At headquarters, Julian turned to the officer with his usual courteous smile.

“Thank you. This might take a while. Why don’t you come inside?”

The officer accepted.

He sat in the waiting area outside Julian’s office.

Julian asked an assistant to bring him refreshments, then went in alone.

The office glass was one-way. Nobody outside could see through it.

The moment the door closed, his smile vanished.

The inner door opened.

Anna stepped out.

So she had made the call at the house.

“I told you not to contact me for a while. I’m busy. I don’t have time for this.”

His eyes were cold with impatience.

She sat on the sofa and watched him with a knowing smile.

“Busy finding a replacement Stella to fool the police? So they don’t realize you killed—”

He crossed the room and clamped a hand over her mouth.

For a moment, his eyes were vicious.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

His voice was barely audible.

I looked at her, surprised.

Did she really know?

She pulled his hand away.

“No secret stays buried forever. But relax. You’re my baby’s father. Of course I’m on your side.”

One hand settled over her stomach.

The other stroked his uncertain face.

“Keep your promises. Make me Mrs. Whitmore. I won’t say a word. But if you lie to me…”

Her smile cooled.

“I won’t let you get away with it. I’m not Stella. I’m not stupid enough to give you my life without keeping a way out.”

I laughed.

She knew he had murdered me and still imagined marrying him.

She thought I had died because I hadn’t been clever enough.

At twenty-four, I had become CEO. Within three years, I had doubled the group’s value.

She had worked beside me and learned nothing.

All her attention had gone into finding a shortcut through a man.

Of course she wasn’t me.

Julian hadn’t killed me because I couldn’t think.

I had been so starved of affection that a little warmth from him became salvation.

My whole world.

She had no idea how false he could be.

“Darling. What are you saying?”

He changed faces in an instant.

Gentle again.

Harmless.

He caught her hand and kissed it, stroking the back with his thumb.

“Of course I’ll marry you. You’re the mother of my child. My future wife. But be careful what you say. Stella is still my wife. She’s in Veyra. We don’t know whether—”

Anna laughed.

“I know what happened the night you registered the marriage. After working late, she left the office to meet you.”

His expression shifted.

She put her arms around his neck and breathed against his ear.

“I was her secretary for three years. I know her habits. She only dressed up and wore your favorite rose perfume when she was going to see you.”

I remembered.

That night, Anna had come back as I reached the elevator.

She said she had forgotten something.

Then she complimented me.

“You look beautiful tonight. Is that perfume? It’s lovely. Going on a date?”

I had been in a hurry.

Only as the doors closed did I look back.

Something about her eyes had seemed strange.

Now I understood.

She had been smiling through resentment and jealousy.

But that wasn’t all she knew.

“Do you know the important part?”

She looked straight at Julian.

“After you got engaged, I was so jealous I could barely sleep. Every night, I wondered what you were doing with her. So I put tracking software on both your phones.”

Location records.

They could prove he had been with me on the night I disappeared.

Real evidence.

The discovery came so suddenly I could hardly absorb it.

Julian hadn’t expected it either.

For all his careful planning, a woman he considered an insignificant plaything had outmaneuvered him.

He couldn’t even smile.

“You dared spy on me?”

“There’s more. I followed you that night. Took photographs. Remember when Stella pulled off your mask? I got a very clear picture of your face.”

Another blow.

She wasn’t afraid.

She leaned in and lightly bit his ear.

Her tender voice carried a threat in every word.

“You’re my baby’s father. We’re on the same side. Marry me as promised, and I’ll take this secret to my grave.”

A finger touched his lips.

“But betray me, and who knows whose inbox those pictures might reach? Detective Hayes. Or the man who frightens you most. Lucian Blackwood.”

As my secretary, she knew his private email address.

Julian seized her wrist.

He stared at her with a hatred I could almost feel.

Then he calmed.

“I underestimated you.”

He kissed her hard twice, smearing her lipstick.

With red staining his mouth like blood, he smiled.

“Apparently, I have no choice now. You’ve trapped me for life, you little devil.”

She laughed and held his neck.

“Treat me well. Make me your wife. We can be happy together.”

His smile grew softer.

“I never intended anything else. You’re far more appealing than that stiff, lifeless woman.”

He stroked her hair.

“But Stella’s disappearance became too public. And Lucian won’t let go. I was going to bring back the replacement, quiet everything down, then divorce her and send her away. After that, there’d be nothing stopping us.”

Anna didn’t seem to care how much was true.

She held the evidence.

“One month. Then I become your wife.”

“I can hardly wait.”

Before he left, she gave him one last warning.

“Don’t think you can get rid of me. I’m not Stella. The evidence is in another email account, scheduled to send every day unless I cancel it. That takes my password and an iris scan.”

She straightened his collar like a wife sending her husband to work.

“If anything happens to me, you’re finished, too.”

Her voice was sweet.

“The three of us can go to hell together. A perfect little family.”