Chapter 3

The ring struck the nightstand with a muted clink, spun in a small circle, and finally came to rest.

I braced myself for Adrian to explode. I expected him to order me out, to throw my belongings into the yard and make it clear that I had no place in his life anymore. I was prepared for that kind of cruelty. In fact, some part of me wanted it.

Instead, he laughed.

The sound was low and unsettling, scraping against my already frayed nerves. He came toward me and deliberately knocked the ring from the nightstand with his foot. It slid across the polished floor before disappearing beneath the shadows.

“You want a divorce?” he asked, his voice so quiet that it frightened me more than shouting would have. “Do you honestly believe I'm going to make things that simple for you?”

I stared at him, my pulse pounding painfully against my ribs.

“Why wouldn't you? You just told me I'm worthless to you. I can't give you the heir you wanted, and according to you, I'm damaged beyond use. So why are you refusing to let me leave?”

Adrian's expression hardened.

“Because you want to run straight to him.”

I frowned. “Run to who?”

“Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Serena!”

The anger in his voice made me recoil. I could smell the scotch on his breath as he moved closer.

“You think I haven't discovered what you've been doing behind my back? Do you really take me for a fool?”

“I don't know what you're accusing me of—”

“I know you were unfaithful.”

The words struck with such force that for a moment I could only stare at him.

“Unfaithful?” I repeated, barely able to get the word out. “Adrian, I've never been with another man. Not once since I met you.”

His lip curled.

“Don't insult me with another lie.”

He crossed the room, seized a thick envelope from the dresser, and flung it at me. It hit my chest before falling open across the bed.

Photographs spilled from inside.

I picked one up.

It showed me sitting at a café.

Another captured me leaving a building.

There were more—different places, different days, but each photograph contained the same strange detail. Somewhere nearby was a man whose face was never visible. Sometimes his back was turned; other times, his features were swallowed by shadow.

My thoughts raced as I looked through the pictures.

“Who is he?” Adrian demanded. “Tell me who you've been seeing.”

My fingers trembled around the photograph.

“I don't know.”

“Stop lying.”

“I'm telling you the truth!” I cried. I studied the blurred figure again, desperately trying to recognize him. “I've never seen this man before in my life. He could have been anyone passing by. I don't even know why he's in these pictures.”

Adrian gave a bitter laugh.

“You expect me to believe that? You're telling me you don't recognize the man you were sleeping with—the man who put that bastard in your womb?”

My breath caught.

“The baby?”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“You seriously think our child wasn't yours?”

“Of course it wasn't mine!” he shouted. “If Vanessa hadn't figured everything out, I'd be raising another man's child and calling it my own.”

The mention of her name felt like another blow.

“Vanessa?”

Adrian's expression twisted with disgust.

“She found the messages, Serena. She noticed how you were sneaking around and knew something wasn't right. She hired a private investigator because she couldn't stand watching you make a fool out of me.”

“She's lying!”

I gripped the sheets as my anger surged.

“There were no messages. There was no other man. Vanessa fabricated all of this because she wants you for herself. She's been manipulating you from the beginning!”

“Enough!”

Adrian seized my face, his fingers pressing painfully into my jaw.

“You're not going anywhere,” he said through clenched teeth. “You don't get to betray me and then walk away to some secret lover as though you're the victim. You'll stay here, and you'll live with what you've done. I want you to regret every second you thought you could deceive me.”

“Adrian, please—”

“Adrian!”

The bedroom door opened.

Vanessa stood in the doorway, one hand pressed dramatically against her chest, concern written all over her face.

“Stop it!” she cried as she hurried toward us. “You're hurting her. She's barely recovered from the accident.”

She caught Adrian's arm and pulled him away from me, but her eyes told me something her performance didn't.

She looked at me with satisfaction.

“Serena, are you all right?” she asked softly, reaching toward my shoulder. “I kept telling Adrian that he was being too hard on you. I never wanted any of this to happen. I only wanted him to know the truth, I—”

“Don't touch me.”

The fury I'd been holding inside finally broke loose.

I didn't think about what I was doing. I simply pushed her.

All the grief, humiliation, anger, and hatred that had been building inside me went into that single movement.

Vanessa stumbled backward.

Her heel caught on the edge of the rug, and she went crashing into the vanity. Bottles of perfume and trays of jewelry scattered across the floor, striking the surface with a violent clatter.

“Serena!”

Adrian rushed to her immediately, catching her as though she were fragile enough to shatter.

Vanessa buried her face against his chest.

“She attacked me!” she sobbed. “I was only trying to help her. I was trying to save your marriage, Adrian. I swear that's all I wanted.”

Adrian lifted his eyes toward me.

The fury in his expression made my stomach twist.

“You've completely lost your mind.”

“She's the one who's lying!”

I pointed at Vanessa, my hand shaking.

“She staged those photographs. She paid someone to follow me and make it look like I was seeing another man. She's been filling your head with lies about me for years!”

“That's enough!”

Adrian stepped in front of Vanessa as though he were protecting her from me.

“You want to behave like a wild animal? Then I'll stop treating you like a civilized woman.”

He strode toward the door and pulled the key from the lock.

My heart dropped.

“You're staying in this room,” he said. “You won't leave until I decide you're allowed to.”

“Adrian, don't!”

The door slammed shut before I could reach him.

A second later, I heard the lock turn.

I threw myself against the wood, pounding on it until pain shot through my hands.

“Adrian! Open the door! Let me out!”

Nothing.

Then Vanessa's voice floated through the other side, soft and almost affectionate.

“Don't waste your breath, darling. I'll take care of Adrian. You can stay in there and rot.”

Their footsteps slowly disappeared down the hallway.

I sank against the door and covered my face.

I was trapped inside my own home. My child was dead, my husband had become someone I no longer recognized, and the sister I had trusted with my life had been waiting for the chance to take everything from me.

They had stripped away my baby, my marriage, my dignity, and now even my freedom.

For a long while, I could do nothing but cry.

But beneath the grief, something darker began to take shape.

If Adrian and Vanessa had already decided I was the villain in their story, then perhaps I had nothing left to lose by becoming exactly what they feared.