Chapter 3

Hayley's heart hammered against her ribs. Her hands were clammy as she stared at Dean, whose face remained a mask of indifference.

"Please, Dean," she whispered again, her voice cracking. "It was my mother's. It's the only thing I have left of her."

She tried to explain the locket' s significance, the memories tied to it, the way her mother used to wear it every single day.

Karina let out a light, tinkling laugh that cut through Hayley' s words. "Oh, Hayley, always so sentimental. It's just a piece of silver. Are you sure you're not just making up a story to get Dean's attention?"

She turned her wide, innocent eyes on Dean. "I can buy it for myself, of course. I just thought it was charming."

With a flick of her wrist, Karina raised her auction paddle.

"One hundred thousand dollars," she called out, her voice clear and confident.

Hayley' s hope crumbled. She turned back to Dean, her eyes pleading. "Dean, I'll do anything. I'll never ask for anything again, I promise. Just this one thing."

Karina laughed again, louder this time. "Listen to her, Dean. 'I'll never ask for anything again.' How many times have we heard that? She's a liar. She's just trying to manipulate you."

Dean's jaw tightened. His gaze shifted from Hayley's desperate face to Karina's smiling one, and his expression grew dark.

He slowly and deliberately pried Hayley' s fingers from his sleeve.

"You embarrassed Karina this morning," he said, his voice dangerously low. "This will be my apology to her."

He nodded to his assistant, who was sitting behind them. The assistant immediately raised his paddle. The bids escalated quickly, but Dean's wealth was limitless. Within a minute, the gavel fell.

"Sold, to Mr. Lee's representative."

Hayley shook her head, a silent, desperate plea. "I didn't do anything wrong," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "She fell on purpose."

"Be quiet," Dean hissed, his voice like a blade. "Say one more word, and you'll regret it."

A few minutes later, an auction employee brought the locket to their table in a velvet box. Karina accepted it with a radiant smile.

"Thank you, Dean," she cooed, casting a triumphant glance at Hayley.

Hayley couldn't look away from the locket. Her lips were white, her whole body trembling.

Karina opened the box, her eyes glittering with malice. "Here, Hayley," she said sweetly. "Why don't you try it on? Since it meant so much to you."

Hayley hesitated, torn between her pride and the desperate, aching need to touch the locket one more time. Slowly, she reached out her hand.

The moment her fingers brushed against the cool silver, Karina' s hand went limp. She "accidentally" let go of the locket. It fell to the marble floor and shattered, the delicate silver casing breaking apart.

Time seemed to stop. Hayley stared at the broken pieces, her heart shattering along with them. Karina let out a theatrical gasp.

"Oh, my goodness! Hayley, how could you be so clumsy? You broke Dean's gift to me!"

Hayley dropped to her knees, ignoring the gasps and whispers from the surrounding tables. She carefully began to gather the tiny, broken pieces of her mother's memory. A sharp edge sliced into her palm, but she barely felt it. She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood.

Dean looked down at her, his face a mask of cold disgust. "Stop making a scene," he snarled. "We're going home."

He tried to pull her up, but she resisted, clutching the fragments in her hand. The combination of hunger, pain, and heartbreak was too much. Her vision swam, the room tilted, and she fainted, collapsing into his arms.

She woke up in her old room, the one she had been forced to vacate. The first thing she saw was Karina, sitting in a chair by the bed. Curled at her feet was a large, menacing Doberman, its teeth bared in a low growl.

Hayley felt a jolt of fear. "Where is Sketch?" she asked, her voice hoarse. Sketch was her cat, a small calico she had rescued from a shelter, her only true companion in this lonely house.

"Dean's not here," Karina said, ignoring her question. She stroked the Doberman's head. "He went to pick out a new gift for me, to replace the one you so carelessly broke."

Tears filled Hayley's eyes again. Her life, her pain, meant less to him than a piece of jewelry.

"He did have the chef prepare some soup for you, though," Karina continued, gesturing to a bowl on the nightstand. "He said you must be hungry. He asked me to bring it to you."

Hayley looked at the soup, then at the cruel smile on Karina's face. She knew, with a bone-deep certainty, that something was wrong. "I don't want it."

At Karina's signal, two maids entered the room. They grabbed Hayley, holding her down as Karina picked up the hot bowl. They forced her mouth open and began to pour the scalding liquid down her throat.

Hayley choked and coughed, the hot soup burning her mouth and chest. The Doberman barked excitedly, and Karina laughed.

"He's a good dog, isn't he?" Karina said conversationally. "He's very good at catching things. Small things. Like cats."

Hayley's blood ran cold. She stared at Karina, a horrifying suspicion dawning.

"Where is my cat?" she demanded, grabbing Karina's arm, her nails digging into her skin. "What did you do to Sketch?"

Karina yanked her arm away, her sweet facade finally dropping to reveal the monster beneath. "Let go of me, you bitch!" she shrieked. "You want to know where your cat is? You just drank him."