Chapter 1 The Woman With the Baby
Chapter 1 The Woman With the Baby
Tess Ember stepped out of the prison gates and into the biting wind.
She quickly wrapped her arms around the small bundle in her arms, shielding it from the cold.
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When the gusts finally died down, she carefully pulled back the corner of the baby blanket, revealing a tiny face–soft, rosy, and impossibly sweet.
The baby cooed and blew little bubbles.
She blinked her misty, round eyes at Tess.
“Layla, my sweet girl,” Tess whispered, rocking her gently.
At six months old, Layla Ember almost never cried or made a fuss. As long as she was in her mother’s arms, the world was safe and warm.
A bus pulled up in the distance.
Tess clutched Layla close, dropped a couple of coins into the fare box, and found a seat near the back.
Meanwhile, a sleek, limited–edition Bentley had just rolled to a stop in front of the prison.
In the back seat sat a man. His profile was sharp and cold while his eyes were half–closed in exhaustion.
When he finally opened them, they were piercing and icy.
His gaze fell on the weathered stone sign at the gate: “Aetheris Women’s Prison“.
Finn Lock withdrew his gaze and glanced at the time on his wristwatch.
His tone was crisp and cool. “Why isn’t she out yet?”
His words were cold and devoid of warmth.
Bill Cook, the driver up front, hurried to answer.
“Maybe there’s a delay with the release paperwork, Mr. Lock.”
He paused, then added, “But don’t worry. Today marks the official end of Mks. Lock’s sentence. I’m sure she will be thrilled to see that you came to pick her up in person.”
“Is that so?” he said softly.
Finn lowered his gaze, concealing the chill in his eyes.
“A year and a half ago, she teamed up with the Hunts and leaked confidential company files. She threw it all away–her marriage, her future. She chose to play the spy instead of being my wife. That was on her.”
His voice turned colder. “Let’s see if she has the nerve to face me now.”
The tension inside the car grew thick, the air turning nearly suffocating.
Bill dared not speak again.
After
After a while, he cracked the window slightly to let in some air.
Just then, he happened to catch a glimpse of the bus beside them as its engine came to life.
Huh?” Bill blinked. “Wait a second! Isn’t that Mrs. Lock?”
Finn rubbed his brow, his head pounding from a long night of back–to–back international meetings.
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Chapter 1 The Woman With the Baby
He was drained at this point.
Finn didn’t even open his eyes.
“What? Who?”
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“Oh, my mistake, Mr. Lock,” the driver muttered, shaking his head as the bus pulled away. “I thought Mrs. Lock had already
come out.
“But that’s just a woman with a child.”
It didn’t make sense. Tess was only 22 when she went to prison. Her marriage to Finn had been rocky from the start–cold and distant. The couple had never shared a bed.
How could he possibly mistake a woman with a baby for Tess?
Finn snapped his eyes open.
Th
The prison gates remained shut.
But through the open window of the bus, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a young woman soothing a baby in her arms.
Loose strands of hair fell across the woman’s face, covering her cheeks. He couldn’t see what she really looked like–only the /softness in her eyes as if she were gazing at the most precious thing in the world.
And just like that, Finn was thrown back into a memory from 18 months ago.
He’d been drinking that night after a business dinner.
His mind kept replaying the constant urging of his grandmother–telling him to consummate the marriage and give her a grandchild.
He remembered that woman helping him to take off his shoes and jacket. She wiped his face and hands clean, and held a glass of water to his lips. She then half–carried him to the bed.
And as she bent down to cover him with a blanket, he reached out and grabbed her wrist.
“Isn’t this what you
want? You had my grandma pressure me to have a baby with you. Well, tonight–you get your wish.”
He pulled her into his arms.
She looked very delicate as she lay beneath him, her cheeks blushing. A faint sweet scent clung to her skin–something soft, something that tugged at the frayed edges of his reason.
Somehow, he leaned down.
He lingered, drawing things out with the foreplay. In the haze of it all, he took her.
Somewhere through the blur, he thought he heard her crying, “Not like this, Finn. I don’t want this.”
Haha! Playing hard to get, huh?
If you didn’t want this, why did you push Grandma to pressure me? What a hypocrite.
The thought of it enraged him. The second time he took her, he pinned her wrists above her head and kissed her roughly.
The next morning, he was buttoning up his shirt while she was curled up in the sheets, sobbing quietly.
Without looking back, he said coldly, “You brought this on yourself.”
But as he stepped outside, police officers were already waiting.
“Mr, Lock, we’ve gathered evidence. Your employee, Tess Ember, is suspected of leaking corporate secrets. We’re placing her under arrest. If we’re not mistaken, she’s also your wife.”
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Chapter 1 The Woman With the Baby
Finn’s gaze turned cold, and he clenched his jaw.
“Forget about protecting my reputation. Do as I told you before–go for the maximum sentence once you find the culprit.”
They dragged her out of the bedroom. Tess was barely dressed in a camisole and jacket.
She collapsed on the ground in the rain–drenched garden, crying as she pleaded with him.
“Finn, you have to believe me—I’m innocent.”
“If pleas like this were useful, the police would be without jobs.”
He stood under the eaves with his hands in his pockets, unmoved.
“I won’t agree to any kind of settlement–not even with a hefty payout. I want the person who did this to pay for it.”
The police dragged her away.
Tess turned around and glanced at him again and again. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her neck was marked with hickeys. Drop by drop, her tears splashed onto the rain–soaked stone tiles.
Finn pressed his dry lips into a thin line and quickly looked away.
“Get the car ready. I’m going to work.”
The maids behind him were trembling in fear. They’d witnessed everything.
They whispered among themselves with their heads close together, but no one dared to speak up.
Everyone saw what had just happened to Tess. She was dragged out of the house so brutally. The woman who had loved Finn for ten years was pushed until she laughed through her tears.
When a woman did that, it meant she’d given up on a man.
“Mr. Lock, should we keep waiting?”
An hour had passed. Bill finally spoke up.
Finn’s thoughts were a blur.
He finally tore himself free from the grip of those long–buried memories.
His jawline was sharp and tense.
‘No. If she wants to come out on her own, let her crawl.”
He meant well, even pushing back an important board meeting to pick her up. What a waste of time.
“Yes, Mr. Lock.”
The engine started, and the car pulled away.
Even after they’d driven some distance, Bill couldn’t help but glance in the rearview mirror.
The prison gates are still shut with no sign of Mrs. Lock.
Weird.
What game is Mrs. Lock playing?
She knows we’re coming. Why delay things on purpose?
Won’t she drive Mr. Lock mad with these antics?
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Chapter 1 The Woman With the Baby
She’d already done the time. What’s the point of being stubborn now?
Doesn’t she get it? A criminal record doesn’t just disappear. No matter how brilliant and unstoppable she used to be, her days of being a star attorney are long over.
Bill shook his head and pressed down on the gas.
In the backseat, Finn had opened his tablet and was reviewing his emails–but his brows stayed furrowed.
Clearly, he was upset.
Later that night, in the garden of Evermount Villa, crabapple blossoms littered the walkway.
Finn walked out of his study, dressed in dark loungewear.
He noticed the light in the bedroom was on.
Without realizing it, he quickened his pace.
