Chapter 3

By the time Liam and Lily returned from their little trip, I had already packed my bags and moved out of our shared apartment.

Liam called me, screaming before I could even say hello. "Chloe, have you lost your damn mind?! We're literally getting married soon, and you're pulling this 'running away from home' drama? Get back here and make dinner. Lily and I just drove for hours, and we're starving."

"You want me to come back and cook for you and your mistress?"

"Why do you have to be so toxic?!" Liam yelled. "So we broke a pair of corneas. Big deal! Lily literally bought you a Starbucks drink to apologize. Can you grow up for once?"

Before I could reply, he barked, "I just texted my mom to come over for dinner too. On your way back, stop by the market and get some of those fresh crabs she likes."

Now, *that* caught my attention.

"You asked your mother to come over by herself? Do you even know what happened to her eyes—"

But Liam hung up on me before I could finish.

Sitting across from me, Avery rolled her eyes so hard they almost got stuck. "I cannot believe you wasted three years of your life on that absolute trash fire. I'm going to have a stroke, Chloe!"

She took a sip of her coffee and looked at me seriously. "But really, now that you've dumped him, what are you going to do about your grandfather? Didn't he say if you don't get married this year, he's handing the entire family estate over to your cousin?"

I smiled, patting Avery's shoulder.

"Don't worry. I've already taken care of it. There's a long line of men begging to marry me. Liam isn't the only option."

While Avery and I were enjoying our coffee, my phone buzzed continuously with Snapchats from Liam.

"Where the hell are you? Lily is starving. Is this how you treat guests?"

"Stop by the bakery on West Street on your way back and get Lily a slice of her favorite mango mille-crepe cake. She only eats that one."

"Chloe, are you dead? Get your ass back here now!"

I stared at the screen, calmly clicked the top-right corner, and blocked his number.

Half an hour later, an unknown number called. I picked up.

"Chloe! You are a monster!"

It was Lily's voice, shaking with anger and choked with tears. "You knew Martha was blind! Why didn't you tell us?! Do you have any idea she just got hit by a car?!"

Listening to her sobbing, I asked dryly, "Was I the one driving the car?"

Lily gasped, completely stunned.

"Since I had nothing to do with it, calling me to point fingers is utterly pointless."

I hung up.

I spent the next few days pampering myself, staying at a luxury hotel before finally driving to my newly purchased condo.

But as soon as I pulled up to the gated community entrance, my way was blocked. A crowd of people dressed in black had gathered, some kneeling and wailing loudly, drawing a massive crowd of onlookers.

At the front of the crowd, holding a massive, framed funeral portrait, was Liam.

"Chloe Vance!" he screamed, his eyes bloodshot. "You heartless witch! You murdered my mother! Give me back her life!"