Chapter 4

I never told him.

Because I knew he didn't want the baby.

Back then, rumors about him and some model were everywhere. I tried calling him, but he hung up on me.

Then his grandpa suddenly had a heart attack. The family driver was off drinking somewhere, so I had to haul his grandpa, over 170 pounds, down from the second floor and drive him to the hospital myself.

I spent the whole night running around.

The next day, I lost the baby.

I spent three days in the hospital. Lucas showed up only once, barely stayed five minutes, answered three calls, then walked out.

That's when it hit me. I needed to wake up.

On the other end, the yelling wouldn't stop.

Lucas's mother was still going off, but then she started crying. "When I was sick and burning up in the middle of the night, it was Nina who stayed up all night with me, wiping me down and swapping out ice packs.

"When it comes to family gathering, who was the one making sure everything went smoothly? Your grandma's birthday, your dad's big party, your cousin's wedding, Nina handled it all, all by herself.

"Did you ever give her a single dollar? Did you ever ask if she was exhausted? While you were out partying and living it up, what was she doing? She was working like a slave for your family.

"Lucas, search your conscience. Do you really think you've been fair to her?"

Listening to her, I almost had to laugh at the irony.

Turns out they all knew.

Turns out they all saw it.

So why didn't any of them ever speak up in these five years?

The line went quiet for a moment.

Then Lucas's voice came through, low and rough, like he was forcing the words out: "She never said anything."

I laughed.

Never said anything?

What was I supposed to say?

Should I tell him how my back nearly broke carrying his grandpa? Or how I was rolling in pain after losing the baby? Or how I worked like a slave for his family for five years and never got a single dollar?

Did none of them see any of that? Did I really have to spell it out?

I wasn't looking for credit.

"So now you know," I said into the phone. "And then what?"

He didn't say a word.

"Lucas, you know what?" I said. "For five years, I kept wondering when you'd ever really see me. Not as the daughter of the Shaw family,' not as 'the sister who took her place, but as me. Nina, just Nina.

"Then it hit me," I paused, "you'll never see me. Because the only person you ever see is yourself.

"That 167 million dollars is not hush money. It's what you owe me. Five years of my life, a child I lost, and every piece of my heart you stomped on. We're done. We're square."

I hung up, just like that.

Standing by the hotel's floor-to-ceiling windows, I looked out at the gloomy Bekeland sky. It was as gray as the day I walked out of the hospital after losing the baby.

It was the same kind of day.

I handled the discharge papers alone, took a cab home alone, and spent three days lying in that empty villa. Just me, all alone.

He never came back. Not even once.

Three days later, I finally managed to pull myself out of bed, turned on my laptop, and started working on my designs.

That line was named "Rebirth."

It ended up winning an award and provided the initial capital for my brand.