Chapter 5

### Chapter 5

Laughter and camera shutters filled the room as I wiped the wine off my face.

I opened my eyes to Vivien Galloway's taunting smile.

Malice in her stare, her lips shaping the words: serves you right.

"Don't think I don't know you want Elliot's child. You think if you carry his baby, he'll fall in love with you?"

"Dream on. Now that I'm back, one word from me and he'll throw you out."

I raised my hand, past my breaking point, but Vivien got there first, snatching up a shard of the broken bottle and dragging it hard across her own arm.

"Ah!"

Blood welled up, and she let out an agonized scream, tears forced into her eyes.

"Vivien, what happened to you?"

Elliot rushed over and shoved me aside.

The force slammed me hard against the floor, and in that instant countless slivers of glass pierced my hands and feet.

The whip wounds that hadn't healed split open again, and the pain blacked out my vision.

Elliot cradled Vivien against him and turned to roar at me:

"Vivien threw you a surprise party out of kindness, and this is what you do to her?"

Then his bloodshot eyes stopped cold the moment they took in the state of me.

Under the dim lights, my white dress was stained with wine.

My body was torn open everywhere, glass buried in the flesh, blood streaming out.

I forced out a trembling rasp: "Elliot, is this the surprise she prepared for me?"

Cold sweat drenched my face, the hatred in my eyes mixed with tears I couldn't stop, and it cut into his chest like a knife.

Elliot's face changed, his pupils shrank, and something he had never felt before seized hold of him.

"Vivien was just joking with you. I'll apologize on her behalf."

"Who are you to apologize for her?"

He pushed down the unease churning in him and reached out to help me up.

"Let me take you to the hospital first. As long as you're not angry, ask for anything you want."

I pushed his hand away and stared straight at him. "I want the brooch I gave you."

It was the wedding gift Zachary had once wanted most. I'd given it to Elliot because I had taken him for Zachary.

Elliot's hand went instinctively to the brooch on his suit, ready to refuse.

In that hesitation, a burst of screaming exploded behind him: "Fire! There's a fire!"

Flames swept in from the corridor, and in an instant the curtains, the sofa, the carpet were swallowed. Screams broke out everywhere, the crowd surging madly for the exits.

In the crush I was drained of all strength, and I looked at Elliot weakly.

"Elliot, I..."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Vivien broke into violent coughing that drowned out my voice. "Elliot, I'm so scared! Am I going to die?" Then her head lolled to the side and she crumpled softly down.

Elliot's hand, reaching for me, snapped back. "Vivien's frail, I have to save her first. Wait here, rescue's coming any second!"

He scooped Vivien up and bolted out without looking back.

I watched that unwavering back, my vision blurring with pain, my lips moving without a sound. Goodbye.

This fire was part of my escape plan, but now that the moment had come, I wasn't sure of anything.

A blazing beam crashed down from above, and I squeezed my eyes shut and called out the name I'd buried in my heart.

"Zachary..."

The flames I braced for never fell.

A team in full gear charged into the fire, tracking me down exactly by my phone's location.

The man at the front braced the beam for me, quickly fitted a breathing mask over my face, and swept me up into his arms.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here."

Through the mask, his voice was gentle. I couldn't make out his face, but I sensed a very deep tenderness hidden in those eyes.

Before I passed out I gripped his sleeve, still holding on to one thing. "The body to take my place?"

"Don't worry. It's all arranged."

He carried me out through the shattered window, a wall of flames behind us.

Safe in his arms, I let my eyes fall shut.

Elliot, that mistaken, absurd pursuit ends here.

Never again in this life.