Chapter 2

Ethan Cole' s men grabbed Ava' s arms, their grips like iron.

Pain shot through her broken ribs.

"She's coming with us," one of them growled.

Ava' s mind screamed. Back to Serenity Pines. Back to the darkness, the restraints, the "therapy."

Liam watched, his face a mask of cold indifference.

Then, a flicker of something possessive in his eyes.

"She's not going anywhere with you," Liam said, his voice dangerously soft.

He pulled out his wallet, peeled off several hundred-dollar bills, and threw them at Ethan's men.

"Take this. And get out of my building. She owes me, not you."

The men hesitated, then snatched the money and retreated, muttering.

Liam' s hand clamped onto Ava' s arm, his fingers digging into her bruised flesh.

He dragged her towards the elevators, ignoring her winces of pain.

"You look like a stray dog, Ava," he sneered as they entered his private office. The view of the city was breathtaking, a stark contrast to the ugliness of the moment. "It's karma."

His eyes raked over her, noticing the dirt, the torn clothes, the raw ligature marks on her neck from the restraints at Serenity Pines.

Ava' s breath hitched. She couldn't let him know the truth of her torture. It would show weakness. It would break her vow to Chloe.

She forced a brittle laugh. "Just some rough nights out in Europe, Liam. You know how it is."

Liam' s face contorted with rage.

Her apparent lack of remorse, her perceived promiscuity, it was all salt in the gaping wound of Chloe' s death.

He slammed her against the wall. His face was inches from hers, his breath hot with fury.

"You think this is a joke?" he hissed. "You think you can just waltz back here after what you did?"

He saw the terror in her eyes, but he mistook it for guilt.

"Cassandra is pregnant," he lied, the words designed to inflict maximum pain. "My child. We' re getting married."

Ava' s heart shattered. Another piece of her died.

"You," Liam continued, his voice venomous, "are just a tool for my anger. A way to work off the debt you owe me. You will stay. You will do exactly as I say."

Ava sagged against the wall, the fight draining out of her.

She was too weak, too sick. She needed to stay free, just a little longer. For Chloe' s memory. For her final wishes.

She nodded, a single tear tracing a path through the grime on her cheek.

"Okay, Liam."

He released her, disgust clear on his face.

Her old clothes, the ones she' d escaped in, were torn in the struggle.

But the inner layer, the one closest to her skin, remained hidden.

The layer where, for five years, in the darkness of Serenity Pines, she had scratched his name, Liam, over and over again into her own flesh. A desperate, painful litany. A coping mechanism. A secret testament to a love that refused to die, even in hell.

She thought of Chloe. Chloe' s sacrifice. Chloe' s last wish.

"Ava, promise me. Tell them you saved yourself. Tell them I was weak. Let them remember me clean. Untarnished. Please, Ava. For me. For Liam."

It was during their kidnapping by a violent gang. Chloe, always protective, had seen the brutal reality of what awaited them. To spare Ava further trauma, to spare Liam and her husband Marcus the horrifying truth of her violation, Chloe had made a choice.

She' d found a leaking gas line in the abandoned warehouse where they were held.

"They' ll say I was a coward," Chloe had whispered, tears streaming down her face. "But you' ll know, Ava. You' ll know I did it to protect you. To protect my memory."

Then, the spark. The explosion. Chloe pushing Ava towards a collapsing section of wall, towards safety, just before the main structure caved in.

Ava had kept her promise.

She' d told the police, told Liam, told Marcus, that she' d panicked and fled, leaving Chloe behind. That Chloe had died because of her selfishness.

Liam' s grief had been monumental. His hatred for Ava, a consuming fire.

He' d banished her. "Get out of my sight! I never want to see you again!"

And he had, unknowingly, sent her straight into Ethan Cole' s sadistic hands. Liam had just wanted her "away," unable to bear the sight of the person he blamed for his sister's death. Ethan, a "friend" with a dark side, had interpreted that as a license to imprison and torture.

Now, that hatred was her shield. It kept him from looking too closely.

It kept Chloe' s secret safe.