Chapter 6

"Help! I can' t swim!" Kassie shrieked, splashing dramatically.

Griffin didn' t hesitate. He dove into the pool, his tailored suit instantly ruined. He scooped a sputtering Kassie into his arms and carried her to the edge, laying her gently on the stone pavers.

"Are you okay, baby?" he asked, his voice frantic with worry.

Then he turned on Allie, his eyes blazing with fury. "What the hell did you do?"

"I didn' t do anything," Allie said, her voice steady despite the chaos. "She fell."

"I saw you!" he roared, pointing an accusing finger at her. "You pushed her! You were right there, your hand was out!"

"I was trying to catch her," Allie said calmly. She gestured to the corner of the veranda. "There' s a security camera right there. Check the footage."

Griffin' s jaw tightened. He barked an order to one of his bodyguards, who immediately ran towards the security office.

"If that footage shows what I think it shows," Griffin snarled at Allie, "I will destroy you."

"Oh, Griffin, don' t," Kassie whimpered, clutching his arm. "It was my fault. I must have slipped. Please don' t be mad at Allie." Her performance was flawless. She looked like a terrified, innocent victim.

But Griffin wasn' t listening. He was consumed by a righteous rage, convinced of Allie' s guilt. "I will not let anyone hurt you, Kassie," he declared, his voice ringing with authority. "Not her, not anyone."

He looked at Allie, his eyes promising retribution. "You are going to apologize to her. Right now."

"I have nothing to apologize for," Allie said, her chin held high.

"Don' t test me, Allie," he warned. "Apologize."

"Are you that blind?" she shot back, her own anger finally rising. "Can' t you see she' s playing you?"

Griffin' s face darkened. He pulled out his phone and made a call. A second later, Allie' s phone rang. It was the private clinic where Devon was staying.

Her heart stopped.

"Hello?" she answered, her hand trembling.

It was one of the nurses. "Ms. Mclean, there' s an emergency. Devon' s heart monitor is going off. He' s in distress. We don' t know what' s happening!"

Through the phone, she could hear it. The same high-pitched, screeching noise from the night before. And underneath it, Devon' s terrified screams.

She looked at Griffin. He was holding his own phone, a cruel smile on his face. He had rigged the system. He could torture Devon from anywhere.

"Please... stop," she whispered, her body shaking uncontrollably.

"Apologize," he repeated, his voice like flint.

The sounds from the phone were getting worse. Devon' s cries were weaker now, more like pained whimpers. She felt a wave of nausea and dizziness.

She closed her eyes, a single tear tracing a path down her cold cheek. The sound of her own pride shattering was deafening.

"I' m sorry," she said, her voice a choked whisper. She looked at Kassie, who was watching her with a smug, triumphant expression. "I' m sorry, Kassie."

Kassie said nothing, just looked at her with disdain.

Devon' s whimpers faded from the phone. Allie' s legs gave out, and she sank to her knees on the cold stone. She was defeated. Broken.

"Please," she begged, looking up at Griffin. "Please just let him be okay."

Griffin' s expression softened for a fraction of a second. A flash of the man he used to be. He took a step towards her, his hand outstretched as if to help her up.

But Kassie was there first, grabbing his arm. "Griffin, honey, I forgive her," she said, her voice sweet as poison. "Can we go now? I' m cold."

Griffin' s moment of humanity vanished. He looked down at Allie, his face once again a mask of indifference.

"You brought this on yourself, Allie," he said. "If you weren' t so damn stubborn, none of this would have happened."

She stared up at him, speechless. He was blaming her. After everything he had done, he was blaming her. The man she had loved was truly gone, replaced by this cold, cruel monster.

As she struggled to her feet, Kassie let out another little gasp of distress.