Chapter 3

Caroline Garrett POV:

My sins?

The word hung in the air, absurd and obscene. I thought of the years I' d spent sanding down my own sharp edges to make room for him. I had stepped back from the company, letting him take the CEO title, the spotlight, the glory. I did it because I loved him, because his success felt like my own.

I remembered the agony of losing our son. I remembered Jacob, kneeling by the little stone marker we' d placed by the lake, his shoulders shaking with sobs. He had confessed to me then, through his tears, that he had been driving too fast, that he had been distracted, that the accident was his fault.

He swore he would spend the rest of his life making it up to me. He promised, his voice raw with a grief I thought was real, "If I ever betray you, Caroline, if I ever break this promise, may I suffer a thousand cuts. May I swallow a thousand needles."

It became our dark vow. A shared trauma that bound us. For years, the topic of children was a closed door, a room in our shared house that we never entered. A silent, mutual agreement to protect a wound that would never fully heal.

And now he was talking about my sins.

My grip on Karina' s hair loosened. Jacob, thinking I had come to my senses, let out a breath of relief.

"Caroline..." he began, his voice softening, attempting to placate me.

I didn't let him finish.

I still had the dagger. It was tucked into the waistband of my slacks. My hand moved, a blur of motion.

I wasn't aiming for his heart. That would have been a mercy.

I lunged forward and slashed the small, sharp blade across his left brow. Right over the scar. His "badge of honor."

He cried out, stumbling back, his hand flying to his face. Blood, dark and rich, welled up instantly, trickling down his temple and into his perfect, dark hair.

"That's one," I said, my voice deathly calm. "The price of betrayal, Jacob. I'm just getting started."

I looked at a new scar, the one I had just given him. It was fresh, angry, and red. It ruined the heroic narrative. It was a mark of shame. I smiled. A thin, cold smile that didn't reach my eyes.

"Jacob!" Karina shrieked, finally finding her voice. She scrambled away from the wall and lunged at me, pushing me with surprising force. "You psycho! Look what you did to him!"

I barely stumbled. I turned my cold gaze on her. "Get your hands off me."

I slapped her, hard. The sound echoed in the foyer. She staggered back, her eyes wide with shock and fury.

"You want to be the lady of this house?" I asked, taking a slow step toward her. "You want my life? You think you have what it takes to hold it? You're weak. A parasite. And when he's done with you, he'll discard you like he's trying to discard me."

I leaned in close, my voice a whisper. "And when he does, I'll be waiting. I will find you, and I will strip you of everything. You will end up back where you started, with nothing. I promise you that."

Tears streamed down her face, but her eyes held a defiant spark. "I'm not going anywhere," she sobbed, her voice trembling but stubborn. "I love him, and he loves me! You're the one who will be left with nothing!"

Her words, so similar to vows I had once made, sent a jolt through me. A memory, sharp and vivid, flashed in my mind.

The screech of tires. The smell of gasoline and my own fear. The world twisting, metal groaning. And Jacob, in the driver's seat next to me, unbuckling his seatbelt in that split second before impact. He threw himself over me, his body a human shield.

"Caroline!" His voice, a desperate roar of my name, was the last thing I heard before the world went black. He had called my name like it was a prayer.

"Caroline, you've gone too far."

I snapped back to the present. Jacob was standing there, pressing a handkerchief to his bleeding brow, his face a mixture of pain and disbelief.

"You've become a monster," he said, his voice flat.

"You made me," I replied.

"I never loved you," he spat, the words designed to inflict maximum damage. "I was grateful. Your father took me in. He gave me a chance. I owed him. I owed you. But love? That was your fantasy, not mine."

He let the words hang in the air, a final, cruel twist of the knife.

"My patience with you is gone, Caroline," he warned, his voice low and dangerous. "Don't push me any further."

He turned away from me then, his attention shifting to the weeping girl on the floor. He knelt down, gathering Karina into his arms, murmuring soft, comforting words to her. He held her with a tenderness he hadn't shown me in years.

"It's okay, baby," he whispered, loud enough for me to hear. "I've got you. She can't hurt you anymore."

Karina buried her face in his chest. "I'm so scared of her, Jacob," she cried. "She's crazy."

He was her hero now. And I was the villain.

The perfect narrative.