“I installed the cameras after my mother’s watch disappeared.”
Adrian’s face hardened, but not with shame.
With calculation.
He turned toward the screen, then toward the guests.
“This is a misunderstanding,” he announced. “Vanessa had permission to borrow those things.”
“No, she did not,” Emma said.
Vanessa’s lips trembled. “Adrian, tell her.”
He grabbed Emma’s wrist.
The pressure was sharp enough to hurt.
“Turn it off.”
Emma looked down at his hand.
“Let go of me.”
“Now.”
A second wave of pain tightened through her body, deeper than the first. Emma inhaled slowly. Her doctor had warned her that labor might begin at any time, but she refused to let Adrian see fear.
“I said,” she repeated, “let go.”
Margaret stepped forward. “Adrian, release your wife.”
He ignored his mother.
Emma pressed another button.
The screen showed a different recording.
This time Vanessa stood in Adrian’s private office, not Emma’s bedroom.
Adrian entered behind her.
They kissed.
The crowd erupted in whispers.
Vanessa buried her face against Adrian’s shoulder in the recording. He laughed, poured champagne, and placed Emma’s missing sapphire necklace around Vanessa’s throat.
Then his recorded voice filled the ballroom.
“Once Emma signs the revised trust, everything will be under my control.”
Vanessa smiled on-screen.
“And if she refuses?”
“She won’t. She still believes I love her.”
The real Adrian went pale.
Emma looked at the husband who had reduced her to an obstacle in her own life.
“You should have checked the cameras in your office,” she said quietly.
Adrian released her wrist.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“You will destroy the company.”
“No,” Emma replied. “I’m saving it from you.”
Several board members exchanged uneasy glances.
Adrian noticed.
He straightened, putting on the calm expression that had convinced lenders and journalists for years.
“Ladies and gentlemen, my wife is exhausted and unwell. Pregnancy has affected her judgment.”
A murmur of discomfort moved through the guests.
Adrian continued.
“She has taken private moments out of context. I apologize for this spectacle.”
Emma almost admired how quickly he reached for the same weapon: her supposed instability.
Then the pain returned.
This contraction was stronger.
Her fingers tightened around the remote.
Margaret saw it. “Emma?”
“I’m fine.”
She was not.
Warmth suddenly spread down her legs beneath the silver gown.
Her water had broken.
For one stunned second, Emma stood perfectly still.
Then Adrian looked down and understood.
Margaret rushed toward her.
“We need an ambulance.”
“No,” Emma whispered.
