Chapter 1

...

Silently, I realigned my dislocated wrist, but the searing pain sharpened my clarity.

Three years ago, these same hands had slipped that ring on Calvin Thomas's finger. Under the moonlight, he'd vowed to protect me forever.

"Calvin," I rasped, my voice raw, "we're done."

He sneered, pulling out a handkerchief to meticulously wipe the blood from the ring. "Done? The engagement was always meant for Anna. You were just a stand-in. Isn't this what you wanted, to cling to me and squeeze the last drops from the Pedersen family?"

With a sharp tug, he tore the pearl necklace from my neck. "If I hadn't pitied you, the Pedersens would've cast you out long ago. I know that your birth mother in that backwater village abandoned you years ago."

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Three years ago, he'd insisted I stay with the Pedersens, soothing me, "Don't feel guilty. We'll make it up to Anna together."

And he did, devoting every night and every ounce of his passion to her.

The first time I caught them together, he fell to his knees, slapping himself with desperate force. "It was Anna's mother. She spiked our drinks. I never meant it to happen. Forgive me, Joanne. You're the only one I love."

I softened, helped him up, and brewed him sobering tea. Then I stormed to my adoptive mother for answers. She smirked, "Let's see how long you two lovebirds last."

I'd been foolish enough to believe Calvin and I could defy her, that our love would endure.

But reality was crueler. He cheated repeatedly, each time begging for my forgiveness. He even pressed a knife into my hand and guided it to his chest to prove his heart.

I relented every time, but he grew bolder, eventually shedding all pretense.

First, he tossed me his perfume-drenched coat to wash. Then, he appeared with lipstick marks staining his neck. Now, he and Anna were splashed across tabloid headlines.

I kicked aside the scattered pearls and sneered, "Save your pity! You disgust me! The sight of you makes me sick!"

...

He stiffened, anger flaring, but the door suddenly swung open.