Chapter 3

As Ava reeled from the scene, the live feed buzzed with fresh comments.

LOL, Ava walks in on them pampering Chloe. Priceless!

Chloe' s crocodile tears are Oscar-worthy. And those idiots are eating it up.

Suddenly, the company's head of security, a burly man named Mr. Henderson, burst into the executive suite, his face grim.

"Mr. Thompson! We found out! Ava Thompson... she tried to poison Ms. Miller! We found industrial cleaner in Ms. Miller' s smoothie from the commissary!"

Ava stumbled back, her hand flying to her mouth. Poison?

Ethan and Liam whirled around. Chloe gasped, shrinking into Ethan' s side.

"What?" Ethan roared.

Henderson pointed. "She' s right outside!"

Two guards grabbed Ava, dragging her roughly into the opulent office.

She stood before them, disheveled, in pain, her cheap cane clattering to the floor.

Liam' s eyes, once full of love, were now chips of ice.

"Ava? Poison?" he said, his voice dripping with disgust. "How could you be so vicious?"

Ethan advanced on her, his face contorted with rage.

"You ungrateful brat!" he seethed, grabbing her uninjured arm, twisting it painfully. "Chloe was trying to help you celebrate! You get one injury, and you try to kill her?"

"No! I didn't! I wouldn't!" Ava cried, tears of pain and injustice streaming down her face. "She' s lying! She burned me!"

Liam stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face.

The sting was nothing compared to the blow to her heart.

"Enough, Ava!" he snarled. "Apologize to Chloe. Now."

Chloe, nestled in Ethan' s embrace, offered a small, triumphant smirk that only Ava saw.

Ava looked at her brother, at the man she was supposed to marry. Their faces were masks of cold fury, completely convinced of her guilt.

"No," Ava whispered, defiance hardening her gaze. "I will never apologize to her."

Ethan' s eyes narrowed. "Fine. If you won't reflect on your actions here, you'll do it elsewhere."

He gestured to the guards. "Take her to the old lake house. She needs time to think about what she's done."

Exiled. To a remote, run-down family property, a place of unhappy childhood memories.

The lake house was cold, damp, and isolated.

The staff, clearly taking their cues from Ethan, were openly hostile.

Her food was often contaminated, gritty, or spoiled.

She recognized the pattern of neglect, now amplified.

One evening, as she stared at a glass of murky water, a new feed comment appeared.

They're gonna spike her water with something nasty soon. #ForcedRehabPlotline. Gotta make her look crazy.

A chill went down her spine. She threw the pitcher against the wall, shattering it.

Later that night, the front door splintered open.

Two rough-looking men, private security by their demeanor, barged in.

"Ms. Ava Thompson?" one grunted. "Ms. Miller, Special Advisor to the Thompson Corporation, sends her regards. She said you need to be taught a lesson about respecting your betters."

Ava backed away, her heart pounding. Chloe, now a "Special Advisor."

They cornered her, their eyes cold. One produced a syringe.

Ava fought, but she was weak, injured. They overpowered her, a needle pricked her arm.

Her world swam, her limbs grew heavy. A date-rape drug, she realized with sickening clarity.

As consciousness faded, Liam Carter walked into the room.

Not to save her.

He looked down at her slumped form, his expression unreadable, then noticed her drugged state. A flicker of something – disgust? – crossed his face.

He thrust a sheaf of papers at her. Annulment papers.

"You' re so debauched, Ava," he sneered, his voice distant. "This was never going to work."

He turned and left her to the thugs and the encroaching darkness.