Chapter 4

Back when the Webb family was caught in a war with their enemies, I lived in fear every single day, terrified that the man I loved most would die under someone else's gun.

To put my mind at ease, Stuart installed a live car GPS tracking app on my phone.

After that, I used it to pull him out of his enemies' hands more times than I can count.

I always thought it was proof of everything we'd survived together.

I never imagined it would become the tool that ended our marriage for good.

I let out a bitter little laugh and lowered my eyes to the green icon crawling slowly across the map.

"That's Stuart's location? Isn't that Rose Island, where the two of you went on your honeymoon?"

I nodded and turned to tell the housekeeper to ready the private jet.

My mother watched the icon stop moving, then hauled me onto the plane without another word.

"Stuart has destroyed this family, and he still has it in him to go cheat!"

Right before takeoff, the housekeeper pressed two reports into my mother's hands.

"Mrs. Carter, Mr. Carter left these behind."

My mother snatched them, her hand flying up. "I know. Take off now."

She clutched the reports in a death grip, her eyes full of worry and fury.

"I actually thought Stuart was a good man. And look at this. Not only did he cheat with your best friend, he put your father in a hospital bed."

"How can anyone be so heartless? Your father is his father-in-law! And he wouldn't even let him into the operating room!"

"My poor girl. How could he cling to you, swearing he loved you, while he couldn't keep his hands off another woman? I'll see them both ruined, run out of New York!"

The tears slid down my mother's face, her cheeks flushed red with rage.

My parents had never wanted me to marry into that family. They thought the Webbs were too far above us, and they were afraid I'd be made to suffer.

But to bring me home as his wife, Stuart took ninety-nine strokes of the whip, until the family elders and my parents finally relented.

I still remember that day. Covered in blood, he pulled me into his arms, grinning ear to ear, murmuring the same thing over and over.

"I finally get to marry my Rosalie!"

I reached out and held my mother close, saying nothing.

After my mother had cried it all out against me, she sniffed and started reading the two reports.

Then her brows drew together, her pupils shrank, and she went silent.

Forty minutes later, the plane reached the little island where Stuart was.

The moment I stepped off, I spotted his flashy sports car parked beside the island villa.

Without a word, I grabbed my mother and rushed straight for the house.

What I missed was how her face changed after she finished the reports and saw the villa.

She reached out and caught my arm, stopping me before I could take another step.

"Rosalie, are you sure Luna is in there?"

I lifted my eyes to her frightened face, and something inside me said this was wrong.

"Mom, you saw it too. The location on her social account lines up with this place."

The reports were still in her hand. It shook as she forced an ugly smile.

"Rosalie, let's go back. Your father's still waiting for us. We'll get the police to come arrest them, all right?"

I frowned at her, confusion crowding in.

"Mom, the only way to save Dad is to find Luna. You were just saying you'd tear that scumbag and that little tramp apart, and now we're almost on top of them. Why do you suddenly want me to leave?"

My mother's tears dripped to the ground, and then she screamed.

"Rosalie! Come home with me, and I'll still claim you as my daughter!"

"Mommy really loves you. I'm only thinking of you."

I didn't understand.

Why my mother, who had ached for me on that plane, who had wanted to fight for me, would suddenly start blocking my way the instant she finished those reports and saw this villa.

Was it the two reports?

Or the villa itself?

Or some secret Luna was carrying inside?

The curiosity surged in me, and I pressed my lips together and unlocked the villa door with my fingerprint.

"Beep!"

The door swung open, and there on the sofa was Stuart, bending down to kiss a woman.

When I saw her face, and the birthmark on her neck, my eyes went wide, and I felt like I understood everything.