Chapter 4

Jake stood silhouetted against the single, high window of the basement, his figure a dark, unreadable mass. His words hung in the stale air, a promise that felt more like a threat. Marry me. It was a lifeline, but one tangled in deceit and pain.

I was released from the basement, gaunt and broken, but compliant. The wedding preparations were a blur. A small, rushed ceremony, a desperate attempt to salvage the family's crumbling reputation. Eunice moved efficiently, cold and calculating, orchestrating every detail with chilling precision.

The night before the wedding, Eunice sat beside me in my old room, now stripped of any personal touches. "You will apologize to Corina, Chandler," she said, her voice soft but firm, like velvet over steel. "You will be seen to be happy. For the sake of the family. For your own good." Her words were a gentle command, a threat veiled in concern.

Alon visited me too. His face was drawn, his eyes shadowed with an emotion I couldn't place. "Just play along, Chandler," he pleaded, his voice a low whisper. "Keep up appearances. It's the only way you'll keep any shred of dignity. It's the only way we can protect you now." His words were a warning, a plea for my silence.

I was too tired to argue, too broken to fight. My face felt numb. Even my smile, when I tried to conjure one, felt alien, a grotesque parody. The weeks of confinement, of psychological and physical torment, had stripped me bare. My spirit, once so vibrant, had been extinguished. I was a ghost, moving through a life that no longer felt like my own.

Jake found me staring blankly out the window, the ornate engagement ring feeling heavy and cold on my finger. "What's wrong, Chandler?" he asked, his voice flat. "Still not happy? You've gotten everything Corina wanted, everything she deserved. And yet, you still look like that." He gestured vaguely at my vacant expression. "You took her place, her family, her fiancé. Everything was meant for her, not you."

His words were a fresh stab, twisting the knife. He was accusing me of stealing what I had been given, of being ungrateful for my own pain. "If you keep this up," he continued, his voice hardening, "no one will ever care about you again. You'll be truly alone."

Corina, ever the master of manipulation, found me in the kitchen later. "Oh, Chandler," she cooed, her voice sickly sweet. "I'm so hungry. Jake said you make the best lemon meringue pie. Could you make one for me? He talks about it all the time."

The lemon meringue pie. It was our thing. Jake and mine. A secret recipe, a shared memory, a symbol of our youthful romance. It was the first thing I ever baked for him, the dish he always requested for his birthday. Now, it was just another tool in her arsenal, another way to flaunt her victory, another piece of my past she had stolen and tainted.

A sudden, sharp laugh escaped my lips. It was unexpected, even to me. The sound was brittle, edged with a hysteria I couldn't control. The hate, dormant for so long, flared into an inferno.

I grabbed the nearest thing, a steaming hot pot of water I had just boiled for tea. Without thinking, I turned and flung it. The scalding water arced through the air, aimed directly at Corina' s face.

She screamed, a piercing, terrified sound, ducking just in time. The water splashed against the wall behind her, sizzling, leaving angry red marks.

Jake burst into the kitchen, his eyes widening in horror. He saw the empty pot in my hand, the drenched Corina sobbing on the floor. His hand lashed out. A sharp, brutal blow. My head snapped back, the force of the slap sending me reeling. My cheek burned, a fiery echo of the water I had just thrown.

"You're beyond saving, Chandler!" he roared, his face contorted with rage. "You're a danger to everyone! You're insane!"

They didn' t marry me. No, that was never the plan. The marriage report was a lie, a cruel trick to break me completely. Instead, they sent me away.

"Aggravated assault," "attempted murder," "severe mental disturbance." These were the words on the papers, official, damning. Alon signed them. Jake signed them. The two men I had loved, the two men who had sworn to protect me, consigned me to hell.

Corina, wearing a pristine white wedding gown, married Jake Perez in a lavish ceremony that very same day. While I was dragged, screaming, into a private psychiatric facility.

The drugs were stronger this time. The restraints tighter. The white walls closer. They tried to erase me, to lobotomize my memories, to kill the person I was. I fought. I clung to every shred of sanity, every memory, no matter how painful. The bracelet, the one I had given Jake, was still clutched in my hand when they found me in the alley, after they finally dumped me, bleeding and incoherent, on a freezing winter night. My body felt like a husk, discarded.

The snow fell softly, covering me like a shroud. No one came. No one. My heart, what was left of it, had turned to ice.

"Chandler? Are you okay?" Kloe's voice, soft and concerned, pulled me back. Her hand was on my arm, gentle, grounding.

I blinked, the sterile white walls in my mind fading, replaced by the familiar shelves of my bookstore. "I'm fine, Kloe," I said, my voice hoarse. I looked at the dark red bracelet still in my hand. "Just thinking how I survived that."

I had walked away from that alley alive. Bloodied, broken, but alive. I had walked away from that family, from that lie, and never looked back. I found my own way, my own sense of self. My own peace.