Chapter 4

Getting on the good side of Ethan’s fiancée meant getting on Ethan’s good side.

Everyone Lily had brought was a spoiled rich kid. Their families’ businesses all depended on Ethan in one way or another.

Her promise instantly excited them.

The first woman who’d hit me stepped in front of me again.

Smack!

Pinned down by two men, I couldn’t avoid the blow.

She sneered and lifted my chin.

“All this gold and jewelry. You’ve really cashed in, haven’t you?”

Smack!

Another slap, this time with the back of her hand.

“Did you get Mr. Blackwood to buy it all because you look like Claire?”

Drip…

Bright red blood spilled from my nose and mouth onto the white floor.

I couldn’t even cry out anymore.

All I could think about was Ethan.

A car accident… a deliberate crash. They wanted to take his memory.

How badly would it hurt him?

My Ethan. My love.

Ten years. We’d suffered so much to find this happiness. Was it all going to be destroyed?

While my thoughts spun, someone else took her place in front of me.

She kicked me in the stomach.

Pain left me dazed. It took a while before I could hear her words.

“This bracelet is limited edition! We couldn’t even get one. A mistress like you doesn’t deserve it!”

She grabbed my bracelet and yanked.

With every bit of strength I had, I hooked my fingers around one end.

Ethan had given it to me yesterday.

The happiness in his eyes as he’d carefully fastened it around my wrist had made me smile, too.

“Claire, what I give you belongs to you alone. No one can take it away.”

I’m sorry, Ethan. I can’t protect your gift.

“Let go!”

She bent my finger back until it broke. The bracelet slipped from my hand and fell to the floor, staining itself in my blood.

I sobbed.

From the pain in my body, and even more from the agony in my heart.

Ethan, Ethan… Silently repeating his name was the only thing that eased my suffering.

But they were far from finished.

The more Lily enjoyed herself, the harder they tried to entertain her.

Taking my bracelet wasn’t enough. They roughly ripped away my earrings and necklace.

My earlobes tore. In agony, I struggled desperately and rammed my head into the person in front of me.

“Hold still!”

Lily got up, grabbed my hair, and ground my face against the floor.

Glass fragments still littered the tiles. In seconds, my face was a bloody mess.

With a low, demonic laugh, she crouched in front of me and whispered,

“Oh, Claire. Look at you now. When my mother and I were on our knees begging Ethan for mercy, you were so far above us.”

She clapped her hands and stood, smiling at the men nearby.

“Ethan paid for her clothes, too. Strip them off!”

“You boys can handle that part!”

The men immediately perked up.

They held my arms and legs while roughly pulling at my clothes.

Everyone else took out their phones and snapped pictures.

“Damn. No wonder she fooled Mr. Blackwood. Look at that body!”

As I fought, I finally spat out the cloth in my mouth. I bit the arm of the man tearing at my clothes, then kicked with all my strength between the legs of the man holding my ankles.

“Ah!”

“Fuck! This bitch is still fighting!”

“You sell your body for money. Why pretend you’re some pure little virgin now?”

I fought so fiercely that, for a moment, the spoiled little crowd couldn’t get near me.

Then Lily had another vicious idea.

“If she won’t behave, drag her to the pool! Let’s wash that whore stink off her!”

My clothes were already in tatters. Two men grabbed my arms and dragged me out of the living room like a dead fish.

Two winding trails of blood followed me, left by my skin scraping against the floor.

“What are you doing?”

Suddenly, a familiar, stern voice rang out behind us.

Mr. Harris!

He must have realized something was wrong and brought people back!