Dylan stared at my hand resting over my abdomen.

For once, he had nothing sarcastic to say.

“You’re pregnant?”

I nodded.

His face changed completely.

“With Adrian’s child?”

“Yes.”

The word felt heavier than I expected.

I had discovered it two days earlier after nearly fainting in the pharmacy.

Seven weeks.

Seven weeks meant the baby had been conceived before Adrian ended our engagement.

Before Clara.

Before the money thrown at me.

Before he looked at me like I was something embarrassing he needed to remove from his life.

Dylan sat down slowly.

“Does he know?”

“No.”

“And you’re going to tell him at the engagement party?”

I looked at the invitation.

“No.”

Dylan frowned.

“Then what exactly is the gift?”

I smiled.

“You’ll see.”

Three days later, I walked into the Beaumont estate wearing a simple black dress.

No diamonds.

No designer bag.

No attempt to look like the Laurent heiress they remembered.

Dylan walked beside me in a dark suit, hands in his pockets, looking far too amused.

The moment we entered, conversations stopped.

Bruno nearly choked on his champagne.

Victor stared at Dylan.

Clara’s smile froze.

And Adrian—

Adrian looked directly at me.

Then at Dylan.

His jaw tightened.

“So you came.”

I smiled politely.

“You invited me.”

Bruno laughed.

“Technically, I did.”

His eyes dropped toward Dylan.

“I didn’t realize you’d bring entertainment.”

Dylan smiled.

“And I didn’t realize anyone still wore that haircut voluntarily.”

Victor coughed to hide a laugh.

Bruno’s face darkened.

Adrian ignored them.

His eyes stayed on me.

“You look different.”

“I am.”

Clara approached.

She was wearing ivory.

Of course she was.

She slipped her hand into Adrian’s arm.

“We’re glad you came, Elise.”

The lie in her voice was almost elegant.

Then her eyes moved toward my stomach.

I had chosen the dress deliberately.

It didn’t hide much.

Her expression changed.

Only for a second.

But Adrian saw it.

His gaze followed hers.

He became still.

“Elise.”

I lifted a glass of sparkling water.

“Yes?”

He stared at my abdomen.

“Are you…”

Clara tightened her grip on him.

I took a sip.

“Are you what?” Dylan asked helpfully.

Adrian ignored him.

He stepped closer.

“Are you pregnant?”

The room around us suddenly became too quiet.

I could feel everyone listening.

Bruno stopped smiling.

Victor lowered his glass.

Clara’s face turned white.

I looked at Adrian.

“Yes.”

His breathing changed.

“How far?”

“Seven weeks.”

His expression collapsed.

He calculated instantly.

Clara did too.

“That’s impossible,” she whispered.

I looked at her.

“Biology usually isn’t.”

Adrian’s voice became rough.

“Is it mine?”

Dylan’s smile disappeared.

I expected the question.

Still, it hurt.

I reached into my bag.

And removed an envelope.

“This is your gift.”

Adrian took it slowly.

Inside was not an ultrasound.

Not a pregnancy report.

It was a legal document.

His eyes moved across the first page.

Then froze.

“What is this?”

“A debt acquisition agreement.”

Bruno leaned forward.

“What?”

I smiled.

“When my father died, everyone assumed the Laurent family had collapsed completely.”

I looked around the room.

“They were almost right.”

Adrian stared at the document.

I continued.

“The largest creditor holding our family’s commercial properties sold the debt last week.”

Clara frowned.

“So?”

Dylan finally grinned again.

“So she bought it.”

Silence.

Adrian looked up sharply.

“You didn’t have that kind of money.”

“No.”

I turned toward Dylan.

“But his family’s investment firm did.”

Dylan raised his glass.

“Happy engagement.”

Adrian’s face hardened.

“You borrowed money from him?”

“No.”

Dylan answered before I could.

“She gave us equity in the assets being recovered.”

He looked delighted.

“It’s called business, Adrian. You should try it sometime.”

I stepped closer.

“Which brings us to your wedding venue.”

Clara’s smile disappeared.

“What about it?”

“The Beaumont estate expansion loan was secured against one of the properties my father’s company financed.”

Her father, standing nearby, suddenly went pale.

I looked directly at him.

“You stopped making payments eight months ago.”

Clara turned.

“Dad?”

He said nothing.

I continued.

“As of yesterday, the debt belongs to my company.”

Adrian lowered the papers.

“You came here to humiliate us.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“You did that yourself.”

Then I reached into my bag again.

This time, I pulled out the ultrasound image.

Adrian’s face changed.

I held it for only a moment.

Then I put it away.

“I didn’t come to beg you to recognize this child.”

His voice dropped.

“Elise…”

“You told me to disappear.”

I looked at him calmly.

“So I did.”

Then I turned toward Clara.

“And congratulations.”

Her lips trembled.

“On what?”

“The engagement.”

I glanced around the decorated estate.

“You should enjoy the house while you can.”

Her father finally stepped forward.

“What are you threatening?”

“Nothing.”

I smiled.

“The payment deadline is Monday.”

Dylan offered me his arm.

I took it.

We had almost reached the doors when Adrian caught up.

“Elise.”

I stopped.

His voice was no longer arrogant.

“Don’t leave.”

I turned.

For the first time since my father died, Adrian Valmont looked at me as though he was the one losing everything.

“I need to know if the baby is mine.”

“You already know.”

“Elise, please.”

Please.

Interesting.

Months ago, he had thrown money at my feet.

Now he was begging me in front of the same people who had laughed while I picked it up.

Before I could answer, Clara suddenly screamed from behind us.

“Adrian!”

Everyone turned.

She was holding the debt agreement.

But she wasn’t looking at the pages.

She was looking at the signature on the final sheet.

Her father’s signature.

Beside another name.

A name I had never seen before.

Clara looked at her father in horror.

“What did you do?”

I walked back.

Dylan leaned over my shoulder and read the line.

Then even he stopped smiling.

Because according to the document, the person who had originally purchased my father’s debt before secretly selling it again…

was Adrian Valmont.

I looked at him.

My blood went cold.

“You bought my family’s debt?”

Adrian said nothing.

And suddenly, the twenty million he had given me no longer looked like a breakup payment.

It looked like hush money.