When I came to again, the sharp sting of antiseptic filled my nostrils. I frowned, the smell alone enough to make my stomach turn.

I struggled to sit up, but Hubert's voice cut through the silence before I could manage it. "You're hurt. Rest. What are you squirming around for?" A pause, then a sigh heavy with irritation. "You never make anything easy."

I clenched my fingers into the bedsheet. "And whose fault is it that I ended up like this?"

Hubert's expression froze for a split second before hardening over. "You brought this on yourself. Don't blame anyone else."

His words drove through my chest like a blade, buried themselves deep in my heart. The pain stole every word I might have said.

When I stayed silent, he opened his mouth to speak again, but a shrill ringtone cut him off.

He answered, and just like that, his voice softened without him even seeming to notice.

"Clarissa... yeah... I'll pick some up for you on my way over..."

He hung up and the warmth vanished, replaced by ice. "Clarissa is being generous this time. She's not pressing charges. Her birthday is in two days. Don't show your face there."

Two days. That was exactly when I'd planned to leave.

I lowered my gaze and said nothing.

The moment Hubert walked out, my phone buzzed with a text from Clarissa.

Don't kid yourself into thinking Hubert actually cares about you. He's planning to propose to me at my birthday gala. You're welcome to come watch, of course, but he'd really rather you didn't.

I turned off the phone and stared out the window at the blue sky and drifting clouds. My mind pulled me back to the day Hubert had proposed to me.

After I'd said yes, he'd lifted me off my feet and spun me around, laughing, again and again. He'd even had fireworks set off over Crestfall for nine straight nights to celebrate.

Back then, he'd been so happy he wanted the whole world to know I was his.

But after that... everything changed. The house was the same. The man was not.

The next day, I was discharged and went home. I punched in the door code, and the screen flashed red. Incorrect password.

I tried again. And again. Each time the same cold rejection blinked back at me, until the lock froze me out entirely.

That code, the one my fingers had entered thousands upon thousands of times, now told me I didn't belong here.

I remembered the day I'd first moved into this house. Hubert had taken my hand, and together we'd set the password.

"Just in case a certain someone forgets," he'd said with a grin, "I picked the day we got together."

That date was also my birthday. There was no way I'd gotten it wrong.

Yet the alarm kept blaring, each beep a slap across my face.

I was still standing there, frozen, when the door swung open from inside.

Clarissa stood in the doorway wearing my silk nightgown. She yawned, slow and lazy, as if she'd just rolled out of bed.

Then she swept her hair to one side, deliberately baring a neck mottled with hickeys. Her eyes glittered with satisfaction she didn't bother to hide.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie. Hubert brought me home last night, and I threw a little fit, so he changed the code." She tilted her head, lips curling. "Guess he forgot to tell you."

There wasn't a shred of guilt on Clarissa's face. If anything, she looked pleased with herself, watching me like she was waiting for me to lose it.

But I just stared at her, expressionless. I didn't say a word.

Clarissa rolled her eyes, bored by my lack of reaction, and stepped aside to let me through. A nasty smile curled at the corner of her lips. "Watch your step, sis. Wouldn't want you to throw out your back."

My gaze dropped. I caught her foot sliding out to trip me.

Every humiliation, every degradation I'd swallowed over the past few days surged through me at once. I lifted my foot and brought it down hard.

"Ahhh!"

Clarissa shrieked and crumpled to the floor, clutching her foot.

Hubert came rushing down the stairs, still buttoning his cuff. "What happened? Clarissa, what's wrong—"

Before I could get a word out, Clarissa beat me to it. "I was being nice and opened the door for her, and she didn't even appreciate it. She stomped on my foot on purpose!"

Hubert's face went black. He didn't ask a single question. "Lavinia. Apologize."

Again.

No questions asked. Just apologize.

I looked at Hubert in silence.

It didn't matter what I said. He would never believe me. So I said nothing at all.

Hubert's jaw tightened. "Looks like you don't need those legs of yours."

The words had barely left his mouth before two bodyguards stepped forward, one on each side, pinning me in place.

A third raised a baton and brought it down on my kneecap. The pain was blinding. My legs buckled and I hit the floor, cold sweat pouring down my face. I bit down so hard my teeth nearly cracked, but I refused to make a sound.

Something in my silence set Hubert off. His voice turned brutal. "Fine. You want to play tough? Let's see just how tough you really are."

He ordered the bodyguards to throw me into the freezer.

Hubert stood at the freezer door, his eyes colder than anything inside it.

"Stay in there and cool off, Lavinia. You can come out when you're ready to admit you were wrong."

The cold ate through my skin, my muscles, my bones. I could feel my body temperature dropping, degree by degree.

I didn't want to die in here.

I was so close. So close to getting out.

I tried to call for Hubert, but my throat wouldn't produce a sound.

When I opened my eyes again, I was tied to a bed.

Hubert stood beside it in a tailored tuxedo, his expression glacial.

"Today is Clarissa's birthday. I won't let you ruin it."

"So your solution is to tie me up like a prisoner?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

A sharp, hollow ache bloomed behind my ribs.

Hubert didn't deny it. All he said was, "Be good. Once tonight is over, I'll make it up to you."

He turned to leave. I called out before he reached the door.

"Hubert. You promised me once that you'd give me a villa. Do you remember?"

His body went rigid for a split second. Then he turned back to face me. "I remember. Have you decided which one?"

I nodded quickly. "Yes. I already drafted the contract. It's in the second drawer of this nightstand."

"Just sign it, and I promise I won't cause any more trouble. Deal?"

Hubert didn't think twice. He pulled the contract from the drawer, scrawled his signature, and set it back on the nightstand.

He never noticed the divorce papers and the share-transfer agreement tucked in with it.

He didn't even glance up. "Done. Remember what you said."

Then he turned and walked out.

Ten minutes after the door closed, I pulled out the razor blade I'd hidden and began sawing through the ropes, strand by strand.

The moment I was free, I called a moving company and told them to pick up the boxes I'd packed days ago.

At the same time, I grabbed the signed divorce agreement and the other documents, tracked down the paparazzo, collected every photo he'd taken over the past few days, and went straight to a lawyer. I handed over everything.

I booked a flight to Thornridge, climbed into a cab, and pulled the second SIM card out of my phone.

Hubert had bought it for me.

Back when he wanted to make sure he could always reach me, that I'd never run out of minutes or data again.

I didn't need it anymore.

I snapped the card in half and tossed it out the window.

Hubert Stephens, I hope we never cross paths again.

Crestfall. I never wanted to come back.