Chapter 4

I walked the streets aimlessly, the city lights a blur. My phone buzzed. It was a number I didn't recognize, but it was from my father's side of the family. I hesitated, then answered.

"Ember? It's your uncle," a man's voice said, sounding flustered and excited. He didn't wait for a response. "The family is thrilled you've finally agreed to be recognized! We're holding a banquet tomorrow night to officially welcome you back."

I was silent. Welcome me back to a family that had stood by and watched my mother be destroyed by lies?

"And," he continued, his voice dropping conspiratorially, "the head of the Mosley family will be there. Your father... well, before he passed, he arranged a marriage for you. With their eldest son, Keith Mosley."

An arranged marriage. To a man I'd never met.

"We just need your consent, of course," my uncle added hastily, as if remembering I had a choice.

I thought of Chace' s words. "A pretty, high-society wife for show, and a passionate woman on the side for fun." I thought of Karyn's smug "open relationship" speech.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "Sure. Why not? A marriage is just a contract, isn't it?"

My uncle was stunned into silence. He probably expected me to fight it, just as I had fought against acknowledging his family for years. I had refused because I was loyal to Chace. I thought we had a real future.

"Things are different now," I said, my voice hollow. "As Chace and Karyn say, it's all just a business deal."

I hung up, my heart a cold, heavy stone in my chest. Love, loyalty, forever-they were all illusions. Maybe a business deal was all a relationship was good for.

My phone rang again. This time, it was Chace. I almost declined, but a morbid curiosity made me answer.

"Ember," his voice was weak, strained. "I... I think my stomach is bleeding again. I'm at The Onyx Club."

The line went dead.

My hand started to shake. Chace had a chronic stomach issue that flared up under stress. He' d had a major bleeding incident in college, and it had terrified me. He had been so brave about it, always telling me not to worry.

I remembered how he' d once gotten into a fight defending my honor and ended up with a concussion. I remembered all the times he' d stood up for me, protected me. Was this man, the one who was sick and needed me, the real Chace? Had I been too harsh?

My heart twisted with a familiar, painful ache.

I hailed a cab, my mind racing. "The Onyx Club, please. Hurry."

I arrived at the club and rushed inside, my heart pounding with fear. I burst into the private room he' d mentioned, expecting to find him pale and collapsed on a couch.

Instead, I found him perfectly fine, laughing with a group of friends. Karyn was perched on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck.

The room was filled with their friends, all of them looking at me with amusement.

Karyn smirked. "See? I told you she'd be here in ten minutes."

Chace' s smile faltered when he saw my face. He looked guilty, but only for a moment.

I stood there, soaked from a sudden downpour I hadn't even noticed, my hair plastered to my face, my chest heaving. Tears of humiliation and fury pricked my eyes.

"It was just a game, Ember," he said, his voice laced with a condescending nonchalance. "Lighten up."

The world seemed to slow down. The music, the laughter, the smug faces-it all faded into a dull roar. I was the fool. The punchline to their cruel joke.

"Come on, Ember, don't be a spoilsport," Karyn cooed, patting the seat next to her. "Join us. We're playing King's Game."

"No," I said, my voice flat.

Chace frowned. "Ember, sit down." It was an order.

The game started. Of course, Chace and Karyn had to kiss. It was a long, showy kiss that made their friends cheer. I just sat there, counting the seconds, a silent, unwilling audience.

Then, Karyn drew the King card. Her eyes landed on me, a malicious glint in them.

"Number seven," she announced, looking at the card in her hand. I was number seven. "I command you to... let's see... go over there and let that man," she pointed to a sleazy-looking stranger at the end of the table, "kiss you on the neck for one minute."

The room erupted in wolf whistles and laughter.

It was a vile, humiliating command. I looked at Chace, expecting him to intervene, to defend me.

He just watched me, a look of detached amusement on his face. There was no concern in his eyes. No protection. Not even a flicker of the love he once swore he had for me.

In that moment, something inside me finally, irrevocably, broke.

I smiled. A dead, empty smile.

I reached for the bottle of whiskey on the table.

"I'll take a penalty shot instead," I said, my voice eerily calm.

I poured a full glass and drank it down in one go. The alcohol burned my throat, a fiery path down to my stomach. I was severely allergic. They all knew.

"Ember, what are you doing?" Chace said, a hint of panic in his voice. "You know you can't drink!"

Karyn grabbed his arm. "Let her be. She's a big girl. Don't be such a buzzkill, Chace." She pulled him toward the small dance floor in the corner of the room.

I poured another glass. And another.

The room started to spin. My vision blurred. Through the haze, I saw Chace and Karyn dancing, their bodies pressed close together. He whispered something in her ear, and she laughed, throwing her head back.

They were beautiful. They were happy. And I was dying.

My head swam, and my body felt heavy. The last thing I saw before the darkness consumed me was their intertwined silhouettes, a perfect couple, completely oblivious to the woman they had just destroyed.