Chapter 3

On the day Victor died, Seth refused to let anyone else handle his body. In the end, it was Rita, small and fragile, who carried him on her back for almost 40 miles along the mountain road.

She stood there and watched as his brittle, wasted bones were burned down to nothing but a small handful of ash cupped in her palms.

No one dared risk Seth's anger by offering her a coffin, so in the middle of the night, she buried Victor herself in the rear garden. It was the only way she could give him any kind of peace.

The bodyguards had forced Rita to crawl on her knees. The pain snapped her out of the memory.

It was like someone had scattered gravel and glass shards over the smooth porcelain walkway just to make her suffer. Still, she pushed herself forward as fast as she could.

By the time she reached the rear garden, her knees were already swollen and torn open, leaving a long trail of blood behind her.

Rita's tears spilled down her cheeks the second she saw Victor's urn lying where it had been carelessly thrown. She lunged forward to grab it, forgetting the bodyguards still had her by the arms.

They yanked her back so hard her forehead slammed against the ground, leaving a bruise and making her look like a stray someone had just kicked.

Taking in how pathetic Rita looked, Winnie let out a low laugh and hooked a finger under her chin. Her nails raked across Rita's cheek, tearing the skin and leaving ugly lines.

Then she twisted a fist in Rita's hair and forced her to look up at her.

"Don't blame me for being ruthless. A brother's debt gets paid by his sister. Victor left Tara in a vegetative state, and you stole Seth. I'm just dealing with you for his sake."

Winnie smiled, cold and satisfied. "How about I feed his ashes to the dogs?"

Rita had a rag stuffed in her mouth, so all she could do was thrash and shake her head as hard as she could.

Maybe Winnie decided she was making too much noise. She shot the bodyguards a look.

A second later, they dumped a whole bucket of animal blood over Rita's head. The stench clung to her skin, leaving her looking even worse than a beggar on the street.

Winnie looked even more pleased, raising her brows. "You think you deserve to be Mrs. Jones?"

She let her gaze drag over Rita from head to toe, her slight frown showing just how disgusted she was. "Fighting me for Seth? With your IQ? Please. You're not even worth the trouble."

No one knew which word set Rita off, but something snapped. She fought like hell and managed to break free of the bodyguards. The moment she lunged for Winnie, a sharp crack split the air.

Rita hit the ground hard. Her palm skidded over an old wound and tore it open again. She pressed her hand against the fresh red mark burning across her cheek and looked up in disbelief.

Winnie was already curled in Seth's arms, trembling and crying like she'd just survived something awful. "Seth, thank God you got here. Rita almost killed me."

Seth's eyes went cold, anger gathering in them. He stared at Rita with a hatred that made her shrink even lower.

She struggled to push herself up off the ground, then dropped to her knees at his feet. "Seth, that's Victor. He was your best friend. He's gone now… Please, just let him rest."

Rita stayed on her knees like she couldn't feel a thing. Her skin was torn open, blood spilling onto the gray tiles and pooling into widening puddles.

"You promised you would never hurt me like this."

He was the one who'd held her close, who'd kissed her and whispered "forever" against her skin. He was the one who'd sat by her bed when she was sick and stayed awake all night.

Rita had been stupid to think her small, desperate love could thaw someone as frozen as Seth.

Maybe it was the grief in her eyes that made something like pity flicker across his face. But the moment he saw the redness at the corners of Winnie's eyes, whatever softness he'd left vanished without a trace.

"Seth, the psychic said Rita was bad luck and that anyone who got close to her was bound to get hurt. Even what happened to Tara was because of her."

The words hit Rita so hard she almost lost her balance. She stared at Seth, watching his eyes grow colder, until there was nothing left in her but pure despair.

She started to take off her clothes and begged, "Seth, if you give Victor's ashes back to me, I'll do anything you want."

Watching her give up on herself like that made Seth press his lips into a hard line. A sudden burst of anger shot through him for reasons he couldn't name, sharp enough to lock his jaw.

"Are you really that desperate?" he snapped.

Still, Rita reached for his belt.

Seth shoved her back, forcing the spike of anger down as he leaned into every word. "You're shameless!"

A second later, he flung Victor's ashes into the air. They scattered and disappeared.

Rita collapsed where she was, going limp like her soul had been ripped out, everything inside her going dark.

But then, under everyone's stunned stare, she slowly pushed herself upright and took Seth's hand.