Chapter 2

Ava tried to follow Liam, pushing past a startled nurse, grabbing a discarded walker nearby.

She stumbled out of the hospital wing, into the cold night air, rain starting to fall.

She saw Liam' s car speeding away.

She collapsed on the wet pavement, the movement tearing at her fresh wounds.

Rain soaked her thin hospital gown, chilling her to the bone.

Her burns throbbed, a fresh wave of infection setting in.

Later, when nurses found her, shivering and delirious, her requests for top burn specialists were met with vague excuses.

"All premier medical resources are currently... allocated, Miss Thompson," a nervous administrator told her.

Redirected to Chloe.

Ava overheard two nurses whispering in the hallway.

"Mr. Ethan Thompson himself ordered it. Only the best for Miss Miller."

"But what about Miss Thompson? Her own brother..."

"He said Miss Miller's unique talents are vital to the company."

The live feed flared again.

Chloe gets round-the-clock care from two devoted guys, Ava can't even get a doctor for her festering wound. The irony!

Wait till Ava finds out Ethan and Liam personally treated Chloe's minor 'injuries' from the 'punishment' with imported serums. They're so down bad.

Minor injuries? From the "punishment" Ethan had promised?

A bitter laugh escaped Ava.

The care they showed her after the accident, their outrage, it was all a performance.

The memory of the gala, the fire, Ethan' s protective stance, Liam' s gentle words – it all felt like a distant, poisoned dream.

Her brother, her fiancé, bewitched by the intern who had nearly killed her.

Days blurred into a haze of pain and neglect.

Finally, driven by a desperate need to understand, Ava, using a cheap cane provided by a sympathetic orderly, made her way to the Thompson Corporation headquarters.

She bluffed her way to the executive suite, a place she once roamed freely.

The door to Ethan' s main office was slightly ajar.

She peered in.

Ethan and Liam were there, hovering over Chloe Miller, who sat on a plush sofa, dabbing at her eyes with a silk handkerchief.

Chloe, looking pale but remarkably unharmed, was speaking in a soft, tearful voice.

"It was all an accident, I swear. The gala... Ava just misunderstood my intentions. I only wanted to make her birthday spectacular."

Ethan gently patted Chloe' s shoulder. "We know, Chloe. Ava... she can be impulsive. She probably got too close to the display."

Liam nodded, his expression soft as he looked at Chloe. "Don't worry yourself. We'll handle Ava."

Then Ava saw it.

Ethan was applying a rare, imported healing balm to a tiny scratch on Chloe's arm.

The same balm that was meant for Ava' s severe burns, the one her doctors said was "unavailable."

The world tilted. The betrayal was absolute.