Chapter 2

I woke to a searing pain in my arm.

My eyes fluttered open to the sterile white of a hospital room. The smell of antiseptic filled my lungs. Bandages were wrapped tightly around my limbs, and a dull, throbbing ache pulsed through my entire body.

Chloe was sitting in a chair beside my bed, humming a cheerful tune. She saw my eyes were open and smiled sweetly.

"Oh, good, you' re awake."

She leaned forward, her smile widening, and pressed her thumb directly onto the largest, most painful bruise on my forearm.

I gasped, a raw scream catching in my throat as fire shot up my arm.

"Does that hurt?" she asked, her voice a soft, mocking whisper. "Liam was so worried. He almost called it off. But I told him you were strong."

Tears welled in my eyes, from the pain, from the sheer malice in her face. She was enjoying this.

Just then, the door opened, and Liam walked in, his face a mask of concern.

Chloe immediately snatched her hand back. Her eyes filled with terror, and she scrambled backward from her chair, tripping over her own feet and crashing to the floor in a heap.

"Ow!" she cried out, clutching her ankle. "Ava! Why would you do that?"

Liam rushed to her side, his manufactured concern for me vanishing in an instant. He helped her up, his eyes blazing with fury as he looked at me.

"What the hell did you do?" he snarled.

"I didn' t do anything," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "She... she pressed on my wounds."

Chloe sobbed into Liam' s chest. "She' s lying! I was just trying to see if she was okay, and she pushed me! She' s always been jealous of me, Liam. She hates me!"

Liam didn' t even look at me for confirmation. He held Chloe tightly, stroking her hair. He completely believed her.

"I see," he said, his voice dangerously quiet. He looked at me, and I saw no love, no history, just cold, hard rage. "You assault the woman I love after she was just trying to help you."

He walked over to my bed, his presence looming over me.

"You will apologize to her."

I stared at him in disbelief. "Apologize? For what? She' s the one who..."

"I said," he interrupted, his voice dropping lower, "apologize. Or should I make a call to the dean of Ethan' s academy? I' m sure they have a long list of students waiting for a scholarship."

The threat hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Ethan. He always used Ethan.

My spirit broke. The fight drained out of me, replaced by a hollow, aching despair. What choice did I have?

"Get on your knees," Liam commanded.

My body wouldn' t move. I was injured, weak.

"Liam, she' s hurt," Chloe said, a fake note of pity in her voice. "Maybe we should let it go."

"No," Liam said, his eyes fixed on me. "She needs to learn." He grabbed my uninjured arm and hauled me out of the bed. The pain from my other injuries was so intense it made me dizzy, but he held me up. He forced me down onto the cold, hard floor at Chloe' s feet.

My hospital gown gaped open at the back. I felt exposed, humiliated, broken.

"I' m... sorry," I choked out, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. I couldn' t look at either of them. I just stared at the polished linoleum floor.

Liam' s hand was still on my shoulder, a heavy, possessive weight. He stroked Chloe' s hair, his other hand caressing her cheek.

"It' s okay, baby," he murmured to her, loud enough for me to hear every word. "She knows her place now."

He kissed her, a long, deep kiss, right there in front of me as I knelt on the floor in my pain and shame. The sound was obscene. It echoed in the silent room.

"I forgive you, Ava," Chloe said finally, her voice dripping with false magnanimity. She patted my head like I was a dog. "Just don' t let it happen again."

Liam then let go of me. I remained on the floor, unable to move.

He and Chloe walked out of the room together, his arm wrapped protectively around her, leaving me alone in a heap of misery.

I stayed there for a long time, the cold of the floor seeping into my bones, every inch of my body screaming in pain, but the deepest wound wasn' t one the bandages could cover. It was the complete and utter obliteration of my soul.

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