Chapter 2

"Deep breaths, sweetheart. You're going to tear your stitches."

Brenda's voice was a distant hum against the roaring in Diandra's ears. The nurse was adjusting the dial on the PCA pump, increasing the dose of pain medication flowing into Diandra's veins.

"He had no right," Brenda muttered, her gentle hands smoothing the blankets over Diandra's trembling legs. "No right at all. I don't care who his boss is. You are a patient, not a corporate asset. I'm noting this in your chart. No more visitors without Dr. Finch's explicit approval."

Diandra nodded, a tiny, jerky movement that sent a spike of pain down her neck. The medication was beginning to take the edge off, turning the sharp, biting agony into a dull, heavy ache. She closed her eyes, allowing the chemical tide to pull her under.

She thought it was over. She thought she had drawn a line in the sand.

She was wrong.

Less than an hour later, the door to her room was thrown open with enough force to slam against the wall. The sharp crack of metal against drywall jolted Diandra out of her light doze.

A gust of cold winter air rushed into the room, carrying with it the scent of expensive wool, freezing temperatures, and a sharp, woody cologne that smelled like money and arrogance.

Holt Farmer stood in the doorway.

He was tall, his broad shoulders blocking the light from the hallway. He wore a dark cashmere overcoat, dusted with melting snowflakes. His face was striking-sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw, dark hair swept back from a high forehead. But his eyes were what held her captive. They were a cold, piercing gray, and they looked at her with a fury so absolute it seemed to lower the temperature in the room by ten degrees.

"Mr. Farmer!" Brenda stepped forward, her face flushed with anger. "You cannot be in here. Dr. Finch left strict orders-"

"Get out."

Holt didn't even look at the nurse. His voice was low, quiet, but it carried the absolute authority of a man who owned the building, the city, and likely the country it stood on.

"I will not!" Brenda sputtered, moving to stand between him and the bed. "My patient is in critical condition-"

Holt finally turned his gaze to the nurse. It was a brief, dismissive glance, but it was meant to terrify. Brenda's heart hammered against her ribs, but she didn't back down. Instead, she immediately turned and slammed her palm on the emergency call button on the wall. "Security to Room 304, now!" Her voice trembled with a mix of fear and fury, but it was astonishingly firm. "Get out of my patient's room!"

"I will call security," she said, but her voice had lost its conviction.

"Do that," Holt said, stepping around her and approaching the bed. "But until they arrive, I'm going to speak to my wife."

He stopped at the side of the bed, towering over her. Diandra stared up at him, her heart hammering against her ribs so hard she was sure he could see it through her thin hospital gown. This was the man from the void. This was her husband. The thought didn't bring comfort; it brought a primal, instinctive terror that made her want to curl into a ball and disappear.

"A parting gift?" he said, his voice soft and dangerous. He leaned down, his hands gripping the metal rails of the bed, his face inches from hers. "Is that your new strategy, Diandra? Reverse psychology?"

Diandra opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her throat had closed up, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. She didn't know this man. She didn't know what he was talking about. All she knew was that she was trapped, pinned to the bed by the sheer force of his rage.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a folded newspaper. He threw it onto the bed, the heavy paper landing heavily on her stomach. The impact was light, but it felt like a punch to her already bruised ribs.

She forced her eyes to focus on the headline, the bold black type blurring before snapping into clarity. Farmer Wife Critically Injured in Aspen "Accident"; Vaughan Steadfast by His Side. Below the headline was a photograph. Holt, his face etched with concern, his arm wrapped protectively around a beautiful woman with pale blonde hair and a fragile, haunted expression. Chelsi Vaughan.

"Because of your stupidity, the media is painting her as a homewrecker," Holt snarled, his gray eyes burning into hers. "They're calling her the other woman. You've destroyed her reputation."

Diandra looked at the woman in the photo, then back at the man looming over her. She felt nothing. No jealousy, no anger. Just a profound, chilling sense of absurdity.

She didn't respond. She couldn't. The silence seemed to enrage him further.

"How much?" he demanded, his voice rising. "How much is it going to take for you to end this circus? How much to make you stop playing the victim?"

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder. His fingers dug into the flesh just above her collarbone, his grip like a vise. He yanked her upward, trying to pull her into a sitting position, trying to force her to look him in the eye.

The pain was instantaneous and catastrophic.

It felt like a white-hot wire had been threaded down her spine and yanked with brutal force. The world went white, then black at the edges. A scream tore from her throat, raw and guttural, but she couldn't hear it over the roaring in her ears. Her body convulsed, every muscle seizing in a desperate attempt to escape the agony.

"Mr. Farmer! Stop! You're killing her!"

Brenda's voice pierced the haze. The nurse launched herself at Holt, grabbing his arm and trying to pry his fingers loose.

"She's faking!" Holt roared, his grip tightening, his face twisted in a mask of furious disbelief. "It's an act! I've seen her performances before!"

Diandra's hands clawed weakly at his wrists, her nails scraping against the expensive wool of his coat sleeve. Tears streamed down her face, her vision swimming with black spots. She couldn't breathe. The pain was a living thing, eating her alive from the inside out.

Then, suddenly, a sharp, insistent ringing cut through the chaos.

Holt froze. His grip loosened, and Diandra slumped back onto the mattress, a broken ragdoll. She lay there, gasping, her chest heaving, every breath a knife in her back.

Holt pulled his phone from his pocket. He glanced at the screen, and the transformation was terrifying. The rage, the violence, the madness-it all evaporated, replaced by a soft, worried concern that looked almost alien on his handsome face.

"Chelsi," he said, answering the call. His voice was gentle, a tone he had never used with Diandra. "No, no, don't worry. I'm handling it. I'll be there as soon as I can. The dinner tonight is crucial. You need to be strong. I'll be right by your side."

He ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He looked down at Diandra, who was still trembling uncontrollably, her face ashen, her eyes unfocused. There was no remorse in his gaze. Only cold, hard contempt.

"I'm attending the charity gala tonight with Chelsi," he said, his voice flat. "Until you learn to behave, don't expect me to come back."

He adjusted the collar of his coat, smoothing out the wrinkles where she had clawed at him. He turned and walked out of the room, his footsteps echoing down the hall, leaving behind only the scent of his cologne and the suffocating weight of his cruelty.

Brenda rushed to the bed, her face pale with shock. She looked at Diandra's ashen face, at the sweat soaking her hospital gown, at the way her eyes were rolling back in her head.

"Code Blue! Room 304!" Brenda yelled into the intercom on the wall. "Get Dr. Finch in here now! The spinal fixator has shifted!"

Diandra's vision was fading, the edges of the world dissolving into a dark, merciful void. The last thing she heard was the frantic beeping of the heart monitor, and the last thought in her mind was a single, terrifying certainty:

The man she had married was the devil.