Chapter 4

Allyson Mccray POV:

I woke to the sterile smell of antiseptic and the soft beep of a heart monitor. My hand was swathed in thick bandages, a dull, throbbing ache radiating up my arm. Jackson was sitting by the bed, his expression unreadable as he carefully applied a cool, soothing ointment to the raw, red line on my neck left by the necklace.

For a moment, the scene was so familiar, so reminiscent of the times he had nursed me through fevers and minor injuries, that my heart clenched with a ghost of old affection. But the ghost died a quick death as the memory of his cold words on the balcony returned.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice flat.

I didn't answer. I just stared at the ceiling.

"Allyson, I'm talking to you," he said, a hint of impatience in his tone. "The doctor said you were lucky. The heel just missed the major tendons. But you have a concussion from when you fainted." He paused, then added, "Along with the injuries from your... skydiving accident."

Skydiving. The day before the party, Kaila had sweetly suggested a "bonding activity." My parachute had malfunctioned. I'd managed to deploy the reserve just in time, but the landing had been rough, leaving me bruised and shaken. At the time, I'd thought it was just bad luck. Now, I knew better. Kaila had been the one to "helpfully" pack my gear that morning.

"She tampered with my parachute," I said, my voice a raw, scratchy whisper.

Jackson's face darkened instantly. "Don't start with that again, Allyson. I told you, Kaila would never do something like that. She was beside herself with worry when you got hurt. She cried for hours."

"That's because she's a good actress," I said, my voice devoid of emotion.

"I won't have you slandering her!" he snapped. "You're just jealous and spiteful because I care for her."

I closed my eyes, a bitter laugh dying in my throat. There was no point. He was deaf and blind, willingly ensnared in her web of lies.

"The helicopter has a black box, Jackson," I said, my voice weary. "Check the cameras in the cabin. You'll see her fiddling with my pack."

His jaw tightened. For a moment, he seemed to consider it, but the impulse was quickly suppressed. "I'm not going to indulge your paranoid fantasies," he said harshly, standing up. "You're using these accusations to punish me for bringing Kaila here. It's petty and beneath you."

He paced the room, his anger palpable. "I've been more than patient. But my patience is wearing thin. You need to accept the situation." He stopped and looked down at me, his eyes cold. "Frankly, I'm tired of taking care of you. I have to get back to the hospital. Kaila needs me."

He turned and walked out of the room without a backward glance.

The door clicked shut, and the silence that filled the room was absolute. A single, cold tear escaped the corner of my eye and traced a path down my temple into my hair. But there was no storm of grief. My heart, already shattered and trampled, felt nothing more than a dull, hollow ache. It was the numbness of a limb that has been frozen for too long.

It was the quiet grief of knowing, with absolute certainty, that you are no longer loved.

Jackson, true to his word, didn't appear for the next few days. I was discharged from the hospital, a silent chauffeur driving me back to the gilded cage. On the day I was to leave, just as I finished packing my small overnight bag, the door to my room opened.

Kaila waltzed in, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. She was wearing a new designer dress, and my grandmother's locket was nestled in the hollow of her throat.

"You look terrible, Allyson," she said, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "But I guess that's to be expected. It must be awful, being suspected and abandoned by the man you love."

I didn't rise to the bait. I simply picked up my bag. "Get out of my way."

"Oh, but the fun is just getting started," she purred, stepping closer. She leaned in, her voice a conspiratorial whisper. "The parachute, the fall from the balcony... that was just a taste. I'm going to take everything from you, Allyson. Everything he ever gave you. And then I'm going to take him."

I was tired. So profoundly tired of her games, of Jackson's cruelty, of this entire nightmare. I pushed past her, wanting nothing more than to leave.

She grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin. "I'm not finished with you-"

Her words were cut off by a sudden cacophony from the hallway. Shouts, screams, the sound of running feet. A wave of panic seemed to be rolling through the hospital wing.

Suddenly, a man with wild eyes burst into the room, brandishing a long, wicked-looking knife. He was screaming incoherently about doctors killing his wife. A deranged patient from the psych ward, a crazed family member-it didn't matter. He was a whirlwind of violence, lunging at anyone in his path.

His wild eyes fixed on us. He charged, the knife held high, its tip aimed directly at Kaila.

In that split second, I saw Jackson appear at the end of the hallway. He had come back for me after all. The thought had barely formed when I saw his eyes widen in terror as he took in the scene.

He sprinted toward us. Time seemed to warp, stretching and compressing. I saw his face, contorted with a desperate urgency. He was going to save her.

And he did.

In the last possible moment, he reached us. But he didn't tackle the man. He didn't pull Kaila out of the way.

He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me, hard, directly into the path of the blade.

He used my body as a shield.

Then he wrapped his arms around Kaila, pulling her safely into his embrace as the world exploded in pain.

The cold, sharp steel plunged into my chest. A gasp of agony escaped my lips as the blade sank deep. Jackson didn't even look at me. His only concern was the trembling girl in his arms.

My vision blurred. The last thing I saw before the darkness consumed me was Jackson's back as he shielded another woman from harm. The back of the man I had once loved, the man who had just condemned me to death to save his new favorite toy.