Chapter 2

Ilda Hill's face contorted in panic. The reporters outside were her audience, the source of her social standing. A scandal was a death sentence.

"Arthur, get her out of here! Drag her out the back!" she screeched, her carefully constructed composure shattering like glass.

Arthur moved, but Kelsey was faster. She kicked the base of a tall, antique vase standing by the door. It toppled over, exploding on the marble floor with a deafening crash. The sound froze everyone in place.

In the ensuing silence, Kelsey slowly, deliberately, rolled up the sleeve of her thin sweater.

Her forearm was a roadmap of faded scars and tiny, clustered puncture marks. A tapestry of pain.

"You think I'm a thief?" Her voice was dangerously low. "These marks aren't from drugs, Ilda. They're from you."

She pointed a trembling finger at Malia. "They're from every time your precious daughter needed blood. Every time she needed bone marrow to keep her alive."

Malia's face went white. She instinctively tried to hide her own wrists, a subconscious gesture of a patient used to transfusions.

"Malia has a rare blood disorder," Kelsey announced to the room, her voice gaining strength. "And for twenty years, I haven't been a daughter. I've been her living, breathing blood bank."

Addison, seeing his reputation circling the drain, scrambled for control. He pulled a checkbook from his jacket, scribbled furiously, and tore out a check. "Here," he grunted, throwing it on the floor in front of her. "One million dollars. Now shut your mouth and get out."

Kelsey looked down at the check, then back at his face. She laughed. It was a harsh, broken sound.

She bent down, picked up the check, and ripped it into a dozen tiny pieces. She threw the confetti of paper into Addison's stunned face.

"My life isn't for sale."

She pulled out her phone again-the screen was cracked from Ilda's assault, but it still worked. She pressed play on an audio file.

Addison's voice filled the room, clinical and cold. "...just one more transfusion. I don't care if her vitals are low. Malia needs it before the gala. If Kelsey's organs start to fail, we'll deal with it later."

A frantic knocking started at the front door. The reporters had heard the crash, heard the shouting.

"Mr. Hill! Is everything alright in there?"

Ilda clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with terror. Her 'Philanthropist of the Year' award suddenly felt like a lead weight in her stomach.

"All your charity work," Kelsey sneered, "all your fancy parties, all of it was funded by my blood, my health, my life."

Carter stared at Malia, a look of dawning horror on his face. He wasn't marrying a princess. He was marrying a parasite.

"She's a liar! A crazy, vindictive liar!" Malia screamed, her voice cracking with hysteria.

Kelsey took a step toward her, and Malia flinched. "Am I? Then answer me this. Last month, I had the flu for two weeks. I was too sick to give you a transfusion. Weren't those the two weeks you told everyone you felt the best you had in years? Why would you feel better, Malia, when you weren't getting my blood?"

As if on cue, a wave of dizziness washed over Malia. She swayed on her feet. "I... I don't feel well."

Carter, who had been supporting her, instinctively let go. Malia crumpled to the floor in a heap of designer silk.

"From this day forward," Kelsey declared, her voice echoing in the cavernous room, "the health of this family is no longer my problem. You are on your own."

Addison finally snapped. "I'll ruin you! My lawyers will bury you in lawsuits until you rot in jail!"

Kelsey smiled. It was the first genuine smile she'd shown all day, and it was terrifying. She pulled a crisp business card from her back pocket and flicked it onto the coffee table. "Good luck with that. What you've done constitutes decades of illegal confinement and medical abuse. The first thing I'm doing when I leave is walking into the offices of Sterling & Cromwell. I imagine they'll be very interested in a case like mine."

Arthur Coleman, seeing the entire ship sinking, began to sidle toward the back of the house.

"Don't even think about it, Arthur," Kelsey called out without turning. "As an accomplice, you'll be the first one to testify."

Ilda let out a soft whimper and slid to the floor, her strength gone. The grand living room was a wreck, a perfect reflection of their ruined lives.

Kelsey turned, picked up her battered backpack, and walked toward the front door.

The knocking intensified.

She reached for the handle, but it was pulled open from the outside before she could touch it.

Arthur, trembling, had unlocked it.

Standing on the threshold was not a mob of reporters, but a group of men in impeccably tailored black suits. They radiated an aura of power and danger that made the Hills' wealth look like pocket change.

The man in the lead ignored the chaos in the room. His sharp, intelligent eyes scanned the scene and landed directly on Kelsey.

He didn't speak to Addison or Ilda. He spoke to her.

Arthur stammered, "Miss... Miss Odom... they're here for you."

Kelsey stared at the strangers, her mind racing. A flicker of confusion crossed her face, the first crack in her armor of composure. She had planned for everything, except this.