Chapter 11: Blood Truth
I told Nathan to hold the information. I wasn't going to use Lily's pregnancy as a weapon—not yet. Not like this.
There was a child involved. An innocent one. Whatever Lily had done, the baby didn't deserve to be a pawn.
But I underestimated how quickly secrets unravel once they start.
Three days later, Daniel's attorney contacted my legal team. Daniel wanted to make a deal—he would plead guilty to the financial crimes in exchange for a reduced sentence, under one condition: I drop all civil suits and return the debt I held over Cross Industries.
Marcus laughed out loud when he read the proposal.
"He's delusional," Marcus said. "He's facing fifteen to twenty years. A plea deal doesn't require our cooperation."
I rejected the offer without a second thought.
But the request told me something important: Daniel was scared. Prison was wearing on him. The man who once terrorized me in our own home was now begging for mercy from a cell.
Good.
Then Lily made her final, catastrophic mistake.
She showed up at the Sterling estate.
Unannounced. Uninvited. Seven months pregnant. Mascara-streaked.
Security stopped her at the gate, but Catherine—my mother—happened to be walking the grounds.
"Let her through," Catherine said. Always compassionate, even toward serpents.
I found Lily sitting in the drawing room, a teacup untouched before her, hands pressed to her swollen belly.
"What do you want, Lily?" I asked from the doorway.
She looked up. For the first time in our lives, I saw genuine fear in her eyes. Not her usual performance. Real terror.
"Daniel knows," she whispered.
My stomach tightened. "Knows what?"
"About the baby. Someone told him it's not his. His lawyer came to see me yesterday and—" Her voice broke. "He said Daniel wants a paternity test. He said if it's not his, he'll make sure I lose everything in court. I'll have nothing, Ava. Nothing."
I stepped into the room and closed the door.
"Whose baby is it?" I asked.
She stared at her hands for a long time. Then: "Thomas Burke's."
I should have been shocked. But I wasn't.
The CFO. The man running the money laundering scheme. The one Daniel trusted above all others.
Lily had been sleeping with him too.
"Thomas is in federal custody," I said. "He can't help you."
"I know." Tears streamed down her face. "I have no one. My parents can't even afford their own lawyers. Daniel wants to destroy me. I—" She looked up at me with desperate, bloodshot eyes. "I'm begging you, Ava. Please. Help me."
The irony was almost too heavy to bear.
The woman who stole my husband, who slandered me online, who knew I was a trafficked child and said nothing for years—was begging me for mercy.
I should have said no. The old Ava would have said yes immediately. The new Ava—the real Ava—thought carefully.
"I'll help you," I said finally. "On conditions."
Hope flickered in her eyes.
"You will sign a full confession—everything you've done to me. The lies, the slander, the knowledge about my trafficking. All of it. Notarized."
She swallowed hard but nodded.
"You will testify against Daniel regarding his abuse during our marriage."
Another nod, smaller this time.
"And Lily—you will disappear. New city. New life. You will never contact me or my family again."
She was crying freely now. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it."
I wasn't doing this for her. I was doing it because that baby deserved a mother who was alive and functional—even if that mother was Lily Bennett.
And because Lily's testimony would guarantee Daniel never walked free again.
Two days later, Lily's signed confession was in Marcus's hands. Her recorded testimony was filed with the prosecution.
Daniel's reduced-sentence plea deal evaporated.
His trial date was set for next month.
And I finally felt the knot in my chest begin to loosen.
There was a child involved. An innocent one. Whatever Lily had done, the baby didn't deserve to be a pawn.
But I underestimated how quickly secrets unravel once they start.
Three days later, Daniel's attorney contacted my legal team. Daniel wanted to make a deal—he would plead guilty to the financial crimes in exchange for a reduced sentence, under one condition: I drop all civil suits and return the debt I held over Cross Industries.
Marcus laughed out loud when he read the proposal.
"He's delusional," Marcus said. "He's facing fifteen to twenty years. A plea deal doesn't require our cooperation."
I rejected the offer without a second thought.
But the request told me something important: Daniel was scared. Prison was wearing on him. The man who once terrorized me in our own home was now begging for mercy from a cell.
Good.
Then Lily made her final, catastrophic mistake.
She showed up at the Sterling estate.
Unannounced. Uninvited. Seven months pregnant. Mascara-streaked.
Security stopped her at the gate, but Catherine—my mother—happened to be walking the grounds.
"Let her through," Catherine said. Always compassionate, even toward serpents.
I found Lily sitting in the drawing room, a teacup untouched before her, hands pressed to her swollen belly.
"What do you want, Lily?" I asked from the doorway.
She looked up. For the first time in our lives, I saw genuine fear in her eyes. Not her usual performance. Real terror.
"Daniel knows," she whispered.
My stomach tightened. "Knows what?"
"About the baby. Someone told him it's not his. His lawyer came to see me yesterday and—" Her voice broke. "He said Daniel wants a paternity test. He said if it's not his, he'll make sure I lose everything in court. I'll have nothing, Ava. Nothing."
I stepped into the room and closed the door.
"Whose baby is it?" I asked.
She stared at her hands for a long time. Then: "Thomas Burke's."
I should have been shocked. But I wasn't.
The CFO. The man running the money laundering scheme. The one Daniel trusted above all others.
Lily had been sleeping with him too.
"Thomas is in federal custody," I said. "He can't help you."
"I know." Tears streamed down her face. "I have no one. My parents can't even afford their own lawyers. Daniel wants to destroy me. I—" She looked up at me with desperate, bloodshot eyes. "I'm begging you, Ava. Please. Help me."
The irony was almost too heavy to bear.
The woman who stole my husband, who slandered me online, who knew I was a trafficked child and said nothing for years—was begging me for mercy.
I should have said no. The old Ava would have said yes immediately. The new Ava—the real Ava—thought carefully.
"I'll help you," I said finally. "On conditions."
Hope flickered in her eyes.
"You will sign a full confession—everything you've done to me. The lies, the slander, the knowledge about my trafficking. All of it. Notarized."
She swallowed hard but nodded.
"You will testify against Daniel regarding his abuse during our marriage."
Another nod, smaller this time.
"And Lily—you will disappear. New city. New life. You will never contact me or my family again."
She was crying freely now. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it."
I wasn't doing this for her. I was doing it because that baby deserved a mother who was alive and functional—even if that mother was Lily Bennett.
And because Lily's testimony would guarantee Daniel never walked free again.
Two days later, Lily's signed confession was in Marcus's hands. Her recorded testimony was filed with the prosecution.
Daniel's reduced-sentence plea deal evaporated.
His trial date was set for next month.
And I finally felt the knot in my chest begin to loosen.