Chapter 2

Kassie.

The name first came up during a casual dinner. Griffin was scrolling through his phone, a frown on his face.

"This new batch of interns is useless," he grumbled. "A multi-million dollar proposal, and they used the wrong font."

Allie reached across the table and put her hand on his. "Don' t stress about it. You can fix it in the morning."

"I' m taking a team to the Hamptons this weekend to get it done," he said, not looking up. "Bookings are all set. Thompson, Hayes, and Rodgers."

Allie paused. Thompson and Hayes were his senior VPs, both men in their fifties. But Rodgers?

"Who' s Rodgers?" she asked, a small knot of unease tightening in her stomach. In the two years they' d been together, Griffin had never had a woman in his close professional circle. He said it was "cleaner" that way.

Griffin finally looked up, a strange light in his eyes. "Kassie Rodgers. The new intern. She' s... sharp. Different."

The knot in her stomach tightened. "You' re taking her to the Hamptons? With just you and two senior partners?"

He shrugged, dismissive. "It' s work, Allie. Don' t be dramatic. You know how this world works. Connections are everything for a girl like her." He then smiled, that charming, disarming smile that used to make her melt. "Besides, you' re the one I come home to. You' ll be the future Mrs. Ryan. That' s all that matters."

She wanted to believe him. She clung to that promise, that future he painted so beautifully. So she swallowed her pain and said nothing. She told herself it was just a passing interest. A rich man' s game.

But it wasn' t.

The "sharp" intern became a permanent fixture. At first, it was small things. Griffin would mention Kassie' s clever idea in a meeting, or laugh at a joke Kassie told. Then, Kassie started appearing at dinners, at events, always by Griffin' s side, her eyes full of adoration for him and a thinly veiled triumph when she looked at Allie.

The whispers started. Allie became "the old one," the placeholder. Kassie was the new, exciting favorite.

One evening, Allie found them in the library. Kassie was perched on the arm of Griffin' s chair, her hand resting on his shoulder. They were laughing intimately. Allie felt like an intruder in her own home.

"Griffin," she said later that night, her voice trembling. "You promised. You promised it was just me."

"And it is," he said, not meeting his eyes.

"Then let her go," Allie pleaded. "Fire her. Transfer her. I' ll find her another job, a better one, I swear. Just get her away from us."

Griffin' s face hardened. His eyes, once full of passion for her, turned to cold, hard chips of ice. "Don' t you dare tell me what to do, Allie. And don' t you dare threaten Kassie' s career. Anyone who speaks ill of her will find out what it' s like to have nothing."

He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper. "And if you push this, I' ll make sure Devon ends up in a state-funded institution so filthy you wouldn' t let a rat live there. Do you understand me?"

The threat hung in the air, suffocating her. He was tying Devon' s fate to her silence.

From that day on, the cruelty began. It was slow at first, then escalated with a terrifying momentum. It was always tied to Kassie. If Kassie complained Allie was cold to her, Devon' s favorite calming music would be replaced with jarring noise for an hour. If Kassie wanted a new designer bag that Allie had, Griffin would make Allie give it to her, then watch as Kassie "accidentally" spilled wine on it.

It became a sick, twisted game. Griffin used Kassie' s desires to torment Allie, and Kassie, reveling in her power, became more and more demanding in her complaints.

The incident with the sensory room was just the latest, most brutal turn.

After Griffin left, Allie scrambled to the monitor, her hands shaking. Devon was still curled in a ball, but his breathing was evening out.

She had to get him out. She had to get them both out.

The next day, while Griffin was at a meeting, she took Devon to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor' s face was grim.

"The stress is aggravating his condition, Ms. Mclean," the doctor said gently. "His heart is showing signs of strain. The sensory overload you described... it' s extremely dangerous for him. He needs a stable, calm environment. There are specialized clinics abroad, in Switzerland, that have shown incredible results with cases like his."

Switzerland. It felt as far away as the moon. How could she ever escape Griffin' s reach? He had eyes and ears everywhere. He' d once tracked her down at a coffee shop blocks from the penthouse just because she' d forgotten her phone. His control was absolute.

Defeated, she walked down the hospital corridor. And then she saw them.

Griffin was standing outside a private room, and nestled in his arms, crying dramatically, was Kassie.