The wind tore across the jagged cliffside, sharp, merciless, rattling the trees and slicing through skin like knives. Snow flurried in the air, melting instantly against Jade's fevered skin. Her wrists were raw, smeared red where the ropes had bitten too deep. Her dress, once ivory, clung damp and torn to her frame, streaked with dirt and blood.
She should have been afraid. Should have begged. Screamed.
But instead, she stood silent.
One hand resting, almost instinctively, against her lower stomach.
Four months.
Four months of quietly enduring. Hiding the sickness. The cravings. The soft flutter that had started to grow inside her like a fragile whisper of hope.
Everyone knew she had miscarried a year ago. It had made headlines. The tabloids had dragged her grief across glossy spreads, debating whether Cole Blaine's coldness had driven her to stress-induced loss. They called it a tragedy. A scandal. A footnote.
But what they didn't know, what no one knew, was that she had been pregnant again.
Pregnant when she was kidnapped.
Pregnant when they tied her to a chair in the freezing dark.
Pregnant now, as she stood at the edge of the world, rope burns on her wrists and betrayal like poison in her veins.
Vivien stood a few feet away, her expression eerily composed. She was bound too, but cleaner. Calmer. Unbothered. Almost smug. Her tears had dried hours ago. She didn't need to plead.
Because she already knew who he'd choose.
Julius Han, Cole's former friend turned twisted adversary, paced before them like a ringmaster savoring his final act. He waved a flare toward the cliff's edge, where the sheer drop gave way to churning ocean foam below.
"Today," he declared theatrically, "Cole Blaine decides who lives."
He grinned as Cole's SUV skidded into view, headlights slicing through the fog like judgment.
Jade's breath caught. For a moment, the world shrank.
Cole stepped out. Cold air billowed his coat. His hair was wind-swept, eyes wild. He looked between them—his wife… and the woman he couldn't seem to let go of.
Jade's heart stuttered. "Cole…" she whispered.
His eyes landed on her—just for a second. Long enough for hope to rise.
But then he turned.
"Vivien!" he shouted, running toward her.
Not even a pause.
Not even a glance back.
Julius gave a slow, mocking clap. "Bravo," he sneered. "Guess we have our answer."
Jade didn't move. Couldn't.
Her lungs burned. Her legs trembled beneath her.
Her heart, what was left of it, shattered quietly.
She took a step back.
Not to jump. Not yet.
But the ground was soft with snow and loose gravel, and the edge was closer than she'd realized.
The wind shrieked as her foot slipped.
Cole turned just as the cliff crumbled beneath her heel.
"No!" he shouted, rushing toward the edge.
But there was only a rush of white, and then—
Silence.
Her crimson scarf fluttered from a jagged branch halfway down.
Her body had already disappeared into the fog.
Cole stood frozen, his hands gripping the cliff's edge until his knuckles turned white.
"She fell," he whispered. "No, no, she wasn't supposed to, Julius said—he said Justin would—"
Vivien grabbed his arm. "Cole. She's gone."
"No," he said again, shaking his head. "Justin was supposed to save her. He promised he'd be there."
But Justin wasn't.
No one was.
Jade Carter Blaine, gone without a scream. Gone with no goodbye.
And no one knew she had fallen not just as a woman…
…but as a mother.
The wind rushed past her like a scream.
The sea reached up like hungry hands.
She didn't scream. Couldn't. Her voice caught in her throat, strangled by grief and disbelief.
This was real.
This was happening.
She thought of Cole's eyes, so empty when he looked at her. The indifference. The silence. The way he had chosen Vivien without hesitation.
She thought of the night he married her. How she had clung to hope like a fool. Told herself love could grow. That one day he'd look at her and see something worth saving.
She had lied to herself. Again and again.
And now, she was falling.
Falling with nothing but wind and regret wrapped around her like a shroud.
A sob tore from her throat.
Her arms curled around her belly, protective even now. Even in freefall.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered into the storm.
"I'm so sorry, baby."
Tears streamed from her eyes, vanishing into the sky.
Her heart had already broken.
The fall was just gravity catching up.
She closed her eyes.
And let the dark take her.