Chapter 4

Mark rushed in and caught Bianca in his arms, his face darker than she had ever seen it.

"Mark, I only wanted to bring Lucinda's fever down. I found the best medicine there was, just for her... so why would she shove me?"

"My stomach hurts so much... our baby..."

Bianca sagged against him, tears spilling on cue.

Damon walked in right behind them, staring at me, his eyes full of rage.

"Lucinda, you're heartless. Bianca tried to help you out of pure kindness, and this is how you treat her?"

Cornelius stopped in the doorway and shook his head, disappointed.

"I honestly never thought you'd sink so low you can't even tell right from wrong anymore."

Mark got Bianca settled, then came toward me, his face like a storm.

He seized the wrist I'd cut on purpose earlier, gripping it hard, and slammed me against the wall.

The wound crushed under his fingers, and the pain drained the color from my face.

"Lucinda. Apologize to Bianca. Now. This second. Right now."

I lifted my eyes and looked straight at him, dragging a cold, hard smile across my lips.

"In your dreams."

The last warmth went out of his face in an instant, and his grip on my wrist slowly loosened.

Every ounce of strength left me, and I slid down the cold wall to the floor.

The fever burned all the way into my bones, until I couldn't even lift a hand.

He looked down at me, not a trace of feeling in his eyes, then turned to the servants.

"Lock the windows and the door from the outside. No one lets her out without my say-so. No water, no medicine."

Then he bent down, lifted Bianca into his arms, and turned to go without a backward glance.

The door slammed shut with a heavy bang.

I curled up on the floor, my mind going dim.

With the last shred of clarity I had, I felt around and found the spare key I'd hidden in advance.

In the next breath it was the day of Mark and Bianca's wedding.

The ballroom of the city's top hotel was staged on a grand scale, opulent past all measure, the talk of all of New York City.

Everyone envied this dazzling wedding the whole city had its eyes on.

The ceremony had just reached its peak.

The master of ceremonies drew out the two long words, "You may now," and the applause hadn't even faded when the giant screen went black all at once.

The next second, the "gift" I'd prepared jumped out.