Chapter 4

I got into a rideshare with my suitcase.

Mom called before we'd gone two blocks.

Her first sentence was a scream.

"Evelyn Marlowe, if you still consider me your mother, get back here and sign that agreement.

"Ungrateful brat. You're making a war over one stupid pendant?"

I hung up.

At the hotel, every card I owned was declined. They'd all been frozen.

I sat in the lobby and started calling friends.

Some said nothing and ended the call.

Others didn't answer.

One finally picked up.

"Evelyn... Adrian told everyone not to help."

Her voice sounded helpless.

"He says you're family and you just need to go home, apologize, and stop making things worse."

Delaney had posted a collage online: luxury gifts, flowers, dinner.

The center photo showed her leaning between Adrian and my mother, all three smiling.

The caption read: [Love is obvious. Nothing beats knowing someone has your back.]

I spent the night in a twenty-four-hour convenience store.

The next morning, two private security men blocked me outside.

"Ms. Marlowe. Mr. Falkner asked us to bring you home."

I stepped back.

One of them struck me.

The world disappeared.

When I woke, Adrian and Mom were seated in the front-row VIP section of a large conference hall.

Delaney stood onstage holding a microphone.

Her portrait filled the LED screen behind her.

My heart stopped.

Then my own face appeared.

Clip after clip played: the basement, the alarm, the panic attacks, the crawling, the incontinence.

I tried to reach the stage.

Security stopped me.

"That's the unstable woman from Dr. Croft's case study."

"The one who wet herself?"

"That's disgusting."

Whispers washed over me, full of curiosity, contempt, and amusement.

"What you're doing is illegal!"

I screamed until my voice cracked.

Adrian grabbed my wrist hard enough to make my bones ache.

"Have you lost your mind?

"This is the most important day of Delaney's career. Are you trying to destroy her?"

Mom stood and pointed at me.

"I watched how much work Delaney put into your treatment this year.

"You already killed your father. You've dragged Adrian down for years. Now you're trying to ruin her too?"

My whole body shook.

My chest hurt too much to breathe.

All I could do was shake my head as tears flew.

Delaney hurried down from the stage.

"Evelyn is just overwhelmed."

She made her voice tremble.

"I know she doesn't mean it."

Adrian's breathing was heavy.

"Evelyn, apologize to Delaney."

That was the moment I broke.

"I'm the victim.

"She filmed me without consent. She humiliated me. And you want me to apologize?"

People began pointing.

Adrian's expression turned cold.

He looked toward the guards.

"Put her in the backstage storage room.

"Let her out when she's ready to admit what she did wrong.

"Today belongs to Delaney. I won't let anyone ruin it.

"Not even you."

The guards dragged me away while I fought them.

The storage room was narrow and windowless.

The lock clicked behind me.

I don't know how long I was inside.

Then I smelled it, something acrid and burning. Smoke.

My entire body froze.

Strength disappeared from my hands and legs.

Orange light flickered beneath the door.

The room tilted.

Then everything went black.

Hours later, the forum ended.

Adrian took Delaney and Linda to another celebration dinner.

It was almost dawn by the time they returned home.

Adrian dropped onto the sofa and closed his eyes.

"Let Evelyn out.

"She's had enough time. She should understand what she did wrong by now."

He didn't see the guard standing nearby with a phone in his hand, pale and shaking.

"Sir...

"Ms. Marlowe..."

"Something happened."