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Every inch of him burned with agony, his chest tightening in pain that seemed unbearable. He was struggling to keep it together. His hand pressed against his chest as the overwhelming pain raked through him. He was fighting to stay composed, but his forehead was slick with sweat, his body filled with anguish.

His forehead tensed, his jaw clenched, and his eyes stared ahead, unfocused. He was standing, but barely. His legs were holding him up out of habit, not strength.

“You both are doing it regularly,” Pamela said, her voice tight with worry. “Then there shouldn’t be any problem getting pregnant. You need to go to the hospital for a full checkup, Sienna. I’ll go with you. We need to make sure your body is healthy.”

“Enough, Mom.” Sienna groaned, grabbing her mother by the arm. “Let’s go. Theo must be waiting for us.”

Their footsteps echoed as they walked away, slowly fading down the hallway.

Adrian leaned back against the cold wall, breathing heavily. He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. His fist came up and pressed against his mouth. Then, without warning, he slammed that fist into the wall.

The loud thump rang through the bathroom.

His knuckles split open against the hard tile, blood seeping out instantly, but the sting didn’t even register.

The real pain was in his chest.

Unbearable. Suffocating. Like someone had ripped something vital out of him.

His shoulders shook. His voice cracked as he muttered through clenched teeth, “What the fuck am I even doing?”

He sucked in a shuddering breath, his eyes squeezing shut as memories of their years together flashed through his mind.

He opened his eyes slowly, the whites bloodshot, and whispered, “I should’ve treated you better.”

His voice was hoarse. Broken.

“Then you’d still be mine. I wouldn’t have to share you with anyone else. You wouldn’t be someone else’s wife. You’d only belong to me.”

The words choked out of him, like shards of glass dragging through his throat.

Some time later, Adrian finally stepped out of the room. His face was pale, jaw tight, hair slightly messy as if he’d run his hands through it too many times.

Matthew spotted him and instantly frowned.

‘Something’s off,’ he thought. ‘I’ve never seen Mr. Vaughn like this. He always hides behind that ruthless mask, but today it’s gone.’

“Sir,” Matthew called gently, holding out a phone. “That emerald diamond ring you requested a few months ago…”

Adrian looked up, his gaze heavy. He pushed his hair back with one hand. “Yeah?”

“It’s going to be auctioned soon. By the Emperor Empire. It’s part of their generational estate. Since we’ve been tracking it, I wanted to ask how high should we go for it?”

Adrian’s gaze sharpened. He swiped his hair back with one hand, his eyes narrowing. “No budget,” he said quietly. “I don’t care about the cost.”

He took the phone, his fingers wrapping tightly around it, the veins on his hand popping.

“Pay ten times more than anyone else if you have to. I want that ring, no matter what.”

Matthew nodded, a bit startled by the steel in his voice.

13 A Ring

Sienna’s phone lit up as she sat in her living room.

‘I’m waiting for you at Blue Orchid.’

Her fingers tightened around her phone, her eyes scanning the message before she froze, biting her lip in thought. A nervous flutter of anticipation coursed through her, but she pushed it down quickly.