At my divorce hearing, I was eight months pregnant when the judge ruled that I would leave with nothing. My husband smiled like a man who had already won. “Let’s see how you and that baby survive without me,” he sneered. I held back my tears and got ready to walk out—until the courtroom doors burst open. A billionaire woman stepped inside and said, “My daughter will live far better without you.” What happened next changed everything.

After the speech, I sat resting in the cordoned-off VIP section, taking a slow sip of sparkling water. Eleanor was busy receiving congratulations from Governors and Senators in the main hall.

A tall, frantic shadow burst through a gap in my security detail.

“Clara! Clara, please!”

I slowly placed my glass down. Julian was standing there, his arms pinned painfully behind his back by two of my bodyguards. He looked pathetic. His once perfectly gelled hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot and wild.

“Let him go,” I ordered in a soft, calm voice.

The guards stepped back but remained in a highly alert combat stance. Julian lunged forward, dropping to his knees right on the red carpet at my feet.

“Clara, I was wrong! I was deceived!” He grabbed the hem of my gown, crocodile tears streaming down his face. “It was Maya! Her and her bastard of a father set me up! They forced me to divorce you to get the investment funds. I did it all for our future, for the baby's future!”

I looked down at him, a wave of nausea rolling in my stomach that had nothing to do with my pregnancy.

“You’re blaming someone else, Julian? In the courtroom that day, I didn't see anyone holding a knife to your throat when you called me worthless.”

“I didn't mean it! I was under so much pressure! Clara, please, beg your mother to lift the freeze on my company. I’m going bankrupt! We’re husband and wife, I’m the father of the child in your womb!”

At that exact moment, Maya and her father—the banking tycoon—pushed through the crowd and approached. Hearing Julian’s words, Maya’s face twisted in sheer fury.