Chapter 3

Aminda POV

I made it as far as the garden path before the raucous noise of the party faded into a dull, rhythmic thrum. The night air was biting, stinging the raw skin on my knees from my earlier fall.

"Running away so soon?"

The voice was melodic, cloying like syrup over rot.

I stopped. I didn't turn around. "I have a flight to catch, Charlie. Go back to your fiancé."

Charlie stepped in front of me, blocking the path to the cottage. She held a glass of red wine, swirling it with a casual, predatory grace, the dark liquid sloshing dangerously close to my dress.

"He's not my fiancé yet," she smiled, her teeth gleaming white in the moonlight. "But he will be by midnight. I just wanted to make sure you understood the terms of your severance."

"I don't want anything from him," I said, stepping to the side to bypass her.

"Good." She moved to block me again. Her eyes flashed with malice. "Because you were never a threat, Aminda. You were a placeholder. A warm body to keep him alive until I was ready to come back. Did you really think he could love someone like... you?"

She flicked her gaze up and down my simple dress, my sensible shoes, dismissing my entire existence with a single look.

"I'm leaving," I said, my patience snapping. "Get out of my way."

"Or what?" She laughed. "You'll hurt me?"

Suddenly, footsteps crunched on the gravel behind us.

"Charlie?" Colton's voice cut through the tension. "What are you doing out here?"

Charlie's face transformed instantly. The malice vanished, replaced by a look of wide-eyed fear.

"Colton!" she gasped. She took a step back, her heel catching on the edge of the stone path near the ornamental koi pond.

It was a performance. A bad one. But she flailed her arms, looking like a damsel in distress.

"Charlie!" Colton lunged forward.

She reached out, not for him, but for my arm. She grabbed my wrist, her nails digging in, and yanked me forward as she pretended to fall backward.

"Help me!" she screamed.

Colton didn't hesitate. He didn't assess. He reacted on instinct-an instinct to protect the thing he valued.

He reached for Charlie, wrapping an arm around her waist to anchor her.

And with his other hand, he shoved me.

It wasn't a gentle push. It was a hard, frantic heave to clear the space, to make sure his precious Charlie didn't get dragged down by the "help."

I stumbled back. My heel hit the wet grass.

I fell backward.

The back of my head cracked against the jagged edge of the decorative stonework lining the pond.

A blinding white light exploded behind my eyes.

Then, the cold shock of water.

I sank.

The water was freezing, filling my nose, my mouth. My head throbbed with a sickening, pulsating rhythm. I tried to kick, but my limbs felt heavy, disconnected.

Through the rippling surface of the water, I could see the distorted figures above.

Colton was clutching Charlie to his chest on the dry path. He was checking her face, stroking her hair, asking if she was okay.

He wasn't looking at the water. He wasn't looking for me.

I was drowning a few feet away from him, and he was comforting the woman who had pulled me down.

Darkness began to bleed into the edges of my vision. The cold seeped into my bones.

Let go, a voice whispered in my head. He pushed you. He chose.

Then, a splash.

Strong arms grabbed me. Not Colton's.

I broke the surface, gasping, coughing up water.

"I got you, Amy. I got you." Jayden's voice.

He dragged me onto the grass. Isaias was there too, already shucking off his jacket to wrap around my shivering shoulders.

"You're bleeding," Isaias hissed, touching the back of my head. His hand came away red.

I looked up.

Colton was standing ten feet away. He still had his arm around Charlie. He was looking at me now, his eyes wide, but he didn't move toward me. He stayed with her.

"Oh my god," Charlie sobbed, burying her face in Colton's chest. "She tried to pull me in, Colt! She tried to drown me!"

Colton looked at me. The protective rage in his eyes fractured into confusion. But there was no trust. No instinct to save me.

"Is that true?" he asked.

The question hit me harder than the rock had.

Jayden stood up, water dripping from his clothes, his face twisted in fury. "Are you insane, Colton? She's bleeding from her head!"

"She attacked Charlie," Colton said, his voice hardening. He was choosing his narrative. It was easier to believe I was the villain than to admit he had hurt me.

"I need to leave," I whispered. My teeth were chattering so hard I could barely speak. "Jayden, please. Get me out of here."

"We're going to the hospital," Jayden said, lifting me into his arms.

"No," I grabbed his wet lapel. "Airport. Please. Just get me away from him."

"Hospital first," Isaias commanded, glaring at Colton. "Then anywhere you want."

As Jayden carried me past Colton, I locked eyes with him one last time.

He reached a hand out, a stuttering, half-hearted motion. "Aminda..."

I closed my eyes. I let the darkness take me. I didn't want to see him ever again.