Chapter 5

Ericka POV

The wind on the lake was fierce, whipping the dark water into jagged whitecaps.

I stood on the lower deck of the *Vittoria*, the Family yacht.

I wasn't a guest. I was a prop.

Caleb had dragged me here for Hailie's birthday party. "To show the Associates that the Reids are united," he had insisted.

I wore a dress that didn't fit, the fabric straining to cover the bruises and the burns.

Upstairs, on the main deck, the music throbbed. Laughter floated down like shards of broken glass.

I saw them through the glass railing. Hailie was wearing a tiara. A literal, sparkling tiara.

She was holding court. My mother was laughing at her jokes; Fitzgerald was pouring her champagne.

And Caleb... Caleb was watching her with a look of feral, intense protection.

Then, he spotted me.

He came down the stairs, his expression thunderous.

"Why are you hiding?" he demanded. "You're making us look bad."

"I'm dying, Caleb," I said, my weight sagging against the railing. "I can't pretend anymore."

"Stop with the cancer act," he spat, snatching my arm. "You bought a grave yesterday. Just to manipulate me. To make me feel guilty."

"I bought it because I have nowhere else to go."

"You have *here*!" he shouted. "You have the life I give you!"

"This isn't a life! It's hell!"

Hailie appeared at the top of the stairs. "Caleb? Is she bothering you?"

"Go back up, Hailie," Caleb said, his voice softening instantly.

"I just wanted to offer her a drink." She walked down, balancing two flutes.

Suddenly, the boat lurched violently as a massive wave slammed into the hull.

Hailie stumbled.

She wasn't wearing deck shoes; she was in six-inch stilettos.

She pitched forward, crashing into me.

I lost my footing.

Together, we tumbled over the low railing.

The water hit me like concrete.

It was freezing. Pitch black.

I clawed my way to the surface, gasping. My lungs burned; icy water filled my mouth.

"Help!" Hailie screamed, flailing nearby. "Caleb!"

I saw Caleb grip the railing.

He scanned the water.

He saw me. He saw Hailie.

He had two hands, but the current was ripping us apart. He could only reach one of us before the dark water swallowed us whole.

I looked at him and stopped struggling.

*Choose,* I thought. *Show me who you really are.*

He locked eyes with me. For a split second, I saw hesitation. I saw the boy who used to braid my hair.

Then his gaze snapped to Hailie.

"Hailie!" he roared.

He dove.

He swam past me.

He swam *right* past me.

The wake from his powerful strokes pushed water into my face.

He grabbed Hailie and hauled her toward the ladder.

He didn't look back.

I watched them climb up. I watched him wrap her in his jacket.

I stopped kicking.

The cold was numbing, but strangely peaceful.

I let the water take me.

They had thrown me away years ago; the lake was just finishing the job.

I sank into the black, and for the first time since waking up, I felt warm.