Chapter 3

"What if I am?" I shot back, my voice laced with a sarcasm I didn't feel. "Are you going to congratulate me?"

I stared at her face, the face Kane superimposed over mine in his sick fantasies. The sight of it made my stomach turn.

Coral smiled, a slow, deliberate curving of her lips that didn't reach her eyes. "Oh, Eva. You're still so naive."

Her voice was soft, but the malice in it was sharp. "You really think a man like Kane Miller would ever look at you? Someone with your background?"

My fingers curled into fists, my nails digging into my palms. The pain was a dull anchor in a sea of rage.

I tried to keep my voice even. "If you want him, you can have him. Just tell him the truth."

My heart ached as I said it. It was a test, a final, desperate plea for some kind of decency from her.

She just shook her head, a look of pity on her face that was more insulting than any slur. "You really don't get it, do you? You, who were thrown out of your own house. You have nothing. I have everything."

"I have a family that loves me, a fiancé who adores me. And I have Kane, wrapped around my little finger," she purred, her words designed to inflict maximum damage. "Do you know how pathetic you look, clinging to him like a lost puppy?"

Each word was a precise, calculated blow. My face went pale. The memories she dredged up were raw, wounds that had never properly healed.

I remembered my father' s empty promises. "Eva, I'll always be your father." I remembered him telling me to my face that I was the cause of all the family's problems after Coral staged a scene, crying about how I' d bullied her. I remembered the servants whispering, their loyalty shifting to the new mistress of the house. I remembered walking out the door with a single suitcase, leaving behind the ghost of my mother and the life I once had.

I thought I had buried that pain. But it was right here, fresh and bleeding.

"I gave you what you wanted," I said, my voice hoarse. "I left."

"It's not enough," Coral hissed, her mask of sweetness finally dropping. "It will never be enough until I have taken every single thing that could have ever been yours."

I couldn't stand it anymore. I turned to leave.

"Don't you walk away from me!" her voice rose, sharp and shrill.

I stepped into the elevator. Before the doors could close, she lunged forward, grabbing my arm and yanking me back onto the marble floor.

Then, she did something I never expected. She slapped her own face, hard. A red mark instantly bloomed on her cheek.

She looked at me, a triumphant, wicked smile on her lips.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. Fast, heavy steps. Kane.

My blood ran cold. It was happening all over again. Ten years ago, she had used this same trick to get me kicked out of my own home. My father, seeing her tear-streaked face, had believed her without question.

This time, I wouldn't explain. I wouldn't plead.

I saw a discarded wine bottle on a service tray. My mind went blank with a cold, desperate rage. I grabbed it.

"What are you doing?" Coral shrieked, her eyes wide with real fear for the first time.

I brought the bottle down on the floor next to her, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

"Eva!"

Kane's voice was a roar of fury. He rushed forward, not to me, but to Coral. He pulled her behind him, shielding her with his body as if I were a monster.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her, his voice tight with concern.

I watched the familiar scene play out, my heart a lump of ice in my chest. It was a perfect, painful echo of the past.

"Apologize to her," Kane commanded, his voice dangerously low.

I looked him straight in the eye. "No."

His eyes turned to ice. "Security!"

Two large men in black suits appeared instantly. They moved towards me.

One of them kicked the back of my knee. I cried out as I fell, my knees landing directly on the shattered glass. A searing pain shot up my legs.

I bit my lip to keep from screaming, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth. The dark fabric of my pants was already turning a deeper shade of red.

Kane' s voice was devoid of all emotion. "She hit you. You hit her back."

Coral hesitated, her eyes wide. "Kane, maybe she didn't mean it..." she began, playing the part of the merciful victim.

Kane ignored her. He grabbed her hand, and before I could react, he forced her to slap me across the face. The blow was clumsy, but it stung.

Coral gasped and pulled back, hiding in his arms like a frightened child.

I saw the look on Kane's face as he held her. It was a look of profound tenderness and concern. A look he had never, ever given me.

My world tilted on its axis. He knew. He had to know Coral was lying. But he didn't care.

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

I just stared at him, my jaw clenched, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

He gave a curt nod to the guards.

The first slap from the guard was brutal, snapping my head to the side. Then another, and another. My ears were ringing, my vision blurring. The world was a vortex of pain and humiliation. But I wouldn't give in. I bit down, hard, on my tongue.

Then, I felt a sharp, explosive pain at the back of my head. Someone had smashed what was left of the bottle against my skull.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Coral's face, her lips curved into a victorious, beautiful smile.