Chapter 4

Giselle set down her glass. The gentle expression she always wore around Trevor disappeared.

I was wiping water from the coffee table when I looked up at her.

"Tomorrow," I said.

Giselle paused, caught off guard by how readily I answered. Her lips curled slightly, as though she thought I hadn't understood her at all.

"Tessa, do you even understand what I mean? You can't keep living with us. This is going to be my home with Trev, not yours."

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her.

Giselle continued, "Trev's about to be promoted to president of the Varellian region. Someone like you, who doesn't even understand basic everyday things, will only be a stain on his reputation and a burden to him."

A cruel smile spread across her face. "Tessa, you need to disappear from Trev's life for good."

The sudden change in her expression startled me.

Before I could react, Giselle walked over to the display cabinet where Trevor kept his prized antiques. She opened it and took out a rare 18th-century porcelain teacup.

"I read your diary. You folded all those paper hearts because you've been waiting for him to marry you, haven't you?"

I nodded blankly. I hadn't known she knew about the promise Trevor had made me.

Giselle laughed. "You really are stupid. He's never going to marry you. He doesn't love you. He's only taken care of you all these years because you saved him back then."

The smug smile on her face sent a sharp pain slicing through my chest.

Giselle suddenly let go of the teacup, and it shattered against the floor with a crash.

Before I could react, she crouched down and picked up one of the broken pieces. Without hesitation, she drew the sharp edge across her wrist.

Blood welled instantly and dripped onto the spotless white floor, vivid against the pale surface.

"Giselle!"

Trevor shoved the door open. His expression shifted sharply when he saw the shattered porcelain across the floor and the blood on Giselle's hand.

"Tessa! What's gotten into you? Ever since Giselle came here, you've been acting out. What are you so upset about? When are you going to start listening? Stop causing trouble!"

I stood there stunned. "I didn't—"

I tried to explain, but Giselle cut me off. "Trev, don't blame Tessa. She knows we're getting married. It's only natural that she's having a hard time accepting it."

"She's 25! How long is she going to keep acting like this?"

Trevor's voice turned frighteningly cold. He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me toward the stairs.

"We're all going to be living together. We can't keep letting her get away with this."

He hauled me upstairs. I stumbled after him, my knees banging against the hard steps. Every step sent a sharp pain through me.

He shoved me into the storage room on the second floor.

He stood in the doorway, his expression grim. "If you still refuse to admit you were wrong, stay in here and think about what you've done. Tessa, no one's going to baby you anymore."

The door slammed shut, plunging the cramped storage room into darkness. My eyes widened in terror. I threw myself at the door and pounded on it.

"No! Let me out! I'm sorry! I was wrong! Trevor, please!"

I screamed and cried, but Trevor's footsteps only grew farther away. I was starting to lose hope when I finally heard his voice.

"Stop yelling! I'll let you out when Giselle and I get back from the hospital. Stay in there and calm down."

My hands dropped helplessly to my sides. Fear closed around me, and I could barely breathe.

I screamed until my voice went hoarse. My whole body shook, and cold sweat soaked through my clothes.

After I took that blow for Trevor when I was 15, the thugs dragged me into an abandoned basement. It was pitch-black, and rats scurried through the corners. I spent a full day and night locked inside.

By the time Trevor found me, I had passed out from terror. After that, I was left with the mind of a five-year-old and severe claustrophobia.

When I woke up in the hospital, Trevor held me in his arms and swore he would never leave me alone in the dark again.

But now, because of Giselle, he had locked me in a pitch-black storage room with his own hands.

I cried until there were no tears left. I leaned against the door as I listened to the countdown in my head.

"Five hours until you leave this world."

I waited for Trevor and Giselle to come back. I waited and waited, but there wasn't a sound outside.

Soon, I could barely breathe. My hands and feet began to spasm, and I couldn't move.

Then the system's voice sounded in my head. "Exit sequence initiated."

I struggled to open my eyes. The window that had been sealed shut suddenly opened, and fresh air rushed in. I forced myself up and used the last of my strength to climb onto the windowsill.

Without hesitation, I jumped.

I wasn't going to wait for Trevor anymore, and I wasn't going to keep being a burden to him.

Meanwhile, Trevor waited in the emergency room hallway while Giselle had her wound bandaged. His phone suddenly started buzzing nonstop.

He answered. It was a neighbor.

"Mr. Jenson, I think someone jumped from one of your windows! There's blood all over the grass below…"

Trevor froze. The billing form slipped from his hand and fluttered to the floor.