Chapter 2

"Why are you protecting her?" I screamed, struggling against Ethan's grip. My voice was raw, torn apart by grief and rage. "She's the one who killed Lily! She's a murderer!"

"Enough," Ethan's voice was a low growl, his fingers digging into my arms. "Olivia was cleared. It was an accident. Stop spreading these malicious lies."

Olivia, her face pale and tear-streaked, looked the very picture of a wronged innocent. "Sarah, I know you're hurting, but this is too much. I was at a charity event that night. I have witnesses. If you keep slandering me, I'll have to call my lawyer."

She was a masterful actress. She turned her tear-filled eyes to Ethan. "Ethan, please, make her stop. I can't take this."

"Apologize to Olivia," Ethan commanded, his gaze fixed on me. It was an order, not a request. The man who once promised to protect me from the world was now demanding I bow to the woman who had destroyed it.

"No," I said, my voice shaking but firm. "I will never apologize to her." I looked past him, my eyes finding the simple wooden casket I had chosen for my grandmother. "I'm here for my grandma. That's all."

A murmur went through the small crowd of onlookers who had gathered. "That's Ethan Vance's ex-wife, isn't she?" someone whispered. "She looks crazy."

"I heard she's just bitter he left her for Miss Hayes. Trying to get more money, probably."

Their words were like stones, pelting my already bruised heart. Ethan heard them too. A muscle in his jaw twitched.

"You're making a scene, Sarah," he hissed, his voice low so only I could hear. "Apologize, or I'll make you. Remember the last time you defied me? You cleaned the floors of my office with a toothbrush. We can do that again. Right here. In front of everyone."

The memory hit me with the force of a physical blow. A year ago, I had argued with him about visiting my grandmother. As punishment, he had made me get on my hands and knees in his corporate headquarters, in front of his smirking employees, and scrub the marble floors until they gleamed. The humiliation had been absolute.

I remembered being a teenager, poor and from a small town, mocked by wealthy city kids for my worn clothes and country accent. They had once cornered me, pouring mud on my only clean shirt. Ethan, who had just started pursuing me, found me crying. He didn't say a word. He just found the boys who did it and made sure they spent the next week cleaning the school's toilets. He had been my knight then, my protector.

Now, he was the one pouring mud on me.

That shining knight was gone, replaced by this cold, cruel stranger. The love I once felt for him had curdled into something dark and bitter. All that was left was a hollow ache, a gaping wound where my heart used to be.

"I said, apologize to her," Ethan repeated, his voice colder now.

Olivia stepped forward, a smug little smile playing on her lips. "Ethan, darling, don't be so harsh. She's grieving." Then she looked at me. "But a lawsuit would be so messy. It would probably delay your grandmother's funeral, wouldn't it?"

The threat was clear. My grandmother, who had loved me unconditionally, deserved a peaceful farewell. She didn't deserve to be a pawn in their sick game.

Ethan wrapped an arm around Olivia's shoulder, pulling her close. The gesture was possessive, a clear display of where his loyalties lay. "You hear that, Sarah? Apologize now, or I can't guarantee your grandmother will be buried this week. Or ever."

That was it. The final, unbearable cruelty. Using the body of the woman he had essentially killed as leverage.

The fight drained out of me, replaced by a chilling calm. I looked at Olivia's triumphant face, at Ethan's unforgiving one. I would give them what they wanted. For now. For Grandma Rose.

I took a deep breath and bowed my head. "I'm sorry," I said, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "I was mistaken."

I didn't wait for a response. I turned and walked toward the small chapel, my back straight. I could feel their eyes on me. I focused on the image of my grandmother's smile, the memory of her hand in mine.

The stress, the grief, the sheer emotional exhaustion of the past few days finally caught up to me. The world started to tilt. Black spots danced in my vision. My legs gave out from under me.

The last thing I saw before I fainted was Ethan's face, his cold expression for a split second replaced by something else. Shock. And maybe, just maybe, a flicker of fear. But it was gone as quickly as it came.

As the darkness took me, my last conscious thought was that I had at least said the words. I had kept my promise to my grandmother's memory. The apology was my key. It bought me time. And time was all I needed.