Chapter 5

Ryan studied me, clearly trying to figure out what I meant. "Why are you suddenly saying something like that?"

I scoffed and was about to answer when his phone suddenly started ringing.

The moment he saw who was calling, the darkness in his expression vanished, replaced by a tenderness he never bothered to hide.

"Don't be scared, Winnie. I won't let anything happen to you.

"You're not going to be disfigured. I'm coming right now, and I'll take you to the hospital myself.

"You'll have access to the best medical care in all of Jerriton."

That should have been mine.

Instead, I was lying helplessly in his Maybach, bound hand and foot, covered in blood and waiting to die while he promised another woman the medical care I desperately needed.

All at once, all words left me.

I simply closed my eyes and let him walk away.

In his rush to get to Winnie, he'd even forgotten to unlock the car.

I stretched toward the door with everything I had, desperate to get myself out, but I couldn't reach it. The air inside the car grew harder to breathe, and I pounded my fists against the window again and again until the backs of my hands were raw.

"Help... somebody... help me..."

The red haze clouding my vision gradually faded to black.

Just before I lost consciousness, I saw someone smash through the car window.

"Ma'am, wake up! We need a family member to sign off on your surgery!"

Through the fog, I vaguely heard one of the medical staff call Ryan.

The moment they mentioned my name, he cut them off impatiently.

"I'm busy right now."

Then he hung up.

The dead tone rang in my ears, and everything went black.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed with layer after layer of gauze wrapped around my face.

A dull stinging sensation made me instinctively reach for the bandages, but a nurse rushed in and stopped me.

"Don't touch them! You just had extensive cosmetic surgery on your entire face. You need to keep it protected from the light."

Cosmetic surgery?

On my entire face?

A chill shot down my spine.

"What do you mean, cosmetic surgery on my entire face?"

Panic took over. Ignoring the nurse, I tore the bandages off.

The moment I saw myself in the mirror, I froze.

My face was so swollen and distorted that I barely recognized the woman staring back at me. My eyelids had been surgically altered to make my eyes unnaturally wide. The tip of my nose had been broadened, and my lips had been made thicker.

Someone had deliberately changed my entire face.

I couldn't hold back any longer.

"I was cut by broken glass! All I needed was for my wounds to be cleaned and bandaged. Who gave you permission to operate on my entire face?!"

"I did."

The door swung open.

Ryan stood there, completely calm, his eyes cold and indifferent.

"I authorized it."

My fingers clenched around the blanket so tightly I nearly tore it.

Ryan Holt.

It had been Ryan Holt.

"Winnie has a scar on her face," he said, looking at me evenly and emphasizing every word. "If it weren't for you, she never would've been hurt in the first place. And if you and my mother hadn't kept her out of the hospital, her treatment wouldn't have been delayed, and she wouldn't have that scar now."

His voice remained cold.

"You did something wrong, so now you have to face the consequences."

He stepped closer, grabbed my chin, and forced my face upward. Something vicious flashed through his eyes.

"Tomorrow is Winnie's birthday.

"Your face is my early birthday present to her."

His grip tightened until it felt as though he might crush my jaw. Tears streamed from my eyes from the pain, but all I could feel was hatred.

I sank my teeth into his wrist as hard as I could.

"Let go!"

Ryan recoiled in pain. His gaze lingered on the tears running down my face, and for a moment, his expression turned complicated.

"You..."

I didn't give him the chance to finish.

I grabbed the phone beside me and called 911.

"Hello. I need to report a crime.

"Someone had extensive cosmetic surgery performed on me without my consent."

Ryan's face changed instantly. He reached over and ended the call, his teeth clenched in fury.

"Shay Moore, have you lost your mind? You're really going to make a mountain out of a molehill over something this minor?

"You and Winnie aren't the same. She's young, unmarried, and she cares about her appearance. One scar on her face could change her entire future."

Then his voice turned mocking.

"But you?

"Haven't you already decided you're going to cling to me for the rest of your life? No matter how ugly you become, I'll still take you."

I spat straight at him.

"Get over yourself, Ryan. What makes you so sure I'll never leave you?"

I picked up my phone, opened the divorce confirmation my lawyer had sent me, and shoved the screen right in front of his face.