Chapter 4

The elevator let out a soft ping as it reached the ground floor.

Adelia dragged her cheap suitcase out of the steel box. She walked across the expansive marble lobby toward the revolving glass doors leading to the street.

The automatic doors slid open.

Dominic walked in. He was returning from a business dinner, bringing a rush of damp, freezing air with him.

His eyes immediately locked onto the battered suitcase trailing behind Adelia. His pupils contracted sharply. His expensive leather shoes stopped dead on the marble floor.

Panic flared in his chest, but he instantly buried it under a thick layer of arrogance. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his tailored trousers and stepped directly into her path, blocking her exit.

He looked down at her dripping hair and her pale, shivering body. His lips curled into a sneer.

He asked her what kind of childish runaway game she was playing, dragging garbage through his lobby in the middle of the night.

Adelia did not lower her head in submission the way she used to. She tilted her chin up and looked directly into his dark eyes.

Her throat was raw. Her voice was raspy, but the tone was absolute steel. She told him to move.

Her blatant disregard ignited Dominic's temper. He pulled his hand from his pocket and slammed it down on the plastic handle of her suitcase. The veins on the back of his hand bulged against his skin.

He demanded to know what the hell she thought she was doing.

Adelia let go of the handle. She took one step back.

She looked at the man she had loved since she was a teenager. She asked him a simple question. She asked why the love he had for her three years ago had vanished without a trace.

Dominic's expression darkened instantly. A vicious shadow crossed his face.

He let out a cold laugh. He said it vanished because he realized she was a venomous snake who would do anything out of jealousy.

Adelia took a slow, deep breath. She didn't bother defending herself against the three-year-old accusations anymore. Instead, she reached for the deepest, sharpest thorn buried in her chest.

She maintained eye contact. She enunciated every single word.

She told him she had seen the hidden financial charges herself. She knew that for the past three years, he had been funding a private residence at The Pines estate.

The moment the words "The Pines" left her mouth, the temperature around Dominic plummeted to absolute zero.

His eyes turned feral. It was as if she had reached into his chest and squeezed his bare heart.

He lunged forward. His large hand clamped around her slender jaw. His fingers dug into her skin with terrifying force, pressing hard enough to bruise the bone.

He leaned in, his face inches from hers. He ground his teeth together, his breath hot against her cold skin.

He warned her never to speak that name again. He told her she had absolutely no right to investigate The Pines.

Adelia was forced to tilt her head back. The pain in her jaw was blinding, but she didn't struggle. She just looked at him with the profound sadness of looking at a stranger.

She asked him why, if he already had someone else, he didn't just let her go. She asked why he chose to torture her with cold violence for three years, making her wish she was dead.

Dominic stared into the dead, empty void of her eyes. A sharp, inexplicable pain pierced his own chest. But his defense mechanism was cruelty.

He tightened his grip slightly. His voice was devoid of mercy.

He said she owed a debt to Carly's sister. He said a vicious woman like her deserved to rot in a loveless marriage.

Those words acted like a guillotine, cleanly severing the very last, microscopic thread of hope Adelia had kept hidden in her heart.

The rims of her eyes burned red, but she forced the moisture back down.

She violently twisted her head and shoved his arm away. As she broke his grip, her fingernails scraped hard across the back of his hand.

Four bloody scratches welled up instantly on his skin.

Dominic looked down at the blood on his hand. He froze. He had never expected her to fight back with physical violence. She had always been so compliant.

Adelia grabbed the handle of her suitcase again. Her voice was colder than the rain outside.

She said that as of today, she didn't owe him a damn thing.

She bypassed his towering frame. She didn't hesitate as she pushed through the revolving doors and stepped out into the freezing New York drizzle.

The lobby security guards stood frozen by the desk, too terrified to breathe.

Dominic stood rooted to the spot. He didn't turn around. He stared straight ahead at the reflection in the glass doors, watching her figure grow smaller and smaller in the dark.

His hands balled into tight fists at his sides. His fingernails dug so deeply into his palms they broke the skin. His suffocating pride acted like concrete, keeping his feet glued to the floor. He couldn't chase her.

Adelia's bare, bloody feet stepped into freezing puddles on the sidewalk. Every step sent agonizing spikes of pain up her legs, but she walked faster and faster.

A passing taxi honked its horn. Adelia waved her hand frantically. The car pulled over.

She lifted the heavy suitcase and shoved it into the trunk, her muscles screaming in protest.

She climbed into the back seat. The moment the door slammed shut, her entire body went limp. She collapsed against the cheap vinyl seat and closed her eyes.

Through the glass doors of the lobby, Dominic watched the taillights of the taxi disappear into the rain.

He suddenly spun around and drove his bleeding fist directly into the solid marble pillar next to him.

The skin on his knuckles split open, smearing bright red blood across the white stone.