Chapter 4

The instant I saw the video, my mind went blank.

Every sound, every thought, gone.

All that was left was my father's terrified face on the screen, and those two thugs closing in on him, step by step.

"Dad!"

I threw myself at the locked door like a madwoman, slamming into it with everything I had.

Shoulder, elbow, knee, over and over, until the door boomed under the blows.

My mother, terrified by the sight of me, grabbed me and sobbed, "Madge, calm down! What are you doing!"

I couldn't hear any of it.

I broke the door open and ran downstairs barefoot.

The motion-sensor lights in the stairwell flared on floor by floor at my pounding steps, then died out behind me.

The second I burst out of the building's entrance, I ran straight into a solid chest.

Eustace.

He'd been waiting in the car, and he caught me as I lost all control.

"Let go of me! Let go!" I fought him with everything I had.

"Let my dad go! I'm begging you, let my dad go!"

Tears poured out of me, unstoppable, blurring everything.

He only held me tighter, pinning down my struggling with a force that was almost gentle.

He took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the tears from my face.

"Madge, don't cry."

"Your father just has a temper. He insisted on coming to make a scene at my company. It didn't look good."

"So I only had someone take him somewhere quiet, so we could talk it over properly."

His tone was calm, innocent, as if he were describing the most ordinary thing in the world.

And that calm sent a chill straight into my bones.

The car tore through the streets.

By the time we reached that abandoned building, my father was already fighting the two thugs for his life, refusing to let himself become my burden.

He shoved one of them away with all his strength, trying to get down the stairs.

In the middle of the scuffle, it happened.

His foot came down on empty air, his whole body lost its balance, and he tumbled down that two-story concrete staircase, rolling all the way to the bottom.

I watched, helpless, as he hit the ground littered with dust and gravel and lay there, not moving.

Bright red blood slowly seeped out from the back of his head.

The prophecy from the future had come true after all.

"Dad!"

A raw scream tore out of me, and I half-crawled, half-threw myself to his side.

My hand shook as I reached for him, but I didn't dare touch him. All I could do was scream helplessly, "An ambulance! Call an ambulance, now!"

Eustace stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at us.

There was pity in his eyes.

"Madge, all you have to do is agree. Put on the dress like a good girl, and the wedding goes ahead as planned."

"The best medical team in the world can be here in ten minutes."

I looked at the pool of blood spreading wider beneath him, at my father's breathing growing weaker and weaker.

Pure hatred and pure helplessness clamped down on my throat.

I bit down hard on my lip until I tasted the heavy tang of blood.

Slowly, I lifted my head.

At the demon in the tailored suit standing at the top of the stairs, I dragged out a numb smile uglier than crying.

"Fine."

"I agree."

Something flashed in Eustace's eyes, an undisguised burst of ecstasy.

He came quickly down the stairs, gently lifted me off the ground, and gathered me into his arms.

The wedding was set for half a month later.

That day, Eustace came for his bride with a luxury motorcade so long its end vanished from sight, sweeping up to my family's home.

He pushed open my bedroom door, triumphant, ready to greet his bride in her wedding gown.

Eustace's pupils shrank all at once, and every trace of color drained from that handsome face as he froze where he stood.