Chapter 2

The moment Kameron's car pulled out of the driveway, the warmth in the house vanished. All that remained was a cold, suffocating silence.

I walked through the rooms he had designed for me. This house, which he called our haven, was nothing more than a cage. A beautiful, gilded cage.

My eyes landed on a photo on our bedside table. It was from our wedding day. We were both smiling, so full of hope. His smile now looked like a cruel mask.

I saw the grand piano he had bought me, its polished surface reflecting my broken face. He said my music was the most beautiful sound in the world. Another lie.

My fingers trembled as I opened the drawer of his bedside table. He always kept a small, locked box there. He said it held his most precious treasure. I had never asked what was inside.

I found the key hidden under the lamp. I opened the box.

Inside, on a bed of black velvet, was a piece of yellowed paper. It was a blood oath.

Written in his elegant script, in what I now realized was his own dried blood, was a vow.

"I, Kameron Stephens, swear to love Hailey Larsen for all eternity. She is my only one, my soul, my reason for living. I will protect her, cherish her, and never betray her, so help me God."

I read the words aloud, my voice a hoarse whisper. The promises, once so beautiful, were now grotesque.

I sank to the floor, a strangled sob escaping my lips. This whole marriage, this whole life, was a disgusting, elaborate fraud.

My phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number.

I opened it.

It was a picture. Kameron and Carleen, in bed together. She was smiling at the camera, her arm draped possessively over his sleeping form.

The text below the photo was like a splash of acid.

"He was with me last night, for Leo's birthday. Said he had to rush back to his pet. Poor thing. You must get so lonely."

Another message came through.

"Did you know? Our son, Leo, is four years old today. Kameron gave him the best party. You should have seen how happy he looked."

Four years old.

The timeline was a punch to the gut. He had gotten her pregnant just after the incident where I'd caught them kissing, right after he'd stood on that rooftop and sworn he couldn't live without me.

A scream tore from my throat, raw and full of agony.

I grabbed the nearest heavy object, a crystal vase, and hurled it at the wall. It shattered, the sound echoing the explosion in my soul.

I was a storm of rage and grief. I moved through the house like a hurricane, destroying everything that symbolized our "love."

I smashed the wedding photo, the glass splintering Kameron's lying face into a thousand pieces.

I took a golf club to the grand piano, the beautiful instrument groaning under my frenzied attack, its keys splintering, its perfect finish now marred with deep, ugly gashes.

I pulled the designer gowns he bought me from the closet and took a pair of scissors to them, shredding the expensive fabric, tearing our life apart one silk thread at a time.

I dragged everything out of the house-the photos, the gifts, the clothes, the shattered remains of my life-and piled them in the driveway.

I doused the pile in lighter fluid and struck a match.

Flames erupted, a funeral pyre for my dead love. The fire licked at the night sky, casting dancing shadows on my tear-streaked face.

Everything he had ever given me turned to ash.

Exhausted, I stumbled back inside and collapsed onto our cold, empty bed. I fell into a fitful, nightmare-ridden sleep.

Sometime in the dead of night, I felt the bed dip. Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me against a hard chest. The familiar scent of his cologne filled my senses, and for a moment, I almost relaxed.

Then I remembered.

He kissed me, his lips demanding. I shoved him away, my skin crawling.

"What are you doing back here?" I asked, my voice cold.

"I had a nightmare," he whispered, his voice trembling. He sounded genuinely terrified. "I dreamt that you left me. That you disappeared."

He pulled me back against him, his body shaking. "Promise me, Hailey. Promise me you'll never leave me."

His fear was another tool of manipulation, another chain to bind me to him.

"I won't leave you," I said, my voice dripping with an irony he couldn't detect. "We should try for that baby we always talked about."

I felt his body go rigid. His face, in the moonlight streaming through the window, was a mask of shock. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by that familiar, doting expression.

"Of course, my love," he said, his voice smooth as silk. "I was thinking... maybe we could find a surrogate. Someone to carry our child. They will be the heir to everything I have. Our child."

I closed my eyes to hide the scorn I felt. He was still lying. Even now.

The next day, he took me to a private, high-end medical clinic. He held my hand the entire way, whispering sweet nothings, telling the world how much he adored his wife.

The nurses and doctors looked at us with envy. "Mr. Stephens, you love your wife so much," one of them gushed.

He just smiled, a perfect, loving husband.

I went through the procedure to have my eggs retrieved. It was painful, a deep, invasive ache that was nothing compared to the agony in my heart. I was numb.

Afterward, he sat by my bedside, feeding me soup, showering me with more expensive gifts.

"Look at them," I heard two nurses whispering outside my door. "He's so devoted. But she's just from a poor family. I wonder what he sees in her."

I let out a cold, silent laugh. My eyes stung with unshed tears.

I knew what would happen to the child born from this. It would be my egg, but it would never be my child. It would be another pawn in his twisted game.

"I want to rest," I said, turning away when he tried to offer me more food.

He misunderstood my rejection, his possessive nature flaring. He leaned over me, his hands pinning me to the bed, his mouth seeking mine.

Just then, the door to my room opened.

Carleen Rocha stood there, a picture of innocence and concern.

Her eyes flickered to Kameron's hands on me, and for a split second, her mask slipped. I saw a flash of raw jealousy in her gaze before it was gone.

"Kameron," she said, her voice soft and sweet. "I was so worried. I just came to see how Hailey is doing."