Chapter 4

The temperature inside the Escalade plummeted. The silence in the cabin was heavy, thick, and suffocating. The only sound was the soft, rhythmic hum of the air conditioning vents blowing cold air against the windshield.

Brecken kept his eyes on the highway, but his peripheral vision constantly flicked to the rearview mirror. Abbey sat perfectly still in the corner. She looked like a wax figure, completely devoid of life, her dark eyes fixed on the passing trees. The absolute lack of emotion radiating from her was making his skin crawl.

He hated the silence. It made him feel like he was losing control of the narrative. He needed to re-establish his dominance, to remind her that she was the broken one, and he was the benevolent savior.

He cleared his throat. The sound was loud in the quiet car.

"You should be grateful for everything the family has done for you," Brecken said. He pitched his voice to sound authoritative and slightly exhausted, like a parent scolding a difficult child. "Dad and Mom have missed you terribly these past five years."

The words hung in the air, absurd and heavy.

Abbey slowly turned her head away from the window. She did not blink. She locked her gaze onto Brecken's eyes in the rearview mirror. She looked at him as if she were studying a fascinating, disgusting insect.

"Missed me?"

Her lips barely moved. The words slipped out of her mouth completely flat. There was no anger. There was no sadness. There was just a chilling, clinical observation.

Brecken's jaw tightened. Her tone felt like a physical slap.

"Yes. Mom cries over your pictures in the middle of the night. She's been emotionally exhausted dealing with the fallout of your actions," Brecken snapped, his voice rising in defense of his mother.

Abbey stared at him for a second longer. Then, she laughed.

It was a low, raspy sound that started in the back of her throat and spilled into the cabin. It was a broken, eerie noise that held absolutely zero humor.

Brecken slammed his foot on the brake pedal. The heavy SUV jerked violently, the tires screeching against the asphalt before he corrected the steering.

"What the hell are you laughing at? You cold-blooded freak!" Brecken shouted, his composure shattering.

Abbey leaned forward. She ignored the pain shooting up her right leg. She grabbed the headrest of the passenger seat with both hands. Her pale, gaunt face hovered just inches behind Brecken's right ear.

"She cries over my pictures?" Abbey whispered. Her voice was soft, sliding into his ear like a venomous snake. "Then why didn't she ever come see the daughter who exhausted her so much?"

Brecken swallowed hard. He instinctively leaned away from her. "Prison is a filthy place. Mom's health is fragile. She couldn't handle that kind of environment."

Abbey cut him off. Her voice dropped an octave, turning to pure ice.

"Five years. One thousand, eight hundred, and twenty-five days. Not a single visit on visiting day. Not a single five-minute phone call through the glass."

Her dark eyes bored into his reflection. Brecken tried to look away, but he was trapped by her stare.

"Not one letter. Not one postcard. Nothing," Abbey stated. The facts fell from her lips like heavy stones.

Brecken opened his mouth. He searched his brain for a PR-approved excuse, a lie he could use to cover the gaping hole in his family's facade. His throat felt tight. No words came out.

"The only time you people contacted me," Abbey continued, her breath ghosting over his neck, "was three years ago. You sent a corporate lawyer to slide a liability waiver and a severance agreement under the glass. You tried to force me to sign away my legal rights to the family name."

The cabin fell dead silent again.

Brecken's face flushed a deep, mottled red. The veins in his hands bulged against the leather steering wheel. He had spent five years convincing himself that his family was suffering, that they were the victims of Abbey's crimes. She had just taken a sledgehammer to his carefully constructed delusion.

"Don't sit there and play the victim!" Brecken exploded. He hit the steering wheel with his palm. "You brought this on yourself! You pushed Justine down those stairs! You deserve everything you got!"

He desperately threw her conviction in her face, trying to scramble back up to the moral high ground. He needed her to be the monster so he didn't have to feel the crushing weight of his own guilt.

Abbey heard Justine's name. Her expression did not change. Her heart rate did not spike. She had spent five years being beaten bloody for a crime she didn't commit. Words could no longer hurt her.

"I'll say this exactly once," Abbey said, her voice dropping to a dead whisper. "I didn't push her. Believe whatever helps you sleep at night."

She let go of the headrest. She slumped back into the dark corner of the seat. She closed her eyes, completely shutting off her presence. She severed the emotional connection, refusing to give him another ounce of her energy.

Brecken punched the steering wheel. The horn blared, a long, aggressive wail that echoed across the empty highway.

He felt a sickening wave of defeat. The criminal sitting in his backseat had just stripped him of his dignity without raising her voice.

He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. The Escalade surged forward, the engine roaring as the speedometer climbed well past the legal limit. He drove recklessly, using the speed to burn off the frantic, buzzing anxiety in his chest.

Abbey grabbed the plastic handle above the door frame. Her knuckles turned white as the car swerved through lanes. Her stomach churned violently, but she clamped her jaw shut. She would bite her own tongue off before she let out a sound of distress.

In the distance, the sprawling, castle-like silhouette of the Dudley estate appeared on the horizon.

Abbey opened her eyes. She stared at the massive iron gates of the gilded cage that had destroyed her life. A terrifying, absolute resolve settled into her bones.