Chapter 3

Stella wasn' t finished with me. She wanted to prove Ryan' s loyalty, to cement her victory. Later that day, as I walked from the coffee shop, a fake mugging was staged. Two thugs, their faces obscured by hoodies, cornered me in an alley. They pulled knives.

I saw Ryan' s car parked at the end of the alley. He was watching. I saw the flicker of conflict in his eyes, the instinct to help me warring with his ambition.

"Ryan, help her!" Stella shrieked from the passenger seat, her voice filled with fake terror.

He hesitated for a split second. A lifetime. Then he made his choice. He slammed the car into reverse, his priority clear. Get Stella to safety.

He was leaving me.

One of the thugs lunged, and a searing pain shot through my side. I felt the warm stickiness of blood spreading through my shirt. As Ryan' s car sped away, I heard a distinct crunching sound. The leather bracelet, crushed under his tires.

I collapsed onto the grimy pavement, the world turning grey. The last thing I heard was my own voice, whispering his name.

I woke up in my old apartment. The one Ryan had been clearing out. The wound in my side was patched up, the pain a dull, throbbing ache.

Stella was there, standing over me with a triumphant smirk.

"See?" she said. "I told you he would always choose me. I had to show you your place."

I struggled to sit up. "You did this."

"Of course I did," she scoffed.

The door opened and Ryan walked in. Stella' s expression changed in an instant. She let out a small cry and clutched her arm, stumbling back.

"Ryan! She attacked me!"

He looked from her feigned injury to me, lying wounded on the floor. His face darkened with rage.

"You are unbelievable," he snarled, grabbing my arm. "You're pathetic and vindictive."

As his fingers dug into my skin, a powerful hand clamped down on his shoulder, shoving him aside with effortless force. He stumbled back, crashing into a table.

A man I hadn't seen in five years stood over me. Andrew Scott. Former Special Forces, head of a global security firm, and my protector since I was a child.

He was taller, more formidable than I remembered. He knelt down and gently lifted me into his arms, as if I weighed nothing.

"Worry about your fiancée," Andrew said to Ryan, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "My client is no longer your concern."

Ryan stared, his eyes wide with confusion and jealousy as he saw me in this powerful man's arms. "What, you're trading up already, Gabby? Found a new rich guy to latch onto?"

Andrew didn' t even flinch. He just shifted my weight in his arms and walked towards the door. Then, he stopped, turned, and punched Ryan squarely in the jaw. Ryan went down hard.

"Whatever she is," Andrew said, his voice cold as ice, "she's with me now. And I don't care about her past."