Chapter 2

I didn’t even make it to prison.

Because Lily couldn’t wait that long.

I was kidnapped and tied up inside an abandoned shipping container by the ocean.

Lily was standing in front of me, wearing a pristine white designer dress. Her makeup was flawless. She didn’t even need her wheelchair.

She looked down at me as I hung suspended over the edge, laughing like a lunatic.

"Chloe, I absolutely despise your eyes."

"Did you know? Every time Ethan looks at you, he gets distracted."

I spat out a mouthful of blood. "So what? Are you going to gouge them out?"

Lily knelt down, tracing a scalpel just millimeters away from my face.

"Not just your eyes."

"I want him to watch you die. I want him to see you die like a dog right in front of him."

"Only if your death is horrific—and only if he believes you died because he refused to save you—will he feel guilty. He will remember forever how much I suffered for him."

This woman was completely insane.

Suddenly, a phone rang.

It was a FaceTime call.

Lily answered it, and Ethan’s panicked face appeared on the screen.

"Lily! Where are you? Did that crazy bitch Chloe hurt you?"

Watching the man on the screen, my heart twisted in agony.

In a split second, Lily switched to a trembling, tearful voice. Her acting was Oscar-worthy.

"Ethan... save me! Chloe has gone mad! She’s trying to push me off!"

Lily angled the phone camera toward the wild, crashing waves below.

She held onto the railing with one hand and held a knife to her own throat with the other.

As for me, I was hanging by a rope outside the shipping container, swaying in the wind.

The other end of the rope was in Lily's hand.

If she let go, I would plunge into the deep ocean, and my body would never be found.

"Chloe! If you touch a single hair on her head, I will ruin your entire family!"

Ethan’s roar blasted through the speaker, hurting my eardrums.

Battling the howling wind, my voice cracked. "Ethan, if I tell you she’s the one who kidnapped me, would you believe me?"

"Shut up!"

He didn't hesitate for even a second.

"Lily is too weak to even stand! How could she kidnap you? Chloe, your lies make me sick!"

Lily gave me a smug, victorious look, then cried even harder for the camera.

"Ethan, Chloe said only my death would make you love her... I’ll give you two your freedom..."

"Don't do anything stupid!"

Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot with panic. "Lily, let go of the rope! Let the rope go! Don't worry about that bitch!"

"A toxic woman like Chloe deserves to die a thousand deaths! It's not worth it!"

"Be good, let go!"

To save Lily, he wanted me to die.

Even though I might still have his...

Oh, wait. The diagnosis paper said the cancer cells had already spread. The baby was gone weeks ago.

The smirk on Lily’s face widened.

She mouthed three words to me: Go to hell.

Then, right under Ethan’s watchful eyes, she pretended to lose her strength and opened her hand.

"Ah! Chloe!"

She screamed in fake terror.

I watched the sky rapidly recede above me, and caught a fleeting glimpse of Ethan's sudden shock on the screen.

My body free-fell.

The freezing seawater instantly rushed up my nose and into my lungs.

In that final moment, I actually felt a sense of relief.

Ethan Vance.

For ten years, I loved you like a loyal dog.

Now, I’m giving you my life back.

We are finally even.