Chapter 2 She is ill

Carter realized something was wrong. He told the driver to stop, got out, and pulled her out after him. "What are you doing? Are you crazy? You--"

He stopped mid-sentence as he looked down at the hand he was gripping. Five fingers covered in fine scars, thick with calluses, joints swollen. Not a single nail left--just bare, cracked fingertips oozing blood. It was hard to believe these had once been a violinist's hands. The old Adaline had been spoiled and willful, but she played beautifully. The media had called her hands "God's gift."

He frowned. "What happened to them?" She yanked her hand back, trembling, her face deathly pale. "I... got sick. My nails... rotted and fell off."

Carter's lips pressed together. A strange feeling stirred in his chest. But then he remembered what she had done, and hardened his heart again. "You'd better behave. These self-pity tactics won't work on me." He still believed this was just another one of Adaline's schemes. Not worth sympathy.

Soon, the car wound up the hill to the Singleton family villa. Before they even reached the door, they could hear laughter and chatter inside.

"Oh, Mom, Dad, stop teasing me. Carter and I aren't like that."

"Elois is shy. When it comes to feelings, they have to be mutual."

"That's right, Elois. Don't worry. Once Carter gets back, he'll get a divorce."

Adaline's face showed no emotion. Her heart had already been shattered so many times it felt nothing. So that was why they had brought her out--for the divorce.

The people in the living room turned at the sound of their arrival. Mr. and Mrs. Singleton sat on either side of a delicate-looking young woman, doting on her. They had been her parents for twenty years--until a routine physical revealed she wasn't their biological child. An investigation uncovered the truth: she was the daughter of the Singleton family's former maid, who had switched the babies out of jealousy during childbirth.

Her world collapsed. She remained Adaline Brandt, and the real Singleton daughter, Elois Singleton, was brought home. Everything was returned to its rightful owner. She had accepted her fate and gone back to her biological parents--only to discover they planned to sell her into a brothel. She had barely escaped and fled back to the Singleton family, only to fall into another nightmare.

"Sister! You're back!" A pair of slender arms wrapped familiarly around hers. Elois said warmly, "Sister, it's so good to see you! I've missed you so much these past few years. How were you in there?"

Adaline's face went white. She tried stiffly to pull her arm away, but Elois held on tight. Elois leaned in close, smiling, but her voice dropped to a whisper only Adaline could hear. "Adaline, why didn't you just die in there?"

Adaline's pupils contracted. She stared at Elois, who smiled back innocently, then let her gaze drop to Adaline's bare nail beds. Her smile widened. "Does it hurt? No nails, no more violin for you. Oh, and I heard you tried to run. I had them break your leg so you couldn't. Happy? Every bit of suffering you went through in there--I ordered it."

Crash-- The emotions she had been holding back exploded. With every ounce of strength she had, Adaline shoved Elois away and lunged for her throat, her eyes wild. "You... it was you! I knew it! You... did it on purpose!"

Four years of beatings, four years of hell--all because of Elois! She had been trapped in that place, unable to live, unable to die, dreaming every night of escaping.

"Sister! What's wrong with you? Cough... that hurts!" Mr. and Mrs. Singleton rushed forward in alarm. "Adaline! What are you doing? Let go!"

A powerful force yanked her off. Her head slammed against the sharp corner of a table. Pain exploded, blood gushed, streaming down her face. "Adaline! You're asking for it!"

Carter's eyes were cold, his face twisted with disgust. "You never learn."