Chapter 2

Noah Evans didn't hesitate for long.

"Austin," he said, his voice firm through the phone line. "Be here within a week. We' ll get married."

A beat of silence.

"But Ava, if you do this, there's no going back to him. Ever. You understand?"

The condition was a lifeline, not a threat.

"I understand," Ava said, her voice clear despite the ache in her side and the desolation in her heart. "There's nothing to go back to."

The decision was made.

A clean break. A new life.

She ended the call and, with trembling fingers, booked a one-way ticket to Austin.

The confirmation email was a small beacon in the darkness.

Ethan remained largely absent during her recovery at the clinic.

He sent flowers. Expensive ones. Impersonal.

He sent his assistant with updates about AuraSynch, as if she'd care.

She didn't.

Her world had narrowed to a single point: escape.

On her discharge day, Ethan finally appeared.

He was apologetic, oozing charm.

"Sorry I've been so scarce, babe. I was planning a huge surprise."

He drove her not to their shared apartment, but to a stunning waterfront restaurant.

The private room was extravagantly decorated with roses, hundreds of them.

A proposal setup. The one he'd "compensated" her with in his cruel plan.

Ava watched, a hollow feeling in her chest, as he got down on one knee.

The diamond in the velvet box was enormous.

Tasteless.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the door burst open.

Chloe Vance glided in, looking pale but undeniably beautiful in a silk wrap.

"Ethan, darling! Ava!" she trilled. "I just had to come wish you well. And to apologize, Ava, for any... past misunderstandings."

She carried a small, exquisitely wrapped gift.

Ava felt a bitter laugh rise in her throat. The timing. The drama.

Chloe was a performer, and Ethan, her most devoted audience.

As Ethan was about to speak, Chloe swayed, a hand flying to her forehead.

"Oh, I feel... a little dizzy."

Her eyes fluttered.

Ethan, abandoning the ring, the proposal, everything, rushed to her side.

"Chloe! Are you okay?"

He scooped her into his arms, his face etched with panic.

"I need to get her to the hospital. Dr. Albright needs to check her."

Guests in the main dining room murmured, watching the drama unfold.

"He's always like that with Ms. Vance," someone whispered. "So attentive."

As Ethan carried Chloe past, Chloe' s eyes met Ava' s over Ethan' s shoulder.

A small, triumphant smirk played on her lips.

She mouthed, clear as day: "You always lose."

Ava stood alone amidst the roses, the discarded ring box at her feet.

The humiliation was a physical weight, pressing down on her.

But beneath it, a cold resolve hardened.

She wouldn't lose. Not anymore.