Chapter 4

I was about to refuse when she cut me off, her voice sharp and cold. "You'd better come over right now, or I can't promise Mr. Johnson will be safe."

My chest tightened. In all the past lives I remembered, she had never laid a finger on my dad. Why now?

Half an hour later, I arrived at Lucy's house. She was waiting, seated in a chair. The moment I stepped inside, she shook the phone in her hand. "I've got something to show you."

She tapped on the screen, and pictures began to play. They were photos of her and Gary, tangled up too closely with one another. I counted in a daze. There had to be hundreds of them.

I stared blankly, my heart racing. "What did you do to my dad?"

Her eyes were sharp as blades, cutting into me. "What the hell did you do to him? Why won't he divorce you and be with me?"

All I could think about was my dad's safety. Swallowing back the burning in my chest, I begged, my voice trembling, "I'll ask for a divorce. Gary will be yours. Just please don't hurt my dad!"

If I could survive tonight, my dad and I would finally be free tomorrow.

Seeing my desperation, Lucy burst out laughing. "Are you begging me? Then show me how bad you want it."

My dignity was shattered and ground down to nothing. I dropped to my knees like some pitiful dog, choking out, "Please. I'll do anything you want."

Lucy's lips curled in mock amusement. "Good. Then let me show you something better."

Her finger tapped again, and this time, my dad's face appeared on the screen.

A hand reached into the frame, gripped his oxygen tube, and yanked it out. My dad's skin drained of color as he thrashed weakly on the bed, gasping for air.

The person filming only laughed while recording, right up until the moment his body finally stilled.

"Well? Did you enjoy watching him suffer?" Lucy sneered.

White-hot and blinding rage consumed me. I lunged at her, my mind nothing but blood and fury. However, before I could touch her, steel flashed. The knife slashed across my face, pain exploding as warm blood streamed into my eye.

Then, someone shoved me down, pinning me to the floor.

"Zoey, what the hell are you doing?" Gary's voice thundered. I hadn't even noticed when he had come in.

"I just walked in and saw you attack Lucy with a knife. How twisted are you?" His roar rattled the walls.

Tears poured down my face as I screamed, my voice raw with grief, "She killed my dad! She killed him!"

Gary's face darkened, fury burning in his eyes. "Shut up! Lucy went to check on Mr. Johnson tonight and found him already gone. Yet, you still dare to slander her? Apologize now!"

All the pain, all the humiliation, and everything I had swallowed until now tore out of me at once.

I sobbed, my throat breaking. "Slander? You cheated on me with her—that was my fault. She slashed my face, and you didn't even look. You just said it was my fault. Fine. I was wrong. I was wrong to have ever loved you. But I won't apologize!"

His hand clamped down on the back of my head, forcing me forward until my skull cracked against the floor a few times. His voice was like ice. "Don't make me repeat myself. Apologize!"

Through the haze of blood and tears, I raised my face, staring at them with every ounce of hatred I had left.

Their vicious, ugly faces burned into my mind like fire, and in that moment, I swore that I would make them pay in blood!