3: 3

03

She caught the disappointment on my face.

Maya crouched down, pleased with herself, and shoved the couple photo on her phone up to my face with a cold laugh.

"See that? A husband-stealing whore deserves to die a thousand deaths."

Really?

I stared at the phone, right there in front of me.

I pressed my lips together, threw everything I had into breaking loose, snatched the phone, and smashed it to pieces.

I tried to run, but she yanked me back by the hair and pinned me to the floor.

When Maya saw the scratches I'd clawed into the back of her hand, her face twisted into something ugly.

"Nigel says my hands are the prettiest. How dare you mark me."

I looked at the electronic wreckage on the floor and let out a cold laugh.

Just wait a little longer. These hands of yours won't be yours for much longer.

Ever since that thing happened, my family had put a protective mode on my phone.

Smash it, and it triggered a location alert.

The smile on my face stung Maya's eyes.

She glared at my mangled, bloody hand, her mouth curving without any warmth in it.

"Looks like that wasn't enough to teach you a lesson."

Then she raised the bloodied ashtray and brought it down hard on my finger bones.

Once, then again.

Until a certain ringtone went off.

Maya wiped a spray of blood off her face, took the call, and her voice went instantly coy.

"If you've got the nerve, then don't call. Just let me and the baby die and be done with it."

Listening to the two of them talk.

Right away I could tell it wasn't my brother's voice, but there was something oddly familiar about it.

I forced out a muffled sound, trying to draw his attention.

Sure enough, the man paused.

"Maya, is there someone next to you?"

Maya looked at me, one leg crossed over the other.

She admitted, plainly, that she was dealing with a little slut.

Before she hung up, it was obvious the man's tone turned frantic once he heard my name.

But she just propped her chin in her hand and looked at me, gloating.

"See, Nigel's worried about upsetting the baby. He told me to stay put and not move, to just wait for him to come and deal with you."

"Betty, you're finished."

A few minutes later, someone pushed the door open from outside.

Maya called out my brother's name and rushed over, beaming.

The moment their eyes met, his face went white.

Mine went cold too.

I never imagined the man impersonating my brother would be the son of Sophie, our live-in housekeeper.

Lewis James.

The so-called luxury car collection, the mansion worth billions, were all things that already belonged to my family.

Add to that the fact that his features looked a little like my brother's, and photos that had been touched up and filtered, no wonder Maya had mistaken him.

Seeing how badly I'd been beaten, barely recognizable, Lewis panicked at once.

His hands moved instinctively to untie the ropes.

But Maya stopped him.

"Nigel, are you protecting her?"

"Don't forget, the Hensons have no heir. It's the baby in my belly that inherits the whole estate."

Lewis's hand froze on the rope.

He met my icy stare, and his eyes slowly went dark and unreadable.

Twenty-odd years in the Henson household, and he knew exactly what happened to anyone who crossed me.

At that same moment, the phone in the pocket of Lewis's suit lit up.

The instant he saw the name on the screen, his expression changed.

Without a word he had someone bring a cloth and stuff it into my mouth, signaling everyone to shut up and stay silent.

The second he answered, my brother's frantic voice came through, clear as anything.

"Lewis, Betty's location just lit up at the Bluewater. Take people over and check it right now."

"I'll be there soon. If anyone dares to hurt Betty, kill them on the spot."

4: 4

04

At that, Lewis looked at me, and something murderous rose slowly in his eyes.

Then, calm as anything, he lied to my brother.

Said I'd been out at a dinner, took a fall, smashed my phone by accident, and was fine.

When Maya looked confused, he flipped the whole thing on its head.

He turned my brother into the housekeeper's son, and turned me into some pest who wouldn't leave no matter how many times she was told to.

Hearing that, Maya hated me down to the bone.

She had someone break my legs on the spot.

And just as she was about to go through with the original plan, strip me bare and throw me out of the hotel,

Lewis stopped her. He took the drug he'd prepared in advance from one of the thugs and forced it into my mouth.

I understood exactly how vicious he meant to be.

I clenched my teeth shut and refused to swallow, even if it killed me.

He sighed.

Then a hard slap cracked across my face, and he forced it down.

Not until Maya left and the door was shut tight

did Lewis bend down and whisper in my ear like a devil.

"Tomorrow, the news that you jumped off a building out of shame, unable to bear the humiliation, will be trending everywhere. It'll be the talk of the moment."

"Blame it on yourself. The young lady found out who I really am, so she has to die."

"But rest easy, young lady. Once I have the inheritance, I'll send Mr. and Mrs. Henson down to keep you company."

No. Mom and Dad were in danger.

My pupils shrank.

I struggled on instinct, but wave after wave of heat surged up inside me.

Watching my eyes glaze over in pain,

he pulled a stack of bills from his pocket and set them on the table, giving the thugs in the room a smile heavy with meaning.

"Whoever makes the young lady feel good gets ten grand a round. No cap."

In an instant, every one of them looked at me like wolves circling a lamb, closing in bit by bit.

I bit down hard on my tongue to hold on to the last shred of clarity.

I looked at the door they'd blocked off, and my eyes fell on the balcony outside the room.

Jump. Half-dead, maybe, but alive.

So while they'd let their guard down over my broken legs, I threw myself headfirst into the crowd and rushed out.

Only when my body hung out over the empty air did they get scared.

Maya and Lewis heard the commotion and shoved the door open.

Seeing the plan had slipped, his eyes darkened.

A moment later he looked at me, almost hopeful.

"Relax. A drunken slip and fall is easier to cover up than a suicide."

"Betty, no matter what, you're not getting away."

Listening to the sound of Lewis's men gathering downstairs,

my heart went to ash.

At the very edge of despair, a row of luxury cars came sweeping toward the building not far off.

Watching my own brother and his lead man step out in a clean, hard line,

the light came back into my eyes.

I was right. My brother couldn't stop worrying and had come to find me himself.

I wanted to scream for him.

But everything went dark, and Lewis threw something over my head and dragged me back.

"Not one word about today, from any of you!"

"If anyone asks, say Betty had a few drinks, broke her phone, got upset, and went home early."

"As for where she went, nobody knows."

Hearing that, Maya pouted, playing coy.

"Nigel, what's the matter with you? You're so worked up you've broken a sweat."

But Lewis clamped a hand around hers as she reached to wipe it, his face colder and more bloodthirsty than she'd ever seen.

"The one who most needs to keep her mouth shut in a minute is you. Say the wrong thing and I'll be done with you."

Then they bound my arms and legs, gagged me tight, and stuffed me into the bedside cabinet.

Through the crack, I watched my brother storm in with his men.

His brow was drawn tight, and after he looked around and didn't see me, his face went cold.

"Where's Betty? She's not here, and she didn't go home."

"Talk. Have you people hidden her away?"