Chapter 2

I fled the house and drove straight to a clinic.

My hands trembled on the steering wheel. I needed to know. I needed to be sure. I subjected myself to a full check-up, my heart pounding with a terror that had nothing to do with any disease.

The wait for the results was agonizing. When the doctor finally called me into his office and told me I was clean, no infections, a wave of relief so strong it made me dizzy washed over me. It was the only piece of good news in a world that had crumbled to dust.

I drove back to the mansion, the place I once called home. My mind was numb. I walked up to the front door, my face turned towards the scanner.

ACCESS DENIED.

The cold, electronic voice was familiar. Liam often locked me out after my failed attempts to seduce him. He' d leave me outside, sometimes all night, in the rain or the cold, until I broke down and apologized for wanting my own husband.

But this time felt different.

The door clicked open. It wasn't a maid or a bodyguard. It was Chloe.

She was wearing one of Liam' s silk pajama shirts. It hung loosely on her small frame, the sleeves ridiculously long. She leaned against the doorframe, a smug little smile on her lips.

"Oops, Ava. Sorry about that."

She gestured vaguely at the scanner. "Liam was just adding my face to the system, and I think I accidentally deleted yours. My bad."

Liam appeared behind her. He coughed, looking awkward for a split second.

"Chloe had a fight with her family," he said, his voice flat. "She' s staying with us for a few days."

He didn't meet my eyes. "By the way, I moved your things to the guest room at the end of the hall. Chloe needs this room. It' s closer to me."

I didn' t say a word. I just turned and walked towards the stairs, my body moving on autopilot. The guest room at the end of the hall. The farthest room from him.

Liam followed me. "Does it still hurt?" he asked from behind.

I scoffed internally. Hurt? Was he talking about my body? Or the fact that he'd hired men to violate me? The memory was a fresh, gaping wound.

He caught up to me in the hallway and handed me a glass of water and a small white pill.

"Take this," he ordered. "I' m not ready for kids yet."

I looked at the pill in my hand. He was afraid I' d get pregnant with another man' s child. A child he had arranged for. The irony was a bitter taste in my mouth.

Without a word, I put the pill in my mouth and swallowed it with the water.

My quick compliance seemed to annoy him. He frowned. "Chloe won' t be here for long. Just be nice to her for a few days."

Tired of a lifetime of yielding to Chloe, of being told to be nice to the person who caused me so much pain, something in me snapped.

"Chloe?" I said, my voice dripping with a sarcasm I didn't know I possessed. "You sound quite intimate with her."

His face darkened. "Ava, don' t be dramatic!" he snapped.

I turned my back on him, refusing to let him see the tears that started to stream down my face. I heard his footsteps fade away, back towards the master bedroom. Back towards her. I stood alone in the dark hallway, the silence of the house broken only by my silent sobs.