Chapter 1

The thick canvas bag was yanked off my head, and the sudden, blinding sunlight made me flinch. My arms were zip-tied tight behind my back, the plastic cutting into my wrists.

I was on my knees in the sand, the humid, salty air thick in my lungs.

Tara Johns stood over me, her sorority girl smile twisted into something ugly.

"See, Ethan? This isn't so bad."

She kicked sand in my face. It got in my eyes, my mouth. I spit it out, tasting grit and my own blood from a split lip.

"What the hell is this, Tara? Where's Nicole?"

My voice was rough. They' d grabbed me from the frat house parking lot, two guys I didn't know, throwing me into the back of a van.

"Nicole is busy," Tara said, circling me like a shark. "She' s dealing with the mess you made."

From a boat bobbing just offshore, I heard Caleb Blakely' s voice, whiny and pathetic.

"Is he going to be okay, Tara? I just wanted him to think about what he did."

Tara laughed, a sharp, cruel sound. "He'll be fine, sweetie. A little time to reflect is all he needs."

I twisted my head to see him. Caleb, my frat "little bro," the one my dad forced me to mentor. He was standing on the deck of the boat, looking pale and innocent. The perfect victim.

He wouldn't even look at me.

My fiancée, Nicole, finally appeared at the boat' s railing. Her face was a mask of disappointment, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Nicole! What is this? Tell them to let me go!" I yelled, my voice cracking.

She just stared at me, her expression cold.

"This is for your own good, Ethan," she said, her voice carrying over the water. It was flat, emotionless.

Tara knelt in front of me, her face close to mine. "Nicole thinks you need a lesson. A real one. About humility."

She held up a satellite phone. It was already on, and Nicole's voice came through the speaker, tinny and distant.

"Ethan, I'm so disappointed in you. Smashing the memorial for Caleb's mother... I don't even know who you are anymore."

"I didn't do it!" I screamed, struggling against the zip ties. "Caleb set me up! Nicole, you have to believe me!"

The line was quiet for a moment. I could hear the faint sound of Caleb sniffling in the background. Pure theater.

"I saw the security footage, Ethan," Nicole said, her voice laced with a false sadness. "I saw you go into the memorial room. Caleb is devastated."

"He's lying! He' s been trying to get between us for months!" I pleaded. "Think about it, Nicole! Why would I do that?"

"Maybe because you were jealous," she shot back. "Because Dad likes him. Because you think he' s weak. You' ve always been a bully to him."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was my fiancée, the woman I was supposed to marry, siding with a manipulative snake over me.

"That's insane! Nicole, this is an island! What are you doing?"

The sound of an engine starting up made my blood run cold.

"Tara said it' s a rustic detox retreat," Nicole said, her voice wavering just a little. "No distractions. Just you and your thoughts. You need to understand the pain you've caused."

"A retreat? Look around! There's nothing here!" I yelled, desperation clawing at my throat. "There are snakes, alligators! This is the Carolina coast, Nicole! You can't leave me here!"

Caleb' s fake-choked voice cut in. "I told her it was too much, Ethan. I did."

"Shut up, Caleb!" I roared.

Nicole's voice turned to ice. "Don't you speak to him like that. This is exactly why you're there. You can come back when Caleb forgives you."

The line went dead.

Tara smiled, a truly evil expression. She dropped the satellite phone in the sand next to me.

"Have a good detox," she said.

She stood up, walked back to the water, and climbed into a small dinghy that took her back to the main boat. I watched as it turned and sped away, leaving a white wake on the blue water.

I was alone. Zip-tied, bleeding, and abandoned on a deserted island by the woman who was supposed to love me.