Chapter 2

There was a small mole on his index finger.

Exactly like the one Russ Harding had.

He was Russ Harding.

Everything inside me churned at once, and even my fingertips wouldn't stop trembling.

I was terrified Russ would actually take this bank card, and I would never see him again.

And I truly wanted him to take it, because he must have run into some kind of trouble, if he was pretending to be a college student and showing up at the Delgado house like this.

Better for him to take the money and go, before Rhys could humiliate him too.

But Russ did neither.

His fingers slid along the card, up over the back of my hand, and finally his whole hand closed around my wrist and gave a light tug.

I stumbled forward a step, and my head bumped against his chest.

Russ's low, rough voice sounded against my ear. "Martha, I don't want the money. I only want to stay with you."

My heart pounded wildly.

He wasn't the first to say something like that.

Rhys had said it to me with every man he brought in. As long as I accepted them, a million a time, no ceiling.

So those men pulled out every trick they had.

Blunt seduction, gentle temptation, sweet words, playing hard to get and then giving in. Every kind of it.

But all of it together couldn't measure up to that one line from Russ.

In an instant it stripped away every defense I had and left me in pieces.

By the time I came back to myself, I had already answered, "All right."

Russ hadn't even had time to react before Rhys's smile faded. His eyes went dark on me, and his thin lips pressed into a hard line.

He seemed unaware of his own expression, until Maisie spoke up, eyes reddening. "Rhys, you're hurting me."

Only then did he notice how tightly he was gripping Maisie's arm, already bruising it.

In that instant his thoughts snapped back into place, and the gloom in his eyes turned into that familiar sneer. "Martha," he said to me, "you finally can't keep up the act anymore."

I couldn't be bothered to answer him. I just took Russ and walked out.

I went to the hospital first, afraid that kick from Rhys had left some injury on Russ.

Once I was sure he was fine, I took him straight to the mall.

Russ had delicate skin. A slightly cheap fabric and he'd break out in a rash all over.

I walked around with him for a long while before we finally came home, arms full of bags.

The moment I opened the door, I saw Maisie sitting on the couch in my nightgown.

The second she saw me her eyes went red, and she stood up timidly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wear your clothes."

"I'm clumsy. I accidentally broke the vase in the living room and got my clothes wet, so Rhys gave me yours to put on..."

I looked over at the shelf in the living room.

Whether it was to provoke me or she'd genuinely forgotten to clean it up, the shattered vase was still lying where it had fallen.

Porcelain shards were scattered everywhere, like my own heart.

I thought I should feel hurt.

That vase was what Rhys had given me right after we married.

A Ming-dynasty white porcelain double-necked vase, which Rhys had bought abroad at auction for thirty-six million dollars.

When a reporter asked why he'd pay such a price for the piece, Rhys had smiled into the camera. "To take home for my wife. She loves arranging flowers."

After that, everyone knew how fiercely Rhys loved me.

But I couldn't summon even a shred of energy to be angry. I could even say to Maisie calmly, "It's just a vase. Broken is broken."

The words had barely left my mouth when I heard, from not far off, the sound of a phone dropping onto the floor.

I looked up and saw Rhys standing on the stairs.