Chapter 4

I gathered my grandmother's ashes and went to say goodbye to Cheryl.

I didn't tell her my grandmother had died, afraid it would hurt her. I only said we were planning to settle overseas.

I had just stepped out the front door of the Henson house when I ran into the three of them—Luke, Eva, and his mother.

Maureen folded her arms and let out a sneer.

“Well, well. Couldn't marry your way into this family, so you came crawling to the old lady instead?”

Eva had her arm looped through Luke's, and she pretended to counsel me.

“Nanette, Mr. Henson's already giving you a chance—a hundred grand a year. Just say yes. Otherwise, how are you going to survive all on your own?”

Luke swept a cold glance over me.

“I know Grandmother's fond of you. Since you can keep her happy, I'll make it two hundred thousand a year. Don't be a fool about it.”

I looked at their ugly faces and felt nothing at all. My voice came out flat.

“No need.”

Luke gave a cold snort.

“Nanette, my patience has a limit. Throw another tantrum trying to jack up the price and I'll throw you out on the street.”

I looked at him, so full of himself, and for the first time I regretted ever curing his depression.

Eva's eyes darted around, and she took a step forward.

“Mr. Henson, she's still sore about the wedding day. Let me talk to her.”

She leaned in close, and in a voice only the two of us could hear, she said something vicious.

“Nanette, that video—I sent it. That grandmother of yours, the one with the heart condition. Did I manage to scare her to death?”

Rage shook through my whole body—she was the one who'd killed my grandmother.

Without a moment's hesitation, I swung my hand and slapped her hard across the face.

“You animal, how dare you!”

Eva clutched her cheek and instantly threw herself into Luke's arms, crying.

“Mr. Henson, look at her—I was only trying to help, and she hit me to blow off steam!”

Luke's face darkened at once. Without a second thought, he raised his hand and slapped me back, hard.

The force sent me straight to the ground. My lip split open, and blood beaded at the corner of my mouth.

“Eva was only trying to help you, and you dare to hit her!”

Beside himself with fury, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and dragged me toward the basement.

“I've clearly spoiled you rotten. You can stay down here and think about what you've done!”

He pulled so hard it felt like my scalp was tearing off.

The iron door slammed shut with a clang and locked.

Leaning against the cold wall, I slowly climbed to my feet.

I saved the recording on my phone. Every word Eva had just said, admitting she'd killed my grandmother—I'd caught all of it.

These wretches. I would never let them off.

Then the iron door swung open.

…………

Two days later, Luke came down to the basement again, working it out in his head.

Two days without food, and Nanette would surely cave. For the three years she'd spent at his side, he'd bump it up to three hundred thousand a year and call it done.

But the moment he opened the door, his face changed.

The basement was empty.

His heart lurched for no reason, and his hands and feet trembled beyond his control.

As if something important had left him for good.

He didn't know his depression had never truly healed.

Years ago, his mother's leaving had been one of the things that triggered it.

Nanette's sudden disappearance was like a key, unlocking those buried, painful memories all over again.

Late that night, the villa was dead silent.

Luke lay in bed, turning over and over, unable to sleep. His head ached worse and worse, as if it would split open, and countless painful memories came flooding back.

His father's death, his mother's abandonment, Nanette's leaving...

The depression seized him.

Eyes bloodshot, he lost control and rushed into the living room, snatched the fruit knife off the table, and pressed it to his own wrist, his gaze crimson with madness.

His frenzy made Eva scream, and she cowered in a corner, shaking.

Then Luke remembered—times like this before, it had been Nanette who ran to him, heedless of the danger, carefully coaxing him to put the knife down.

And then staying with him patiently through the whole night.

He was like a fish thrown onto a dry riverbed, desperate for me, his one clear spring.

He went searching for Cheryl like a man gone mad, his voice hoarse, carrying a panic and terror he'd never felt before.

“Grandmother, where's Nanette? Where did she go? Why isn't she back yet?”

“Bring her back—I'm willing to marry her!”

Cheryl shook off his hand, her eyes full of disappointment and ice.

“Nanette left long ago. She's gone abroad for graduate studies, and she's never coming back.”

Clang—the fruit knife fell to the floor.

Luke's face went white as death.