The news broke without warning: Teddy Thorne, heir to the Thorne empire, was secretly married and had a daughter. He held a press conference immediately. "There is no secret marriage, and I do not have a daughter." "It is common knowledge that I have been single for years." I stared at his cold, indifferent face on the television. Then I looked at my daughter, who was hiding in the corner, crying softly in confusion and hurt. In that moment, a years-long obsession shattered into dust. When he came home that night, I didn't rush to the door with our daughter as I always did. I didn't wait with breathless anticipation for the reunion that was always more passionate than a honeymoon. Instead, I opened the messages I'd received a few days ago. A receipt for a vasectomy, dated six days prior, and a single sentence: "Just say the word, and from now on, Penny will be my only child." Tears streamed down my face as I typed my reply: "Come and get me. I can't stay here anymore." 01 I watched Teddy Thorne’s handsome, severe face on the screen, a strange sense of detachment washing over me. He was known for his cold demeanor and deep-seated inscrutability, a man who never let his true feelings show. But he wasn't the work-obsessed ascetic the tabloids made him out to be. Teddy was a man of intense appetites, with powerful needs. Before he left on this business trip, he’d ignored my tears and pleas, tying my wrists with his silk tie and pinning me beneath him. Four times. I’d finally sunk my teeth into the side of his neck in a moment of overwhelmed frustration. There was probably still a faint mark there. The navy-blue tie he was wearing, the one with the subtle, intricate pattern, had been my anniversary gift to him. This was the fourth year of our marriage. We had a beautiful daughter. She had just turned three. And now, my husband—in name, at least—Teddy Thorne, had just used his coldest, most serious tone to announce to the world: "There is no secret marriage, and I do not have a daughter." He adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. His dark eyes held a chilling light that seemed to pierce through the screen and land squarely on me. "A word of advice to those with ulterior motives: don't delude yourselves. You will only end up humiliated." 02 With that, Teddy stood abruptly. His bodyguards and personal assistant immediately cleared a path through the throng of reporters, escorting him to his car. My hands felt like ice as I turned off the television. The living room plunged into darkness, save for the single floor lamp in the corner casting a pale, lonely light. And in that sudden silence, I heard a soft, choked sob. I whipped my head around and saw her. My tiny daughter, standing frozen in the shadows, her face streaked with tears, her eyes wide with a pain she couldn't comprehend. "Penny?" I scrambled up and rushed to her, pulling her into my arms. "Sweetheart, why aren't you in bed? What are you doing downstairs?" She buried her wet face in my chest, her little voice trembling. "Mommy, why did Daddy say he doesn't have a daughter?" "If he doesn't have a daughter… then what am I?" A knife twisted in my heart. Teddy was a man of few words, stern and serious. He loved Penny in his own way, but he was rarely home, and his smiles were even rarer. Our daughter adored him, but she was also a little afraid of him, which had made her more sensitive than other children. As my own tears began to fall, it felt as if the stubborn hope that had held me together for all these years had finally crumbled to dust. I cupped her little face, wiping away her tears. "Penny, do you want to leave this place with Mommy?" "Where will we go?" "Will we come back home later?" I looked down and managed a small, sad smile. "No, sweetie." "This isn't our home." I looked into her eyes, my voice steady and serious. "This is Mr. Thorne's house." "We've stayed for a very long time, and we've been a bother to him." "So now it's time for us to leave and go back to our own home." Penny nodded, not quite understanding but trusting me completely. "Okay, Mommy. I'll go wherever you go." "Good girl." I carried her back to her room, kissing her soft cheek. "Go to sleep now. Mommy will stay right here with you." After she was asleep, my gaze fell on the picture frame on her nightstand. It was a photo of the three of us. Our only one. In the picture, Teddy sat perfectly straight, his expression as cool and distant as ever. I was holding a one-year-old Penny, my smile a mix of shyness and bliss, my body angled slightly toward him. His, however, was not angled toward me. Once Penny was sound asleep, I took the frame and quietly left the room. As I took a pair of scissors to the photograph, a sudden, sharp realization hit me. The small gap between us in that photo, the space where our bodies never quite touched, had been left there for this very day, so I could cut along the line with ease. 03 A week later, Teddy came home. It was already ten o'clock at night. In the past, no matter how late, Penny and I would have been waiting up for him. But tonight, Penny was long since bathed and asleep. And I wasn't in the master suite. I was in a guest room on the second floor. When I heard the familiar sound of his car's engine, I was on the balcony, staring at the message I had received six days ago. The receipt for a man's vasectomy. Even now, opening it made my eyes sting. "Elara, just say the word. Just nod your head." "I will treat Penny as if she were my own." "From now on, she will be my only daughter. No, my only child." I stared at the words until the screen went dark, until I heard Teddy's footsteps on the stairs, until he came down from the third-floor master suite and stopped outside my door. A knock. "Elara, open the door." I hastily wiped my eyes and tucked my phone under the pillow. "I'm already asleep. Whatever it is, we can talk tomorrow…" But before I could finish, the door clicked open. He'd unlocked it from the outside. I was startled for a second, then remembered. This was Teddy's house. Of course, he had absolute authority here. "Why did you move to the guest room?" He sounded displeased, his voice colder than usual. I slowly sat up and looked at him. He was weary from the long flight, pressing a hand to his brow as he spoke, his voice raspy. I ignored the last flicker of pity in my heart and looked away. "I haven't been feeling well. I didn't want to get you sick." "I'm not worried about that. Move back." When I didn't move, he frowned, the expression almost imperceptible. "Elara?" "I'm tired. You should get some rest, too." He didn't answer. Instead, he strode to the bed, bent down, and swept me into his arms. "It's been a week. Don't you miss me?" he murmured, lowering his head to kiss me. I turned my face away. He froze, surprised, and his expression quickly soured into annoyance. "Elara Vance." "What is this tantrum about?" 04 In four years of marriage, I had never once refused him. His needs were immense. Except for when I had my period or he was away, we were together almost every night. On any other occasion, after a week apart, I wouldn't have gotten a wink of sleep the entire night. But back then, I had welcomed it. I was happy, even blissful. It was only in the darkness of our bedroom that I could almost believe he cared for me. Normally, I was terrified of making him angry. But in the throes of passion, a secret part of me wanted to. When he was angry, the control he so carefully maintained would shatter, and the contrast was intoxicating. We’d had a fight once. I’d run off to a friend's place in Monaco for a week, refusing to come home. Teddy had flown there himself to get me. That night, in the most luxurious penthouse suite in the city, his face was a cold mask as he unbuckled his belt with one hand. He pressed me against the massive floor-to-ceiling window, and I cried until my voice was gone, but he wouldn't stop. At the very end, he bit out the words next to my ear. "Elara, if you ever dare to run away from me again," he hissed, "I will fuck you to death in this bed." "Tears won't help you." I suppose I had a dark streak. The sight of him, cold and barely containing his rage, always did something to me. I loved seeing him lose control because of me. But not anymore. Now, my body felt sealed off, a stagnant pool of water, just like my heart. I struggled out of his arms. "Teddy, let's separate." I looked at him calmly, then gave a self-deprecating laugh. We had a child together, and yet "separate" was the only word I could use. We had no marriage license, only a private agreement. He looked stunned for a moment, then his voice hardened. "Is this because of the press conference?" I wanted to say it was more than that. That if it had only been about him denying our marriage, I might have found a hundred excuses to soothe myself. But he had denied our daughter. For days, all I could see was Penny's hurt, confused eyes. I couldn't bear it. "Yes." "You know that was just for the media," he said, his tone cool and dismissive. "I'm a very busy man. I don't have time to cater to your emotions over something so trivial." I tried to keep my composure, but my hands, hidden at my sides, were trembling. My eyes burned as if pricked by needles, but I held back the tears. "I don't need you to cater to me." "I'm serious." "You can tear up the agreement. All I want is Penny." A flicker of derision crossed his eyes. "You're using Penny to pressure me. You want me to publicly acknowledge you?" "No…" "I've told you before, that's impossible," he cut me off, his voice hard as steel. "At least, not for the next few years. It's out of the question." "Elara, I indulge you in many things. But on this, there is no room for negotiation." He looked down at me as if I were a stranger. The room was climate-controlled, but a deep, penetrating chill settled into my bones, making me shiver. Before we were married, my best friend had tried to gently warn me. But I had been full of reckless courage, completely fearless. "So what if Teddy Thorne is a block of stone?" I'd said. "Even a stone can be worn away by dripping water." But now, I was giving up. I wanted to be the free-flowing water, not the single, trapped drop, destined to fall in the same spot for the rest of its life. "Think about it tonight. When you've come to your senses, move back to the master bedroom." Teddy turned and left, closing the door a little too loudly behind him—a crack in his usually imperturbable facade. I pulled the covers over myself and closed my eyes. In a few days, his grandfather would be back from his winter retreat. He was the one who had arranged our union in the first place. If he gave his blessing, I could leave with Penny. The Thornes valued sons above all else. Teddy's mother barely looked at Penny on a good day. She had her own preferred candidate for a daughter-in-law and had always despised me. I imagined she would be thrilled to see us go. 05 The next day, Mrs. Thorne graced me with a visit. She asked after Penny with feigned indifference before getting straight to the point. "I assume you saw Teddy's press conference the other day." I nodded. She smiled, a look of genuine pleasure on her face. "I never thought he'd be so decisive this time. Honestly, secrets never stay secret forever. There have been rumors for years, but Teddy always ignored them, never bothering to deny a thing." She arched an eyebrow. "But this time… the moment he heard that Isabelle Laurent was divorced, he immediately denied his marriage to you." She let out a theatrical sigh. "But I never imagined he would deny Penny, too. That boy… he's always been so devoted. He’s been in love with Isabelle since they were teenagers. He only agreed to be with you after she got married. I really thought he'd moved on." I sat there silently, a buzzing in my ears. She was right. He had never addressed the rumors before. This was the first time. I knew who Isabelle Laurent was. She was one of Mrs. Thorne's top choices for a daughter-in-law. But she'd gotten engaged and married young. On the few occasions Teddy and I had run into her, he'd seemed perfectly normal. I'd never connected them. I never knew he had been in love with her for so long. So he had only agreed to his grandfather's arrangement because the woman he loved had married someone else. "Elara, dear," Mrs. Thorne said, patting my hand with a triumphant smile. "You've always been a smart girl." "You don't have a title, no legal standing. That's one thing." "But what about Penny? Do you want her to live her whole life in the shadows, just like you?" She left, and the house fell silent. The withered petals of the flowers on the trellis below were caught by the wind and scattered, disappearing without a trace. I took out my phone and opened the messages again. I read the line over and over: "Just say the word, and from now on, Penny will be my only child." As tears began to fall, I replied to Julian Reed. "Come and get me. I can't stay here anymore."
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