Chapter 2

The document said that I had to turn myself in and admit that the building collapse during the earthquake years ago was my fault. They wanted me to admit that my negligence had trapped the Jameson siblings under the rubble, killing one of them.

However, I was not even in the city at that time. I was out hiking!

All the company's construction projects were handled by Celeste alone. She was the one who cut corners and skimped on materials.

That was why the building could not withstand the quake.

She wanted me to take the fall for her and hand over all my company shares to Vincent.

If I signed that contract, I would spend the rest of my life behind bars.

Benjamin glanced through the document, then ripped it to shreds in fury. "Celeste, you're shameless!"

He snatched the phone from me and shouted into the video call, tears streaming down his face.

"Celeste! Open your eyes! It's me, your brother! You promised you'd take care of me! Come down here and save us! I'm not letting him sign that thing!"

His voice cracked, and my chest tightened.

After five years of marriage, he and I had become close, more like brothers than in-laws.

However, Celeste only spat in disgust.

"Look at yourself! You think a freak of nature like you can claim to be my brother? That's not how you beg for mercy. My brother is tall and handsome. You? You're a hideous wreck. Don't even try to compare yourself to him!"

Then, she turned her glare to me. "Finnegan, my patience is running out. Sign it or die."

At her order, the guards by the pit's edge began shoveling faster, pouring sand straight down onto our heads.

Something metallic mixed in with the falling dirt, perhaps a set of keys. Its sharp edge slashed open Benjamin's arm.

She barked, "Make up your mind! Next time, I'll toss knives instead."

"Benjamin!"

I tore a strip from my shirt and wrapped his bleeding arm, my hands shaking.

Then, I looked up, my eyes cold. "You really think this plan is flawless, don't you?"

Celeste sneered. "So what if it isn't? No one's coming to save you."

I pointed toward the man standing beside her, Vincent.

"Don't you get it? You're being used. You think you're some kind of warrior fighting for love, but you're just a dog doing someone else's dirty work."

Her face froze. "Who are you saying is using me?"

"You know exactly who. Keep this up, and you'll regret it soon enough."

Before she could answer, Vincent grabbed a rock and hurled it down at us. "Don't listen to him, Celeste! He's stalling for time, waiting for rescue. Bury him now!"

Celeste snapped, her voice rising. "What are you idiots waiting for? Shovel faster!"

A dozen bodyguards swung their shovels in sync, the dirt pouring faster and faster. The sand was already swallowing our thighs.

I fumbled through my backpack and pulled out a canister. With every ounce of strength I had left, I hurled it upward.

It burst at the lead guard's feet with a hiss.

Celeste burst into laughter. "Pepper spray? Oh, that's rich. And here I thought you were some top-tier graduate from a famous university. You may be able to fight off one person, but ten?"

The sand kept rising, filling up around us until it leveled with our stomachs.

Benjamin clung to my waist, sobbing. His tears of despair soaked through my back.