Chapter 4

Khira's POV

Daughter-in-law…

The word hung in the air. It sounded so wrong. How was this man with the way he looked, my father in law. Alex had told me that his father ended up in jail and died of a heart attack. It should have made me sick, what this man was saying. It should have made me scream.

But as I stared into Adrien's abyss-like eyes, all I felt was a strange, vibrating numbness.

"You're lying" I whispered, though my voice lacked conviction.

Why would he lie?

He didn't flinch. He didn't blink. He just reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver key.

"Am I?"

He stepped forward, the heat of his body radiated toward me before he even touched me. He knelt at the foot of the bed, his large hands grasped my ankle. His touch was rough and calloused just like the hands of a man who had worked, fought, and maybe even killed.

Click.

The shackle fell open.

He moved to my wrists next.

Click. Click.

I was free.

"If I'm lying" he murmured, rising to his full height and towering over me, "then walk out that door. Go find your husband. Tell him you survived the fire"

He stepped back, crossing his tattooed arms over his massive chest.

"Go on. See if he kisses you... or if he finishes the job"

I felt dizzy as I sat up on the bed. I rubbed my sore wrists, the phantom weight of the chains still lingered. I couldn’t go back to him. The man who lit that match was not the man I had fallen in love with. He was a monster and he was going to kill me if he knew I survived.

“I can’t go back to him” I muttered

He nodded

"He’s burying you today"

My head snapped up. "What?"

"Get up" he commanded, tossing a black silk dress onto the bed. It pooled like ink against the white sheets.

"We're going for a ride"

"I'm not going anywhere with you"

Adrien leaned in, his face inches from mine.

"You don’t have a choice in this, Annie…”

“Please don’t call me that” I corrected

“Would you prefer Khira?” he asked gently as if checking the feel of it on his tongue.

“Sounds better than Annie”

His lips then curled into a dark, challenging smirk. Did this man ever just smile?

"Get dressed, Sweetheart. You don't want to be late for your own funeral"

I could only think of my father. He already had no one, if he thought I was dead too, it would break him. If I couldn’t escape Adrien, then maybe I could use him to get to my father, even if my face had changed, there was no way my father wouldn’t know who I was. I would warn him about Alex and everything would be okay.

“How long have I been unconscious?” I asked as I threw my legs off the bed.

My legs were weaker than I thought. It felt like they had not been used in years.

“A month”

I sucked in a deep breath. My father has thought that I was dead for a whole month. I needed to go to him now.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked as I held the gown in my hand.

I stumbled as I tried to stand, my muscles atrophied from a month of unconsciousness. Before I could hit the floor, an arm wrapped around my waist, I almost let out a shriek. His hands were as solid as a steel bar.

He didn't ask if I was okay. He simply hauled me up against his chest, his grip firm and possessive.

"Weak" he muttered, though not unkindly.

"We'll fix that"

He stopped in front of a door, opened it and dropped me on the ground. I held onto the wall for support.

“Do you need help?” I swallowed hard and for some reason saying no was hard. I just shook my head instead. He shut the door and I showered as best as I could, with my shaky legs and dizzy head. I was surprised that the bathroom had all the essentials, even underwear. He even got the size right.

The drive was silent. Rain lashed against the windows, blurring the world outside into gray streaks. I sat in the passenger seat, staring at the rearview mirror.

Every time I caught my reflection, my breath hitched.

The eyes were mine, emerald green and terrified. But the rest? The sharp jawline, the pouty lips, the high cheekbones... It was the face of a stranger. A beautiful unfamiliar stranger.

"Stop looking" Adrien said, his eyes fixed on the road. "She's gone"

"Who?"

"Annie" he said, using the name Alex used to call me. The name I hated.

"The girl who let herself be burned alive. She's dead. You're someone else now"

"Who am I?" I whispered

He shifted gears, the engine growled beneath us.

"That's up to you"

We pulled up to the cemetery gates, but Adrien didn't park in the lot. He drove onto the grass, parking beneath the shadow of a large oak tree, far enough away to be unseen, but close enough to see everything.

"Look" he said.

I followed his gaze.

It was my funeral.

This was absurd. I didn't know what to feel.

A crowd had gathered around a fresh grave. Umbrellas popped up like black mushrooms in the rain.

Then I saw him.

My father.

He was slumped over, supported by his cane, his body shaking with sobs. He looked so broken. His health had been failing but he had not needed a cane the day I traveled. My death was making his health worse.

A tear broke out of me.

"Papa..." I choked out, my hand reached for the door handle. "I have to go to him. He thinks I'm gone. I have to tell him…"

Click.

The sound of the doors locking echoed through the car.

I turned to Adrien, furious. "Let me out! Look at him! It's killing him!"

"And if you go out there?" Adrien’s voice was cold.

He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"Alex sees you. He realizes he failed. He kills you. And then he kills your father to tie up the loose ends. Is that what you want?"

I froze. Tears streamed down my face, hot and fast.

"So I just watch him suffer?"

"You watch" Adrien said, his thumb brushing away a tear with rough affection.

"You watch so you never forget"

He pointed toward the grave. "Look at the husband"

I wiped my eyes and looked.

Alex stood next to my father. He was wearing a perfectly tailored black suit. His head was bowed. He held a handkerchief to his eyes. To anyone else, he looked like the picture of grief.

"He's acting" I spat.

"Keep looking," Adrien urged. "Look behind him"

I squinted through the rain.

Standing directly behind Alex, under a large black umbrella, was Bianca.

She wasn't crying. She was staring at the back of Alex's head with a small, secret smile.

As the priest spoke, I saw Alex's hand drift behind his back. Bianca's hand met his. Their fingers interlaced, squeezing tight. A lover's touch. At his wife's funeral.

"Bastard" I hissed.

"Closer" Adrien whispered, leaning over the console until his shoulder pressed against mine. He handed me a pair of binoculars. "Look at her neck"

I raised the binoculars, my hands shaking. I focused on Bianca.

She was wearing a high-necked black dress, but a silver chain glinted against her skin. A pendant hung from it.

A locket.

My breath stopped.

It was an antique silver heart with a small emerald in the center. My mother’s locket. The one I never took off. The one I was wearing when he tried to kill me

"He gave it to her" I whispered, the words tasted like ash. "He took it off my unconscious body... and he gave it to his mistress"

Something inside me snapped.

The sadness, the grief, the fear, it all evaporated. In its place, a cold, dark void opened up.

I lowered the binoculars. My tears had stopped.

I turned to look at him. For the first time, I didn't see a criminal or a captor. I saw a weapon. A weapon that hated Alex just as much as I did.

"You said you created him" I said, meeting his dark gaze.

"I did."

"Can you destroy him?"

Adrien’s lips quirked up. It wasn't a nice smile. It was a promise of violence.

"I can strip him of every dollar, every friend, and every lie he's ever told. I can leave him with nothing but the dirt he's standing on"

He reached out, his hand wrapped around the back of my neck. I gulped nervously and met his gaze. His thumb traced the pulse that hammered in my throat.

"But I can't do it alone"

His eyes dropped to my lips, then back up to my new, beautiful eyes.

"With this face... you can be anyone you want."

I looked back out the window one last time. I watched Alex guide Bianca to his car, my car. I watched him leave my father standing alone in the rain.

I turned back to Adrien.

"Annie is dead" I said coldly.

"Good” he said in a low growl. My eyes stayed glued to his. I didn’t know what the plan was but I was going to trust this man.

“Excuse me?” I suddenly heard a familiar voice from outside the window. The air knocked out of my lungs. I didn’t need to turn around to know who was there.

I sucked in a breath, tears gathered in my eyes as I turned around to see him standing by the window. Asking me to wind the window down.

It was my…

Father.