Chapter 4

His words landed at the bottom of my heart, light as a feather, painless and hollow.

So this was what it felt like to no longer love someone.

I stepped out of his arms, my voice cold.

"We've already broken up, and I'm about to leave. There's nothing left to talk about with you."

The moment I finished, he grabbed my wrist again, his voice low.

"Where are you running off to be difficult this time? Another trip?"

To Clifford, a trip I took when I was hurting had always been read as me acting out. I had no heart to explain now. Let the misunderstanding be what ended us.

"Metropolis."

"For how long?"

"I'm not—"

I didn't finish. My phone rang, and when I made out the words on the other end, my whole body started shaking.

"Miss Henson, your mother is in critical care. Come as fast as you can!"

A hard wave of dread rose in me. I threw off his hand and rushed forward.

He followed behind me. "Where are you going?"

Staring at the ride I was waiting on to be dispatched, I got the words out.

"Harborview General. Something's happened to my mom."

"I'll drive you."

We tore across the city. I ran to the doors of the critical care unit and caught the nurse outside by the arm, my eyes going red.

"My mother's been in a coma this whole time, but her condition was stable. How could she suddenly be in critical care?"

The nurse looked at me, then lowered her head, stumbling over the words.

"Your mother had woken up. But before we could notify you, a woman came into the room saying she was your friend, and I don't know what she said to her—"

My mind filled with a roar. I burst out, "Who?"

Then a figure stopped in front of me and slapped me hard across the face.

"Who do you think? Me."

"All I did was show your mom the video of Cliff proposing to me, and tell her you're the shameless mistress. She just went like that on her own. If she couldn't take it, whose fault is that?"

The sting on my cheek cleared my head, and fury burned through me. I raised my hand and struck her back just as hard.

"Penelope Swanson, this is murder!"

I pulled out my phone to call the police, and someone shoved me hard.

"Vanessa Henson, when did you turn this vicious? You're actually hitting people!"

Clifford, who'd just finished parking, was standing in front of me now, condemning me without a second's hesitation.

My throat felt like a hand was clamped around it. I couldn't make a sound. There was no point explaining anything to a man who didn't love me.

I was about to press call for the police when Penelope spoke up, wounded.

"Cliff, Vanessa says I'm the mistress who broke up your relationship. Is that true? But didn't the two of us meet and fall in love abroad? If it's true, then I'll leave—"

The instant she finished, Clifford rushed to answer, his voice gentle.

"You're not. She is. She's an old client of mine. She had a crush on me, it went nowhere, so now she's out to smear you."

Then Clifford walked over, snatched the phone out of my hand, and said sharply.

"Miss Henson, apologize to her for slandering her."

I raised my eyes to him, shock filling me.

"I'm not the one in the wrong. Why should I apologize?"

The next moment, Clifford's voice reached my ear like something out of a nightmare.

"Nessa, the surveillance footage that went missing from your mother's accident, I found it. You've wanted it for years. Apologize and admit your mistake, and I'll give it to you."

Hearing that, my whole body shook, grief and rage twisting together.

All those years, he'd known I wanted to find the truth. He'd found it and refused to give it to me, and now he was using it to force my hand.

Clifford, you have no heart.

His cold gaze met the anger in my eyes, certain I would bow my head.

I forced the fury back down. "Fine. Give me the footage."

His body went rigid.

I stepped toward Penelope and said quietly, "I'm sorry."

Penelope's eyes filled with shock too.

I turned and snatched the flash drive lying open in his palm.

The light over the critical care unit went dark. I hurried forward. The doctor came out shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Miss Henson. We did everything we could."

In that moment my tears wanted to break free, my mind filled with a roar, and hatred grew wild inside me.

Clifford looked at my hollowed-out face and said softly, "Nessa—"

I forced myself to walk away, every step like treading on thin ice.

A message popped up on my phone.

"Miss Henson, your onboarding paperwork is finished. When are you planning to come in?"

"This afternoon."

Two days. I didn't want to wait even that long.

I turned off my phone. Carrying my grief and my hatred, I saw the funeral through, and knelt hard, forehead to the ground, before my mother's headstone.

Before boarding, a message from Clifford came up on my phone. "Nessa, are you okay?"

I typed out one line, then blocked him for good.

"I'm very well. But you and her won't be, not for long."

The flash drive files, the hospital surveillance, I handed all of it to a lawyer to file suit.

For the rest of my life, hatred would drive me upward, and everyone who hurt me would pay the price.