Chapter 4

The live chat exploded.

`OMG_Snakes: NO WAY DUDE HE DID NOT`

`Chloe_Is_Queen: Yesss! Put her in her place!`

`ConcernedCitizen: This is a crime. Someone call the police!`

Chloe's voice dripped with fake concern. "Oh, Ava, just apologize. It's so simple. Say you're sorry and Liam will stop. He's a good man. He doesn't want to hurt you."

A good man. The words were so absurd they almost made me laugh. A good man doesn't abandon his wife in a desert and torment her for sport.

Suddenly, a banner flashed across the top of the livestream, so large I could see it clearly even from the ground.

`EthanH has donated $10,000,000.`

Followed by a message.

`EthanH: Keep walking, Ava. I'm coming.`

The chat went silent for a second, then erupted into chaos.

`WhoIsEthanH: 10 MILLION DOLLARS?? IS THAT REAL?`

`Liam_Fan1: It's fake. A glitch.`

`Skeptic_Sam: No way that's real money.`

Chloe scrambled to regain control. "It's probably just one of Ava's rich friends trying to show off! Don't worry, everyone, the show isn't over!"

Up in the helicopter, I could see Liam staring at the phone, his face a mask of fury. He grabbed the megaphone.

"Who is that, Ava? Who is Ethan H? Another man you've been keeping on the side?" His voice was a raw snarl of jealousy and rage.

The accusation was so vile, so far from the truth, that something inside me snapped. The last thread of affection, of memory, of hope for the man I once loved, was severed.

"We're done, Liam," I screamed up at him, my voice raw with pain and disgust. "If I get out of this alive, I am divorcing you!"

His face contorted with fury. "You'll never get out of this! You think you can leave me? After everything I've done for you?"

"You've done nothing but use me!" I yelled back.

"Fine!" he roared. "Let's see how your secret boyfriend saves you from this!" He gestured wildly at the snakes. "They're desert vipers, Ava. Highly venomous. You always hated them, didn't you?"

Chloe giggled. "She's probably too scared to even move. Look at her, Liam. Pathetic."

She was right. My body was locked in place by terror. My shredded feet were screaming, but the fear of the snakes was a cold, paralyzing weight. I couldn't will my legs to move.

One of the snakes, a pale, sand-colored viper, separated from the group. It slithered towards me, its head raised slightly, its black tongue flicking out to taste the air.

It moved with a terrifying, fluid grace. My mind was screaming `RUN`, but my feet felt like they were nailed to the ground. The world narrowed to that single, deadly creature.

It was only a few feet away. I could see the pattern of its scales, the unblinking stare of its reptilian eyes.

I stumbled backward, a strangled cry escaping my lips. My foot, already a mess of blood and blisters, landed on a sharp rock. The jolt of pain made me lose my balance. I fell hard onto the sand.

The viper struck.

It was faster than I could have imagined. A flash of movement, a sharp, piercing pain in my calf, and then it was gone, slithering back into the sand.

I stared at my leg. Two small puncture wounds, already swelling, with a trickle of blood running from each.

A wave of dizziness washed over me. Not from the heat this time. A strange numbness began to spread up my leg, and my vision started to swim.

"She's been bitten!" the doctor's voice yelled, frantic. "I saw it! It was a viper! We need to get the antivenom now!"

Liam sounded annoyed. "Is it really that serious?"

"Yes! She could be dead in an hour! We have to get her out of there!"

Even from the ground, I could see the flicker of panic on Liam's face. This was supposed to be humiliation, not murder. Dead wives were bad for business.

"Fine!" he yelled. "Get the kit! Go down and give her the shot!"