002.

Amelia's POV

I stared at him, my hand pressed to my stinging cheek. Out of all the shitty things Damian had ever done, he’d never laid a hand on me…!

His eyes were still that freaky wolf-amber, and they weren't sorry.. they were pissed.

“You… you hit me,” I finally whispered. It was a stupid thing to say. Obviously, he’d hit me.. but my mind was just catching up.

He didn’t even blink. His hand moved again so fast I didn’t see it coming.

Crack..!

The back of his hand connected with my other cheek, whipping my head to the side. This one was harder and I tasted blood where my teeth had cut the inside of my lip.

I stumbled back, hitting the kitchen counter.

He leaned in close.

“And there’s more where that came from. I will beat some sense into that empty human head of yours if it’s the last thing I do.”

He straightened up, his anger seeming to recede back under his skin. He picked up his bottle, knocked the rest of it and slammed it down so hard I thought it would shatter.

“Clean up this mess,” he snarled, not even looking at me. Then he turned and stormed out of the penthouse. The front door slammed shut with a finality that shook the whole place and just like that, I was alone.. again.

I slid down the cabinet onto the cold floor, the sobs finally breaking free. I cried for my shitty marriage, for my cheating bastard of a husband and yeah, I cried because I was dying. Mostly, I cried because nobody in the whole fucking world gave a damn..!

I needed to hear a friendly voice.. anyone. I fumbled for my phone, my hands shaking and hit the dial on my dad’s number. It rang and rang. Come on, Dad. Pick up.

Someone picked up.

“Hello?”

It wasn’t my dad.. it was Lydia. My stepmom.. of course it was her.

“Lydia?” I sniffed, trying to sound normal. “Is my dad there?”

“Harlan’s busy,” she said, her voice all sharp and dismissive. “What do you want, Amelia? We’re about to sit down for dinner with Gabriella.”

Figures. Perfect Gabriella was there for a perfect family dinner.

“I… I just… Damian, he…” I couldn’t get the words out straight. “He hit me, Lydia. He slapped me right across the face.”

There was a pause on the other end. For a second, I thought maybe, just maybe, she’d offer some shred of sympathy.

But she laughed.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Amelia. What did you do to provoke him? A man like Damian doesn’t just lose his temper for no reason. You must have said something about Gabriella again, didn’t you? You’ve always been so jealous of her.”

My blood ran cold.

“I didn’t provoke him! He was screwing Gabriella in our bed!”

“Watch your language,” she snapped. “I don’t have time for your hysterical fantasies. Maybe if you tried to be more like your sister, your husband wouldn’t need to… correct you. Now, we have to go. Don’t call back with this nonsense.”

Click.

She hung up. I sat there on the floor, listening to the dial tone, feeling more alone than I ever had in my entire life. My own family.. my own dad’s wife.. they’d chosen her side just like everyone else.

The numbness came back but this time it was different.. it wasn’t hollow. It was… purposeful. I pushed myself up. Right. Clean up the mess.. that’s all I was good for.

I trudged upstairs to the bedroom where the smell of their sex was still in the air it made my stomach turn.

I started stripping the bed, yanking the sweaty stained sheets off with a grim determination. If I didn’t wash them, it would just be more trouble for me later.

As I pulled the fitted sheet off the corner, something small clattered onto the hardwood floor.

I frowned and bent to pick it up. It was a locket.. a simple silver heart-shaped locket.

I turned it over in my palm.. it looked… familiar.. really familiar. My thumb brushed over the tiny engraving on the front... a single, swirling letter.

A.

My breath hitched.. this was my locket.. the one my mom gave me before she died. I hadn’t seen it since… since the night of the attack.. the night I got amnesia.. the night Gabriella became the big damn hero.

I clutched it tight, the cool metal pressing into my skin.. and then it happened.

A flash.. a jolt like a lightning strike right behind my eyes.

I saw rain.. cold driving rain.. the smell of wet earth.. running through the dark woods, my heart pounding and the sounds of snarls and fighting.

I gasped, doubling over as another memory slammed into me.

Finding Damian..! He was on the ground, his clothes ripped, unconscious with blood everywhere.. so much blood.. dragging him.

He was so heavy and my arms screaming with my lungs burning while dragging him toward the glow of the safehouse lights.

Another jolt.. sharper and more painful.

A searing.. blinding pain at the back of my skull and the world going black.

The last thing I saw before everything went dark was my locket, flying off my neck as I fell.

I stumbled back, dropping the sheets and I stared at the locket in my hand like I was seeing it for the first time. Holy shit. Holy. Shit..!

It was me! I dragged his knocked-out ass to safety.! I saved his life, I got hit in the head protecting him and Gabriella, that gold-digging bitch swooped in and took all the credit while I was lying there concussed and bleeding my memories out!

And suddenly everything became even more unfair.

All of it.. the years of humiliation.. the constant “Why can’t you be more like Gabriella?” The way he looked at her like she hung the damn moon.. it was all built on a lie.. my lie.. one she stole!

The rage that exploded in my chest was so hot, so pure, it burned away the last of my tears.

I screamed and swept my arm across Damian’s nightstand.. a lamp, a book, his stupid fancy watch... it all went flying and crashing against the wall.

I was dying. I had three months left in this shitty world and I had spent years of my life being a doormat for a pack of liars and users.

Well, not anymore!

A cold, fierce determination settled over me.

Fine!

If that’s how they wanted to play.. with the time I had left, I was going to make every single one of them pay. For every insult, every betrayal, every second of pain. I was gonna burn their perfect little world to the ground!

:))

I was sitting in the living room, in the dark, when I heard his key in the door hours later.

He walked in like he owned the place... which, okay, he did... and flipped on the light. He looked surprised to see me just sitting there, waiting.

“Amelia? What are you doing sitting in the dark?” he asked, his voice already annoyed.

I stood up and walked over to him. I didn’t say a word.. I just shoved the papers against his chest.

He looked down, confused.

“What is this?”

“Read it,” I said, my voice flat and cold.

He scanned the page and I saw the moment he understood. His head snapped up and he actually laughed.

“Divorce? Are you insane? You have nowhere to go.. no money.. nothing. You’ll quit the dramatics and be back by morning.” he muttered, like he was so fucking sure of himself.

“I’d rather sleep on a park bench than spend another night under the same roof as you,” I said, staring right into his cold eyes. “Sign the papers, Damian.”

He shook his head, a smug smirk on his face. He thought I was bluffing.. He tossed the papers back at me.

“You're bluffing and I'm not gonna sign this nonsense. If you want to die so badly, do it without pulling this useless stunt first. I don't want your blood on my hands!”

I didn’t bother to respond. I turned my back on him and I walked out. I'm dying anyway. His wish would come true eventually.

The night air was cool outside and the streets were quiet… I started walking with no idea where I was going.. just putting one foot in front of the other.. the freedom was terrifying.

But after a few blocks, a different feeling crept in.. the prickling feeling on the back of my neck.. the feeling that I wasn’t alone.

I stopped and glanced over my shoulder. The street behind me was empty.

I kept walking, faster now. I listened hard, my heart starting to thump again and then I heard it.. a soft crunch of gravel and a shadow moving between two buildings.

Someone was following me..!