The question came out as a raw, raspy whisper after a silence that stretched for an eternity.


The floor seemed to tilt beneath Cade's feet. The words hit him like a physical blow, so shocking he stumbled, his balance failing him.


Leo was his. She had been telling the truth. There was no abortion six years ago.


He remembered her desperate claims about Kendra's threats. With her father's life on the line, she had been forced to play Kendra's twisted game.


First, the lie about the abortion. Then, the brutal, public breakup. She had done exactly as Kendra demanded.


And then there were the other accusations—that Kendra had murdered her father and framed her for it, leading to five years in prison.


What if all of it... what if every single word had been the truth?


The idea seemed preposterous. Kendra was the one who had stayed by his side when he was broken, a cripple in a wheelchair. He couldn't reconcile that image with the monster Aria described. She had always been so gentle, so full of compassion.


Logan spoke again, his voice firm. "I got the results a few days ago. Something felt wrong, so I started digging."


"Boss, I have everything you wanted to know. Ms. Montgomery was telling the truth. She spent the last five years in prison."


"What did you say? In prison?" Cade's question was barely a breath, laced with a dawning, sickening horror.


Logan saw the network of red veins in Cade’s eyes and understood that the most powerful man in New York was anything but invincible. He had a weakness. Her name was Aria.


The truth would be a brutal awakening, but Cade needed to know the full extent of the injustice Aria had suffered. Logan nodded. "Yes, sir. Ms. Montgomery was sentenced to five years. And from what I've found, the inmates made her life a living hell almost every single day."


Logan's nod was solemn, and a dark, dangerous rage began to smolder in Cade's eyes. "What do you mean by that?"


Chapter 13