Chapter 4 Chapter 4

Liv dismissed Marcus's offer with a polite, "Thank you, Mr. Thorne, but that won't be necessary."

She focused on her departure. Paris. A new life.

Izzy, however, did not dismiss it.

She saw Liv as a lingering threat, even engaged.

Two days later, Liv was packing her final boxes when her doorbell rang.

It wasn't her father. It wasn't Ethan.

It was two burly men she didn't recognize.

Before she could scream, a cloth was pressed over her face. Darkness.

She woke up in a damp, dark warehouse.

Izzy Vance was there, looking calm, almost bored.

"Hello, Olivia."

Liv's head throbbed. "What do you want, Izzy?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Izzy smiled, a cold, thin smile. "I want to see who Marcus truly values."

Liv's blood ran cold. "You kidnapped me?"

"And myself," Izzy said, gesturing to her own loosely tied hands. "A little drama. To test his loyalty."

This was insane. Izzy was truly unhinged.

Hours later, Marcus arrived. He looked frantic.

A man, clearly a hired kidnapper, held a gun.

"The ransom is here," Marcus said, holding up a briefcase.

The kidnapper sneered. "Not so fast. Your lovely associate here, Ms. Vance, had a special request."

He gestured to Izzy, then to Liv.

"You can only save one. Choose. The other one... well, accidents happen."

Izzy looked at Marcus, her eyes wide with feigned terror. A damsel in distress.

Marcus's face was pale, his eyes darting between Liv and Izzy.

An impossible choice. Calculated cruelty by Izzy.

"Izzy," Marcus said, his voice hoarse. Immediately.

No hesitation.

Liv felt a strange calm. She had expected it.

The kidnapper grinned, then roughly cut the ropes binding Liv's ankles.

He shoved her towards an open loading bay door.

Below was the dark, churning water of the East River.

She stumbled, then fell.

The cold water shocked the air from her lungs.

She fought against the current, the weight of her clothes pulling her down.

Her arm, injured in the fall, throbbed.

Panic clawed at her. She was a strong swimmer, but the shock and the cold were overwhelming.

Darkness crept in at the edges of her vision.

She thought of her father. Of Paris.

Then, nothing.

She woke up in a hospital bed.

Marcus was there, sitting by her side, his face drawn.

"Liv..."

"Go to Izzy," Liv said, her voice raspy. "She needs you more."

Her detachment was complete. He was a stranger to her.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but then a nurse came in.

He left.

Liv was discharged a few days later.

It was Izzy's birthday.

Her father drove her home. As they passed a well-known upscale restaurant, Liv saw it.

A lavish party was underway. Balloons, flowers, a red carpet.

Marcus was standing at the entrance, greeting guests, Izzy beaming at his side.

He was holding a small, velvet box – clearly a gift for Izzy.

His devotion was on full display.

As Liv and her father pulled up to their apartment building, the doorman rushed out.

"Mr. Hayes, Miss Hayes! There was a... delivery. For the party across the street. It got mixed up."

He was holding a large, ornate display board.

On it, dozens of Liv's old sketches of Marcus were pinned.

Her private, foolish love tokens.

And in the center, a blown-up copy of one of her unsent love letters to him.

The doorman looked mortified. "It was addressed to Ms. Vance's party, but with your apartment number as a return address, sort of."

Chaos erupted. Paparazzi, who had been lingering for Izzy's party, swarmed.

Flashes blinded Liv. Shouts. Questions.

Public humiliation, raw and brutal.

How? Who would do this?

She felt bewildered, exposed, sick.

Izzy, across the street, saw the commotion.

She clutched her chest, feigning shock and distress.

"Oh, Marcus! How could she?" she cried, tears welling in her eyes.

She turned and fled back into the restaurant, as if overcome.

Marcus's face contorted with rage.

He stormed across the street towards Liv.

Before Liv could react, before her father could intervene, Marcus's hand arced through the air.

A sharp, stinging slap across her face.

"You manipulative bitch!" he roared. "You just can't stand to see anyone else happy, can you?"

Liv stumbled back, her cheek burning, her eyes wide with shock and pain.