My Empire, My Son, My New Love

ery room, my husband was on the front page of

ed his actress mistress away to a luxury resort in the Swiss

me, claiming my husband wished I had died in childbirth. The

f the woman who secretly snuck into our nursery

from me, and even tried to take

everything else. I was an orphan, a betrayed wife, and th

ought Kane Powell was the most powe

pte

ed words like "complications" and "miracle," clinging to life felt like a war I barely won. But the real fight, the on

While I almost died bringing his child into the world, Kane, my powerful tech CEO husband, was making headlin

darkness of depression. My only brother, a tragic memory. I was an orphan, now a betrayed wife, barely a mother. They murmured a

y cultivated vulnerability and wide, innocent eyes. He whisked her away to a secluded luxury resort in the Swiss Alps, a fortress built to shield his mistress from

range mix of exhaustion and irritation. There was no remorse in his eyes, no

e flat, devoid of the warmth I o

gh weak, was steady. "About what, Ka

guilt, but annoyance. "It' s not what you think. It'

h, a painful rasp. "It looked prett

"You' ve been investigating me?" His tone was accusa

dside table. I tapped the screen, turning it towards him. It displayed a leaked photo, clear and undeniable: Kane, his arm wrapped around Cri

ed. "It' s not

countered, my voice gaining strength. "A setup where you' ve been spending more ti

tly styled hair. "She' s had a difficult life, Anastasia

ain. "My father died suddenly, leaving me orphaned. My mother succumbed to depression, and my only brother... gone in an

ad never seen me, not truly. Not the girl who fought through unimaginable grief. Not the woman wh

at sterile room, the newborn cries of our son echoing the emptiness in my chest. He

elf away, trying to heal. But the peace wouldn' t last. Not with Cristy Taylor still breathing the same air. I remembered Kane' s words, years ago, when he' d fi

ered. Cristy Taylor, brazen and bold, bypassed them all, appearing in my living room like a ve

I thought you' d have taken the hint by now." She glanced around my meticulously kept hom

My eyes, steady despite the rage boiling beneath my skin, met hers. "Step aside?" My voice

s complaining about how cold you are, how you never truly understood him." She leaned in, her voice dropping to a con

n home, the home I inherited, the home I built?" I scoffed. "You' re a fool, Cri

e' ll want my child, too. He told me he wants to try for a family with someone who

arely a week old. The image of her, holding my baby, the

ow and venomous. "Get out of my h

r husband? He won' t care. He told me... he told me he

This woman, this child, dared to threaten my child, dared to mock my pain, dared to suggest Kane wished for

able. My security detail, now alert, moved swiftly. "Make sure she never steps foot on a Hollywo

ced by a look of wild, desperate terror.

al men advanced, their face

red, my voice dripping with icy contempt. "You just made the bigge

muffled, desperate sound. The silence that followed w

formed into fists. The game had