Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Liv packed a single bag. Clothes, toiletries. Nothing else mattered.

She was leaving her NYU dorm, going to her father's quiet upstate house for a while.

As she waited for the car, Marcus Thorne walked out of the elevator in her father's office building.

He was with Izzy.

Izzy's hand was on his arm, possessive.

Marcus wore a new suit, expensive, perfectly tailored.

A faint lipstick smudge, a shade Izzy often wore, was visible on his collar.

Liv's eyes flickered over it, then quickly away.

A dull ache, familiar now.

"Olivia," Marcus said. His voice was cool, formal.

He stopped, blocking her path slightly. Izzy stood beside him, a smug little smile playing on her lips.

"I trust you're not going to cause any more... disturbances."

His words were a warning, sharp and clear.

He meant her presence, her very existence.

Liv looked down. "No, Mr. Thorne."

She used his surname. It felt strange, but right.

He stiffened. A flicker of something – surprise? Annoyance? – crossed his face.

He was used to her adoring "Marcus."

Izzy chose that moment to step forward, pressing closer to Marcus.

He automatically put his arm around her waist, pulling her in.

A public display. A claim.

"Darling," Izzy said, her voice sweet as honey, "we should get going. The planning meeting for the new wing."

She looked at Liv, then back at Marcus.

"Marcus is so busy, you know. Taking on so much responsibility at the firm now."

She was marking her territory.

"Izzy is going to be a great asset," Marcus stated, his eyes on Liv. "She has impeccable taste. She'll be overseeing all the interior design for my future projects. And, of course, for our home."

The unspoken message: Izzy was the woman of the house, the future Mrs. Thorne, in all but name.

Liv felt a cold wave wash over her. Diminished. Irrelevant.

"You're an outsider here now, Olivia," Marcus said, his voice devoid of any warmth.

Not a cruel tone, just a statement of fact.

Like telling her the sky was blue.

Liv managed a small, self-deprecating smile. It didn't reach her eyes.

"I understand, Mr. Thorne."

She would leave. Not just the city for a while, but this whole toxic world. Permanently.

Her father's driver arrived. She nodded once to Marcus and Izzy, then walked away.

She didn't look back.

The next few weeks were a blur of forced quiet.

Her father tried to shield her.

She stayed upstate, walking in the woods, trying to breathe.

She avoided news from the city, but snippets reached her.

Marcus and Izzy were inseparable.

Lavish dinners, charity events, industry parties.

He was reportedly doting on Izzy, attentive to her every whim.

New diamond earrings for Izzy, "just because."

A weekend trip to Paris for Izzy's "inspiration."

It confirmed their deep connection, or at least, the connection Izzy had successfully forged and Marcus now embraced.

Liv felt a strange detachment. It was like watching a movie about other people's lives.

One afternoon, Liv started cleaning out her old room at her father's city apartment, which she'd briefly returned to before the upstate decision.

She found a box of mementos.

Sketches of Marcus. Old gala invitations where she'd hoped he'd notice her.

The granite stone.

She picked it up, then dropped it into a trash bag with the rest.

It was time to let go.

She was carrying the bag to the building's incinerator chute when the elevator doors opened.

Marcus Thorne stepped out.

He was visiting her father.

He saw the bag in her hand. He saw her.

"Olivia. You've been... quiet."

His tone was unreadable. Not hostile, not friendly. Just observant.