Chapter 4

The party was at a friend's penthouse, a glittering affair overlooking the city. Chloe had gone because Maya insisted, telling her she needed to get out of the house. Chloe had agreed, assuming Kerr wouldn't be there. He hated these kinds of social events.

She was wrong.

She saw him the moment she walked in. He was standing by the fireplace, a glass of whiskey in his hand. And Gina was plastered to his side, her red dress a slash of color against his dark suit. They looked like a power couple, a portrait of success and intimacy.

[Mind--Link Notification: Kerr knew you would be here. He came to make a point. Do not let Gina' s presence provoke you. He is watching your every move.]

A shiver of unease went down Chloe's spine. The notification felt less like an explanation and more like a threat.

Someone suggested a party game. Truth or Dare, but with a modern twist. A spin-the-bottle app on a tablet. The bottle landed on Kerr.

"Truth or Dare, Chapman?" the host asked, grinning.

"Truth," Kerr said, his voice bored.

Gina, seeing her chance, piped up. "Let's see your most recently dialed number."

A hush fell over the room. Everyone knew he was married to Chloe. This was a direct, public challenge.

Kerr's phone was passed to the host. He scrolled through the call log. A flicker of confusion crossed his face. "It's... his assistant. Then his broker. Then... no one else."

The silence in the room became awkward. Chloe wasn't on his recent calls. She wasn't even on the list.

Gina seized the moment. "Kerr, darling, you don't even have your wife's number saved as a favorite?" Her voice was laced with mock sympathy, but her eyes, when they met Chloe's, were glinting with victory.

Kerr' s gaze flickered to Chloe for a fraction of a second. He saw the pained stillness on her face.

"She's not the type to call," he said, his voice flat and cold. It was a dismissal. A public erasure of their seven-year marriage.

Chloe felt the words like a physical blow. She didn't speak. She couldn't.

The game continued. The bottle spun again. This time, it landed on Gina.

"Dare," she said immediately, a predatory smile on her face.

The host, a little drunk, looked between Gina, Kerr, and Chloe. "Okay... I dare you to... kiss the person to your left."

The person to her left was Kerr.

A few people murmured in protest. "Hey, man, he's married."

Gina just laughed. "It's just a game, right, Chloe?" She looked directly at Chloe, her eyes challenging. "You don't mind, do you?"

Kerr was watching Chloe, his expression unreadable, waiting. It was another test. He wanted her to object. To show jealousy. To fight for him.

[Mind-Link Notification: This is it. The ultimate test. Show him you care. Stop this now. Your possessiveness is the only language he understands.]

Chloe remained silent. Her face was a blank mask. She would not play his sick game. Not anymore.

Seeing her lack of reaction, a flicker of anger crossed Kerr's face. He let out a short, cold laugh. "It's just a game," he said, echoing Gina.

Gina leaned in. Their lips were about to touch when she "tripped," falling into his arms. Her mouth met his, a full, open-mouthed kiss.

The room gasped.

Chloe's eyes met Kerr's over Gina's shoulder. She saw a brief flash of panic in his eyes before it was replaced by his usual cold composure. His lips were stained with Gina's bright red lipstick.

The sight was so ugly, so profoundly humiliating, that it severed the last thread holding Chloe there.

She stood up. The room fell silent. She walked towards the door, her back straight, her steps even.

"Chloe-" Kerr started, taking a step after her.

Gina grabbed his arm. "Let her go, Kerr. Don't cause a scene. It was just an accident."

He hesitated. And in that hesitation, Chloe saw everything.

She didn't wait. She walked out of the penthouse, down the hall, and into the elevator. She didn't look back.

In the stairwell, a hand grabbed her arm, spinning her around. It was Gina.

"Leaving so soon?" Gina sneered, her face flushed with triumph. "Couldn't stand to see the truth? He doesn't want you. He never did. You're just a pathetic little charity case he keeps around."

"Let go of me," Chloe said, her voice dangerously quiet.

"Or what?" Gina taunted, tightening her grip. "You'll go cry to him? He's busy. With me."

Chloe yanked her arm free. "You're trash, Gina. And he can have you."

She turned to leave, but Gina, enraged by her defiance, shoved her. Hard.

Chloe wasn't prepared. Her heel caught on the edge of the top step. She lost her balance, her arms flailing. The world tilted sideways as she tumbled down the hard marble staircase.

Pain exploded through her body as she hit the landing at the bottom. A sharp agony in her ribs, her head slamming against the floor. Blood bloomed on the white marble, a stark, terrifying red.

She tried to move, to call for help, but the pain was blinding. Her vision swam. She fumbled for her phone, her fingers slick with her own blood. She managed to dial Kerr's number, the one that wasn't in his recent calls.

It rang once. Twice.

Then, it went to voicemail. He had declined her call.

A new notification popped up, the blue light flickering in her dimming vision.

[Mind-Link Notification: Kerr is with Gina. He believes your call is a manipulative attempt to interrupt them. He is teaching you that he will not respond to petulant demands for attention.]

The words were so monstrously cruel, so detached from the reality of her bleeding on the floor, that a strange, terrifying calm settled over Chloe.

She was dying. And the man who was supposed to love her, the man whose every cruelty she had excused, had hung up on her.

Lying in a pool of her own blood, Chloe Roth finally understood. This wasn't love. It had never been love.

It was a death sentence. And she had signed it herself seven years ago.

Her eyes fluttered shut.