Chapter 3 3

Ainsley walked alone down the long, unlit driveway of the estate.

The thin fabric of her short-sleeve shirt offered absolutely zero protection against the biting autumn wind.

A freezing drizzle began to fall from the pitch-black sky.

The icy drops hit her eyelashes, blurring her vision as she stared down the empty road.

She pulled her old, screen-cracked phone out of her faded jeans pocket.

Her thumb pressed the power button.

The shattered screen flickered violently before barely lighting up. A single unread text message sat in her inbox.

"Call me anytime. - C."

Ainsley's fingers were stiff from the cold. She pressed the call button and lifted the freezing plastic to her ear.

The phone rang exactly once before the line clicked open.

The deep, aggressive roar of a sports car engine and the heavy bass of rock music blasted through the speaker.

A young man's voice cut through the noisy background, tinged with nervousness and hesitation.

"Hello? Is this Ainsley?"

Ainsley's voice was completely steady. Her jaw didn't tremble once despite the freezing rain.

"Yeah."

An audible sigh of relief came through the phone, followed by the quick sound of music being shut off. The same voice spoke again, this time excited and eager.

"It's me, Carmel, your cousin. You're calling me... does this mean you're ready to come home?"

Ainsley's voice remained calm.

"I'm out. I'm waiting for you at the street corner."

The screech of a chair scraping across the floor came through the speaker, followed by the jingling sound of keys being hastily grabbed. Carmel's voice was almost shouting.

"Don't move! I'll be right there-five minutes, no, three!"

The deep, aggressive roar of a sports car engine and the heavy bass of rock music blasted through the speaker.

A young man's voice cut through the noisy background, tinged with nervousness and hesitation.

"Hello? Is this Ainsley?"

Ainsley's voice was completely steady. Her jaw didn't tremble once despite the freezing rain.

"Yeah."

An audible sigh of relief came through the phone, followed by the quick sound of music being shut off. The same voice spoke again, this time excited and eager.

"It's me, Carmel, your cousin. You're calling me... does this mean you're ready to come home?"

Ainsley's voice remained calm.

"I'm out. I'm waiting for you at the street corner."

The screech of a chair scraping across the floor came through the speaker, followed by the jingling sound of keys being hastily grabbed. Carmel's voice was almost shouting.

"Don't move! I'll be right there-five minutes, no, three!"

Ainsley hit end call. She shoved the phone back into her pocket, wrapped her arms tightly around her chest, and kept walking toward the intersection outside the estate gates.

Up inside the warm, glowing mansion, Katharina stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of her second-floor bedroom.

She held a steaming mug of hot cocoa in her hands, looking down at Ainsley's shrinking figure in the rain.

Kade Miller stepped up behind Katharina and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

He followed her line of sight, and his brow furrowed in deep disgust.

Katharina leaned back against Kade's chest. She let out a soft, innocent sigh.

"Ainsley is just so stubborn. She wouldn't even take an umbrella from us."

Kade scoffed loudly.

"She brought this on herself. Manipulative girls like her don't deserve an ounce of pity."

Katharina took a slow sip of her hot cocoa, hiding the vicious triumph in her eyes behind the rim of the mug.

"Do you think we should drive out and give her a ride?" Katharina asked, her voice dripping with fake concern.

Kade's arms tightened aggressively around her waist.

"Absolutely not. I am not letting someone that low-class ruin the leather in my Porsche."

Down on the street, Ainsley reached the main intersection.

The rain was coming down harder now, soaking her dark hair and plastering her thin shirt to her shoulders.

A rusted pickup truck sped past her, its tires hitting a massive puddle by the curb.

Ainsley stepped back quickly, dodging the worst of the muddy water, but the dirty spray still coated the bottom of her jeans.

The driver rolled down his window and blew a loud, trashy whistle at her before speeding off into the dark.

Ainsley stared blankly at the fading red taillights.

She walked over and stood directly beneath a flickering, yellow streetlamp.

The pale, sickly light washed over her bloodless face, highlighting a fragile, terrifying beauty that refused to break.

At the far end of the street, two blindingly bright xenon headlights suddenly ignited, tearing straight through the heavy curtain of rain.

The low, bone-rattling growl of a V12 engine approached at high speed.

The sound waves were so heavy that the puddles on the asphalt began to vibrate.

Ainsley lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes, trying to see through the glare of the approaching steel beast.

Up on the balcony, Kade noticed the unnatural brightness of the headlights.

A flash of deep, wealthy recognition and shock widened his eyes.

A completely blacked-out, limited-edition Rolls-Royce Wraith slammed its brakes right in front of Ainsley.

The massive tires gripped the wet asphalt perfectly. The car stopped dead without splashing a single drop of water onto her shoes.

The Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament gleamed with an arrogant, icy silver light under the streetlamp.

It was a physical manifestation of absolute, untouchable power.

Kade sucked in a sharp breath of air on the balcony.

He recognized the custom build. It was a vehicle that even his own father couldn't buy with all the money in Washington D.C.

The heavily tinted rear window of the Rolls-Royce slowly rolled down exactly one-third of the way.

The sharp, unforgiving angle of a man's jawline became visible in the shadows of the backseat.

A freezing scent of crushed cedar wood mixed with the sharp, cold smell of expensive ink and old money drifted out of the cabin.

The scent completely wrapped around Ainsley's shivering body.