Chapter3 When Jewel Whitmore returned to the living room, she found Weston Vale on the phone, his tone sharp with irritation. "Why are you telling me this? If you're not feeling well, go see a doctor. I'm not one!" He hung up, annoyance etched across his features. Then he turned toward her, his eyes soft and liquid, as if brimming with devotion. Yet Jewel realized, in that moment, that she had never truly understood this man at all. "Jewel," Weston said gently, "what do you want for dinner? It's our anniversary. I could make you my usual, fish chowder." Her breath caught. Yes, today marked their third wedding anniversary. In past years, the day had been dazzling. Weston would take her to the harbor for fireworks and a yacht soirée, light up every major billboard across the skyline with his confessions of love. But today, today he had forced her to sign a divorce agreement. A hollow smile touched her lips. "Anything's fine," she murmured. It was the first time she had ever brushed him off. Weston frowned, about to respond, when his phone rang again. "Weston, Ivy collapsed. She's in the ER right now, come to the hospital!" Grayson Sloane didn't give Weston a chance to refuse; the line went dead. Weston looked helplessly at his phone, then at Jewel. "Jewel, your brother said..." "Go," she cut him off. At this point, what else was there not to understand? Weston hesitated, sensing her displeasure, but still rushed upstairs for a coat. "Jewel, wait for me here. I'll check on Ivy, then we'll celebrate together." Without changing out of his slippers, he bolted out the door. Jewel's smile froze on her lips. She didn't wait obediently as he had asked. Instead, she hailed a cab and followed in secret. The car wound its way into a gated estate. Jewel slipped into the shadows, crouching by a stone wall. Inside, voices rose in heated argument. "Are you insane, Grayson? Calling me in front of Jewel again and again about Ivy?" Weston's tone was sharp. "What else could I do?" Grayson sounded weary. "She refuses to take her meds unless she sees you." "Don't do that anymore. I'm afraid Jewel will get suspicious." Grayson gave a cold laugh, thick with mockery. "And yet you had no problem rolling around with Ivy in Jewel's marital bed, on her twenty-seventh birthday?" The words struck Jewel like lightning. She froze, her mind blank. That birthday... it had been their twentieth year of knowing each other. Weston had promised a celebration so spectacular the whole city would remember the date as hers alone. And he delivered, ten billion spent on a Citywide Gala, every socialite in Harbor City in attendance. The only flaw. Weston never showed. Neither did Grayson. She remembered juggling guests with one hand while calling Weston with the other. Hours passed before he finally picked up. His voice had been breathless, muffled. "Jewel, I'm sorry. A sudden overseas deal came up. I can't make it back tonight. I'll make it up to you, I swear." Then he hung up. Now, the truth sliced her open. Ivy hadn't conceived through stolen remnants of intimacy. No, she and Weston had been together since the very first year of Jewel's marriage. "You only had the chance because you covered for me," Weston said darkly, lighting a cigarette. Smoke curled around his cold profile. "By the way, did you send the photos out?" "They're already online," Grayson admitted. "But Weston... do you really need to destroy Jewel to comfort Ivy? If she finds out her private pictures are everywhere, she'll lose her mind." "I have no choice. For Ivy, I'll do anything." "But still..." "There's nothing to hesitate about." Weston's voice was glacial. "Ivy did all those insane things for me. The moment I complained Jewel was boring, she gave up her virginity to hire a performer at Elysium Club and record herself, just to please me. I said I didn't want kids, she rushed into an abortion and even had her uterus removed. She didn't want her baby to be lonely in death, so she had the remains preserved as medical specimens and delivered to my estate.. "Now she's at the end of her life. All she wants is for Jewel to suffer the way she once did. How could I deny her such a small request?" Jewel's breath hitched. Her chest felt as though it were being crushed. Months ago, she had received a package, horrifying, grotesque. Inside were preserved remains. a fetus, a uterus. She had nearly fainted on the spot. Weston had caught her trembling shoulders, whispering comfort. "Don't be afraid, Jewel. It's just a dirty trick from an enemy. I'll take care of it." And she had believed him. But tonight she finally understood. those specimens hadn't come from enemies at all. They were part of Weston and Ivy's twisted game. "What if Jewel finds out?" Grayson asked softly. "She's stubborn. She won't forgive this." "She won't," Weston said with absolute certainty. "If she ever gets suspicious, we'll deal with it before she pieces it together." A pause, then Grayson sighed. "Fine. But when Ivy dies, you owe Jewel. Give her a new wedding, something grander than before." Crouched in the shadows, Jewel trembled. Their words poured over her like a bucket of ice water. Her very bones ached with cold. She could never have imagined that her brother, the one who raised her, who swore to protect her, would cover for Weston. Or that together, they would conspire to destroy her.