Chapter 7

I knelt on the cold, hard floor, my hospital gown doing little to ward off the chill. My leg was on fire.

But I held my head high. I would not break.

"I said, apologize," Elliott repeated, his voice dangerously low.

I met his gaze and kept my mouth shut. My spine was straight, my silence my only weapon.

His jaw tightened. He was furious, but my defiance seemed to confuse him. He expected tears. He expected begging. He didn't know what to do with this quiet resistance.

"Fine," he snarled. "Kneel there until you're ready to show some remorse."

He turned and went back into Katarina's room, closing the door and leaving me in the hallway. A public spectacle of shame. Nurses and doctors walked by, casting curious and pitiful glances, but no one dared to intervene.

The cold seeped deeper into my body. My head felt light, my vision swimming. I was going to pass out.

The door opened again. Elliott and Katarina emerged, her arm linked through his. She was smiling, looking refreshed and victorious.

She stopped in front of me. "Oh, you're still here? You must be very sorry." She reached out a hand as if to pat my head.

I flinched away from her touch. "Don't," I said, my voice a low growl.

Elliott's hand shot out, grabbing my shoulder. "Behave, Ava."

Suddenly, a flash of green and blue feathers swooped down the hallway. A parrot. It was Sunshine, my parrot. One of the maids must have brought him, thinking he would comfort me.

But Sunshine wasn't interested in comforting me. He was a creature of chaos. And he hated Katarina.

He landed on her shoulder and screeched, "Ugly witch! Bad woman!"

Katarina screamed, a high-pitched, terrified sound. She flailed her arms, trying to bat him away.

"Get it off me! Elliott, get it off!"

Sunshine, delighted by the reaction, squawked again. "Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!"

He then fluttered over and landed on my shoulder, nuzzling his head against my cheek. I couldn't help but let out a small, watery laugh.

One of the bodyguards lunged for the bird.

"No!" I cried, trying to protect him. "Don't hurt him!"

"Elliott, please," I begged, tears streaming down my face. "He's all I have left. My mother gave him to me."

For a second, Elliott hesitated. I saw a flicker of the old Elliott in his eyes.

But then Katarina started sobbing hysterically. "That thing attacked me! It's vicious! It could have pecked my eyes out!"

It was a lie. Sunshine was a loudmouth, but he was harmless.

Elliott's face hardened again. The flicker of compassion was gone.

"Get rid of it," he said to the guard, his voice flat and dead.

The guard grabbed Sunshine. The parrot let out a terrified squawk.

I screamed. "No! Please, Elliott, no!"

The guard didn't hesitate. With a sickening crack, he twisted the bird's neck.

Sunshine's small body went limp. He dropped it on the floor in front of me.

Dead.

The world went silent. The sounds of the hospital, the people, everything faded away. There was only the small, still pile of green and blue feathers on the white floor.

My heart, which had been battered and bruised, finally shattered into a million pieces.

That was the moment I stopped loving Elliott Hickman.

Completely.