Divorce my prentened poor Billionaire husband

Annika Price kept her cool, standing shoulder to shoulder with Everest Kennedy’s ever-vigilant bodyguard, facing the nurse who held a tray stacked with blood bags. One bag caught her eye immediately—it was a 34-ounce jug, way bigger than any of the others. Instinctively, Annika pressed a protective hand to her still-flat stomach.

Losing all 34 ounces wouldn’t kill her, but there was no way her pregnancy would survive it. She hesitated for half a heartbeat, then schooled her face into compliance and stepped toward the nurse.

"I’m here to donate blood," she said softly.

"Have a seat," the nurse ordered, already getting supplies ready. "Roll up your sleeve."

Annika did as she was told, sitting down and extending her arm. Seeing how cooperative she was, the bodyguard relaxed and took up his usual post by the door, standing guard outside the room.

Annika snuck a glance at him—his back was turned, his attention focused elsewhere. She let out a quiet, relieved breath. As long as she wasn’t under his constant surveillance, the risk of something going wrong dropped a lot.

The cool swipe of an alcohol pad on her arm made her fingertips tremble. Her eyes flicked to the nurse, who prepped the site and readied the needle with practiced, cold efficiency. That 34-ounce bag stared right back at her, the size printed clear as day.

A cold dread washed over Annika. Selena Kennedy had definitely ordered the nurse to drain the full 34 ounces. She was trying to kill both her and the baby.

Right as the needle was about to pierce her skin, Annika quietly triggered the alarm on her phone, letting it ring like an incoming call.

"Wait a second. I need to take this," she said, yanking her arm back like it was an urgent call from Everest himself.

"Hello, Mr. Kennedy," she purred, putting on her best reverent act. "Yes, I’m at the hospital now, all ready to donate. The nurse is here with me. I’m happy to help you any way I can—donating blood’s good for red cell production anyway, right?"

She kept up the charade, selling both the nurse and the bodyguard on her total loyalty to Mr. Kennedy. She still didn’t know exactly why they needed the blood, but from what she’d picked up from Selena and her stuck-up friend group, this was all just some messed up revenge game.

She kept faking it, pretending to wrap up the call, then tilted her head like Everest was still talking. "Mr. Kennedy, how much blood do you need this time?"

"Exactly seven ounces? Not a drop more, not a drop less? Too much messes with the whole energy thing? Alright, should I have the nurse talk to you directly to confirm? I’ll pass it along if anything changes."

Still pretending to be on the line, Annika sat back down in her chair across from the nurse.

"Go ahead," she said. "Mr. Kennedy was very clear on the amount. Not a drop extra, or there’s hell to pay."

Convinced Selena’s 34-ounce order had just been a mistake, the nurse swapped it out for a much smaller blood bag.

As Annika’s blood slowly filled the bag, a hot spark of defiance surged up through her chest.

Everest, they’re wasting your precious seven ounces like it’s a bad joke. Do you even have any idea this is my blood? That it’s for our baby? she thought bitterly.

Once the draw was done, Annika stood up and headed straight for the exit. When the bodyguard didn’t stop her, her strung-tight nerves finally started to loosen. Even so, her palms were still slick with cold sweat.

Just when she thought she’d made it out of danger, she ran straight into Selena Kennedy.

Annika kept her eyes down, trying to slip past unnoticed, but Selena stepped right into her path.

Selena wore that same innocent little smile she always did, but Annika knew exactly what was hiding under it.

"Annika, you really did show up to donate blood to help my brother?"

"Yes," Annika answered, her fingers curling into a tight fist at her side.

Selena was the mastermind behind all this revenge crap, always stirring up drama with her rich kid friends. But now she was acting all sweet, trying to pin the whole thing on Everest.

All those spoiled brats were always gushing about what a "sweet, kind Selena" they thought she was. None of them saw how two-faced she really was. Annika just wanted to get the hell out of there, so she kept her answer casual: "Selena, I donated the blood. I hope you’re happy now."

But Selena dropped the innocent act right there, and sneered at Annika.

"Annika, you can quit the act. Didn’t you know this was all my brother’s revenge plan from the start?"

Annika’s lips tugged up into a cold, mocking smile.

Damn right it was Selena. She was the one who pulled that million-dollar stunt making Annika fish a necklace out of an alligator pit. She was the one who set Annika up to deliver drinks to Everest’s suite, so she’d overhear the truth about that stupid fake poverty revenge game.

Annika had seen through Selena’s little games a long time ago. Selena wanted her to find out the truth, so Annika would be completely disillusioned with Everest and leave him for good. If Selena hadn’t been subtly manipulating every little thing for the past four years, Annika would have stopped playing this stupid game ages ago.

With that thought, Annika straightened her back and flashed Selena a sharp, empty smile full of defiance.

"Selena, you got what you wanted. I hate Everest enough now, and soon I’m getting the hell out of this city for good. That leaves you and your brother free to be as close as you want."

Her voice turned sharp as a knife: "Selena, every action has consequences. Don’t think I forgot what you did. I might not leave half as nice as you think I will."

"Annika, stop acting all high and mighty. You’re not leaving. You’re lying."

Selena didn’t buy a word of it. How could Annika give up Everest, her ticket straight to the top of high society? Selena wasn’t going to rest until Annika’s reputation was completely ruined, so Everest would have no reason to keep chasing after her.

"Annika, I know you can’t let go of my brother—golden, handsome Mr. Kennedy. You’re just playing hard to get. Don’t get any stupid ideas; this was all just a game to him. He never actually cared about you."

"What’s there to let go of?" Annika narrowed her eyes, her face hard with resolve.

"To you, Mr. Kennedy is the ultimate prize. To me? He’s just trash. Do us both a favor and do your job as the trash collector—go pick him up, because I couldn’t care less about him."

With that, Annika turned her back on Selena, not willing to waste another second talking, and hurried for the hospital’s front doors. She wasn’t about to give Selena room to stir up more trouble, not after she’d just lost seven ounces of blood.

But of course, the thing Annika wanted most to avoid was exactly what happened. Maybe she walked too fast, maybe she was too eager to get out—but that gave Selena all the proof she needed something was off.

"Stop right there," Selena called, her voice thick with suspicion.

Someone who’d just lost 34 ounces of blood could barely stand, let alone power-walk out of here like that. From what Selena knew, even losing 14 ounces left you dizzy, sick as a dog, pale as a sheet.

Annika was supposed to have lost 34 ounces. So why wasn’t she passing out? Something was definitely wrong.

Selena’s gaze raked over Annika’s face, picking her apart.

Other than a slight paleness, Annika looked completely fine. Nothing like someone who’d just lost that much blood.

Seeing Annika was still dead set on leaving, Selena stepped in front of her again, her voice sharp and accusatory.

"Annika. How much blood did they actually take?"