Page 42 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 3

Syx pulled back, his eyes searching mine. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push.

He never pushed.

That was one of the things I loved about him.

I slipped out of bed and padded to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. The shower was hot—almost scalding—and I stood under the spray for longer than necessary, letting the water wash away the evidence of what we’d done.

When I finally stepped out, wrapped in a towel, Syx was gone.

Back to his own room, probably. Keeping up appearances.

I dressed quickly. Jeans, a silk blouse, heels because some habits died hard. Slicked my hair back, did my face, and grabbed my purse. I had a day to get through: dry cleaning, groceries, that dress on Magazine Street I’d been putting off.

I opened my banking app before I left—habit, nothing more—and my personal balance loaded fine. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was everything else.

The Landry household account: Access Suspended.

The joint card Amai had me on: Card Deactivated.

The supplemental account tied to the household management: Frozen. Contact account holder.

I scrolled to my email.

Access Revocation Notice — Crescent Property Management

Three properties. Prytania. St. Charles. Esplanade.

Your access has been revoked effective immediately. Please return all keys and access cards within 48 hours.

I read it twice.

He hadn’t touched what he couldn’t reach—he didn’t have access to my personal account, and he knew it. But he’d pulled everything else in one clean move. The joint accounts, the cards tied to the household, the properties he’d always technically controlled and let me use because it suited him. Every resource that came with being a Landry wife gone overnight, no warning, no conversation.

He’d gutted the arrangement without ending it on paper yet. That was deliberate. He wanted me to feel what it was like to be inside this marriage with nothing to show for it.

My hands were steady when I pulled up my father’s number. I didn’t know what I was going to say, but I called before I’d figured it out.

He answered on the second ring.

“Yahmaria. What’s wrong?”

“Amai locked me out of everything. The joint accounts, the household cards, the Landry properties. All of it. Effective immediately.”

Silence.

“Daddy.”

“I heard you.” Measured. Too calm. “When did you find this out?”

“This morning. Just now. He didn’t come home last night.”

Another pause. Longer than it should have been.

“Listen to me carefully. You need to remain calm. Don’t confront him. Continue gathering information like we discussed.”