Chapter 2

No one could hear the way I was screaming inside my own head, and the only answer I got was Celia's cold voice.

"Wyatt, you're still way too soft," she said. "We've been planning this for months just to get to this exact point. We can't let it all fall apart now.

"Did you forget how Elliot took everything from you? If it weren't for his mother, no one would've found out about your identity. Your mother wouldn't have died, you would've married the woman you loved, and you wouldn't have been expelled from the Mercer family.

"Don't worry. Once this is over, I'll make it up to him."

My body trembled. My limbs felt numb and cramped, as if countless needles were pierced into my flesh. The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth, but I forced the thick fluid back down my throat.

I didn't want Celia to make anything up to me.

If they would just let me out of here, I would willingly sign away my inheritance. I'd pack up, disappear, and never cross their paths again!

Wyatt seemed to be tearing up, his voice cracking.

"Celia, you've always been so good to me. Every time I was upset, you'd purposely set Emilia off so she'd take it out on Elliot, and then you'd have her send you the photos and videos afterward.

"Honestly, seeing Elliot beaten to a pulp, begging for mercy, and being locked away in that closet for three days straight until he was starving and dehydrated always made me feel a lot better."

Celia pulled Wyatt into a tight embrace and sighed.

"As long as it makes you happy, hurting him a hundred or a thousand times over is all worth it. He owes you this."

Inside the casket, tears burst from my eyes, and my heart splintered.

Celia, had this been how you saw me all along? How could anyone be this cruel?

As it turned out, every instance of abuse I had endured from Emilia bore her signature.

She stood in front of me pretending to be kind, pretending to save me, while behind my back, she used the footage of my torture to score points with another man.

A silent laugh escaped me.

Tears slid from the corners of my eyes, landed on the wood beneath me, and vanished almost at once.

Maybe the pain had pushed me past my limit, because I felt a sudden burst of strength, and I managed to move my fingers.

No matter how deeply I hated them, all I wanted in that moment was to live.

My nails scraped against the coffin board beneath me, leaving faint marks in the wood.

I prayed that they would hear me, but a second later, that fragile hope was brutally shattered.

The sound of passionate kissing drifted in from the outside.

I could feel the weight of a man as his back was pressed against the wood. I threw everything I had into rapping my fingertips against the boards.

But they were too wrapped up in each other to notice.

Their heavy breathing tangled together as they rocked against the casket, making it creak and groan continuously.

The tiny sounds I had fought so hard to make were effortlessly drowned out.

As she swayed her hips, Celia confessed her love for him.

"Wyatt, do you have any idea how long I've waited for this day? For you to finally give up on Emilia and agree to marry me?

"For your sake, I forced myself to seduce Elliot, no matter how much it repulsed me. Even the night I slept with him, you were the one I was thinking about."

I squeezed my eyes shut and gritted my teeth, forcing myself to block out the sickening sounds of their intimacy.

I had foolishly believed my will to live was stronger than my hatred for them.

But I was wrong. God, I hated them.

The love I once felt for Celia had turned into an equal measure of hatred. More than that, I hated myself for falling in love with two women who could both hurt me without a second thought.

I didn't know how long it took before everything outside finally went quiet.

Just as I was about to give up and accept my fate, the lid suddenly creaked open with a narrow crack.