"I already agreed to do what you wanted. I faked being sick for two years so you could get your thrill from sneaking around. Why won't you leave her alone?"

"And today, you deliberately provoked her at the hotel like that. Are you not satisfied until you've destroyed our marriage completely?"

Caspar's voice was ice-cold.

It froze me where I stood. I couldn't even breathe.

But Ebony just smiled, a wicked, venomous smile.

"Oh, Caspar. We're just getting started."

"Don't forget, it was Maud's father who killed mine. He's the reason I grew up on the streets, suffering through hell. You think this little bit of payback is enough?"

"I want her to know exactly what it feels like to have her husband stolen from her."

"Once I've gotten it all out of my system, I'll give you back to her."

She reached out, her wrists sliding up slowly until her arms were draped around Caspar's neck. Her smile turned suggestive.

"Besides, your acting has been pretty impressive these past two years. You've really gotten into the role. Are you going to tell me you didn't enjoy yourself while we were sneaking around?"

Silence from inside the room.

My breath caught. I stumbled, nearly falling, and something clattered.

"Who's out there?"

Caspar's low voice carried through the doorway.

He rushed out immediately. The first thing he saw was me, collapsed on the floor, shards of broken porcelain cutting into my skin.

Something flickered in his eyes. Pain. But it vanished just as quickly, replaced by that practiced indifference.

"You again?"

"I already told you, I don't want to see you anymore. And stop pretending to be my wife."

I sat there in silence for a long time, then spoke, my voice flat.

"Fine. I'll go."

"You'll never have to see me again."

I got to my feet slowly, staggering toward the stairs.

Behind me, Caspar sucked in a sharp breath.

"Mau—"

Before he could finish, Ebony wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

"Babe, were you looking for me? I just took care of you. Don't tell me you're hungry again already."

My steps faltered. I didn't turn around. I kept walking.

Back in my room, I shut the door and finally let myself crumble, sliding down against it until I hit the floor.

It was almost masochistic.

The image of Ebony and Caspar tangled together played over and over in my mind, a loop I couldn't stop.

A sharp sting bloomed in my palm. I looked down. My fingernails had dug in so deep that the skin was torn beyond recognition.

I grabbed a tissue and wiped away the blood. The door swung open.

Ebony walked in, arms crossed.

"Maud, even after all this, you're still not going to leave?"

"Think about it. You were standing right in front of your husband, and Caspar still couldn't recognize you."

"Don't you think that seems a little... deliberate?"

Those pretty, almond-shaped eyes fixed on me, sharp with scrutiny.

She was testing me. Trying to figure out if I'd overheard what she and Caspar said in the bathroom.

I lowered my gaze. "What do you want, Ebony?"

She let out a soft laugh, then reached out and tilted my chin up with one finger, her expression pure provocation.

"I'm going to replace you. I'm going to be Mrs. Stephens. If you've got any pride left, just admit you've lost."

"All you have to do is sign the divorce papers, and I'll leave you alone."

It all made sense now.

The best friend I'd poured my whole heart into had been plotting this all along, right under my nose.

"If I'd known you were a snake, Ebony, I never would have saved you."

I met Ebony when I was twelve.

I was the little princess of my family, sheltered and spoiled, never wanting for anything.

She was skin and bones, sallow-faced, bullied by the other kids at the orphanage where she'd grown up.

A group of children were pelting her with rocks.

I couldn't just stand there. I charged in and pulled her out, then had my family's bodyguard put those kids in their place.

From that day on, everyone knew Ebony James had a best friend named Maud Fox.

No one dared bully her again.

We grew up together after that, inseparable as shadows. We did everything side by side.

Then last year, she lost her job and couldn't find a new one.

I was the one who offered.

"Why don't you just move in with me?"

"I'll tell everyone you're my live-in housekeeper. You won't have to lift a finger, and I'll pay you fifty thousand a month."

Ebony moved in, thrilled.

But slowly, the pieces started falling into place.

She had planned this all along, just waiting for me to make the offer myself.

"Well, I really should thank you, bestie."

Ebony let out a cold laugh and patted my cheek.

"If you hadn't given me that fifty-thousand-dollar salary, I'd still be out on the streets. Probably sweeping sidewalks somewhere."

"A best friend who gives me money, gives me a home, and is even scared enough to hand over her husband. I must have done something incredible in a past life to deserve this."

Every mocking word hit my ears like the prick of a needle.

I really had brought this on myself. Rolled out the red carpet for the wolf and dug my own grave.

Now I was reaping what I'd sowed, and I had no one else to blame.

"Ebony, what do I have to do for you to let me go?"

I closed my eyes in despair.

The next second, she tossed a document in front of me.

"Get Caspar to sign this divorce agreement, and I'll let you go."

I said nothing. I bent down and signed the divorce papers.

My body moved like a puppet on strings, hollow and mechanical.

Ebony examined the document carefully, then smiled with satisfaction.

She patted my shoulder, still smiling.

"For old times' sake, I'll let you stay here one last night."

"But remember from now on, don't wander into the wrong house. This is my home."

That night, as I lay in bed, the door was pushed open, slowly and carefully.

"Maud."

Caspar walked in with guilt written across his face and dropped to his knees in front of me.

"I'm sorry, Maud. I had another episode. I didn't recognize you earlier today."

He looked up at me, his eyes rimmed with red.

"I'll take my medication. I'll take so much of it. Please, can you forgive me?"

As he spoke, he fumbled with a pill bottle, grabbed a fistful of pills, and shoved them into his mouth.

Every other time I'd seen him do something this extreme, I would rush over with tears in my eyes, pull his hands away, hold him tight, and tell him:

It's not your fault. You're just sick.

But now, I only watched. Still and silent.

Memories from the past two years surfaced unbidden.

Caspar in the grip of an "episode," slashing me with a knife, trying to tear my face apart.

Mistaking some strange woman for me, then turning around and beating me with his fists.

But every time he "came to," he would hold me and sob, apologizing through his tears.

"Maud, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Just wait a little longer. I'll get better."

I believed him. Again and again. I forgave him ninety-nine times.

I traveled to every remote temple and holy site I could find, dropping to my knees every three steps, not caring when they bled raw.

I tried every folk remedy under the sun, forcing down concoctions that made me retch until my throat burned.

I canceled every social engagement, stayed by his side day and night, terrified something would happen to him.

I thought sincerity could earn sincerity in return. I thought that one day, he would finally get better.

But what I got in return was him and my best friend, tangled together in our marriage bed.

And worse.

Even the illness had been an act.

Caspar choked down the fistful of pills, struggling to swallow. He failed, gagging, and broke into a fit of coughing.

"Maud, I'm trying so hard to take my medicine. I promise I'll get better soon..."

"I swear, once I'm better, I'll stay right by your side. I'll never see another woman again!"

I lowered my gaze and tugged at the corner of my lips.

Caspar had made that same promise countless times before. He'd even locked himself in his room once, refusing to let himself see other women.

I shook my head with regret.

Slowly, I reached into my bag and pulled out the neatly folded document, setting it gently on the nightstand.

"Caspar, I'm tired."

"This is the hundredth time. I don't want to keep doing this."

"Let's get a divorce."

His gaze drifted down to the words printed across the divorce agreement. Then his head snapped up.

His eyes were full of hurt and disbelief.

"What? Maud, why would you want a divorce?"

He scrambled toward me across the bed, desperate.

"Maud, please don't give up on me."

"We've made it through two years together. We've survived so much already. We're so close to the finish line."

"I have a feeling I'm going to get better soon..."

I watched him, my expression laced with quiet scorn.

His shoulders were practically trembling. He looked so terrified of losing me.

And yet every word out of his mouth was still a lie.

"Caspar." I cut him off. "I only want to ask you one thing."

"In these two years, have you ever lied to me?"

We had loved each other fiercely once. That was why I was willing to give him one last chance.

If he admitted it. If he confessed that he'd lied to me. If he laid everything bare, told me the whole truth.

I would forgive it all.

But Caspar fell silent for a moment, and when he finally spoke, what came out was:

"No. Maud, how could I ever lie to you?"

"I love you. More than anything."

In that instant, the last flicker of hope in my eyes died.

"Fine."

"Then there's nothing left to say."

The next morning, I left the divorce agreement behind. I packed a single suitcase, picked it up, and walked out.

Ebony threw five hundred dollars in my face. The bills grazed my skin, fluttered upward for a brief, weightless moment, then drifted to the floor.

"Take your money and get lost."

"And remember, don't ever come back. Because if I see you again, I'll make you regret it."

When Caspar came home, he was carrying the little cakes I loved and a crystal necklace.

Ebony's eyes lit up instantly. "Are those for me?"

Caspar frowned and pulled away from her reach.

"They're for my wife."

He ignored the shift in Ebony's expression and kept talking, almost to himself.

"This is your fault. You went too far last time."

"Maud is genuinely angry now. Don't show your face for the next couple of days. I need to make things right with her."

"You should've seen her. She cried so hard yesterday her eyes were all red, like a little rabbit."

His voice went unbearably soft as he said it.

"It broke my heart."

"Put the whole faking-sick thing on hold for a few days."

He held out a check.

"Here's a million dollars. Go have fun somewhere for a couple of weeks. Once Maud's cooled off, you can come back."

Ebony didn't reach for the check. She just smiled, slow and amused.

"Why don't you go find Maud yourself?"

She glanced lazily at the watch on her wrist.

"She left for the airport two hours ago. Heading overseas, from what I heard."

"She's probably already boarded by now." Her smile sharpened. "What, are you going to chase her across the ocean?"