Chapter 3

My adoptive father was my only weakness.

In the photo, he was tied to a chair, his white hair a mess, his eyes filled with terror.

My hand trembled violently.

"You can't touch him."

"I don't want to," Axel's voice was tight with a twisted kind of pain. "But you're forcing my hand."

I thought of the old man who waited for me all night outside the orphanage fifteen years ago.

He wasn't my real father, but he gave me a home.

"Papa will give Aria the best life," he'd always say.

To keep that promise, he worked himself to the bone, even borrowed money to send me to the best schools.

Then he got set up, and ended up with a massive gambling debt.

I was still in college. To save him, I learned everything I could.

Painting, sculpting, antique appraisal...

I became the best art forger in the underworld.

And in that world, I met Axel, who was still fighting to become the head of his family.

"Launder my family's art collection for me," he'd said the first time we met, "and I'll give your father the best medical care money can buy."

I helped him turn his dirty collection into a legitimate one, and it helped him win his family war.

And he kept his promise.

My father was moved into the best care facility, with a dedicated medical team.

"I'll treat him like my own father," Axel had once whispered in my ear.

And for the five years we were in love, he did.

When he proposed, he rented out all of Central Park and filled it with a hundred thousand black roses. It was the talk of the city. He made me the envy of everyone.

He bought a penthouse overlooking all of Manhattan and put it in my name. He invested millions in my father's clinic and covered every expense.

All the people who used to look down on me were suddenly congratulating me, sucking up.

Back then, they'd whisper behind my back, wondering what terrible thing Axel must have done to be that good to me.

I was so deep in it, I thought our love was unbreakable.

Then Seraphina shattered the dream.

But I never, ever thought he would use my father's life to threaten me.

Using my only weakness to buy his whore some peace of mind.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. The pain was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.

I couldn't breathe. I closed my eyes, and silent tears rolled down my cheeks.

When I opened them again, my gaze was empty. Dead.

"Fine," I whispered. "I give up. What do you want?"

Axel looked away, pulling a document from his jacket.

"Sign this. End it. It's better for everyone."

I took the document with a shaking hand.

The document twisted the truth into an unrecognizable knot.

[I, Aria Sterling, admit that driven by jealousy, I conspired with outside forces to leak Family secrets, causing significant losses. Furthermore, due to an unstable mental state, I suffered from the delusion that Mr. Axel Thorne was not dead, and based on this delusion, I made malicious and false accusations against innocent people. I hereby clarify: Mr. Axel Thorne did in fact die six years ago, and all of my previous allegations were the result of paranoid delusions.]

A tear hit the paper, smudging the ink.

"Axel, are you really going to do this to me?"

He stood with his back to me, his shoulders tense.

He said, his back still to me. "Sign it."

I closed my eyes and shakily wrote my name. Every stroke of the pen was a knife in my heart.

When I was done, Axel placed a Swiss bank check on my bedside table.

"Ten million dollars," he said, placing a Swiss bank check on the table. "It'll cover your father's debt and set you up for life."

He let out a long, tired sigh.

"Leave this place. Go live a good life."

There was a hint of guilt in his voice, but mostly relief.

He turned to leave.

"Axel," I called out.

He stopped but didn't turn around.

"I hate you."

His back flinched, just for a second. Then he walked out and shut the door.

The moment it closed, my phone rang.

It was one of the Family elders.

"Miss Sterling, based on the statement you just signed, the Family is revoking all of your titles and privileges. You are no longer recognized as our Donna, and you no longer have the Family's protection."

A cold, formal execution.

I had been erased.

I hung up, and my phone immediately buzzed with a text. And a photo.

From Seraphina.

[Brother said it's time to completely forget the past. A is gone. Now there's only S.]

[And just so you know, the night he decided to exile me? He was in my bed. He fucked me seven times. He could never let me go.]

The photo was of Axel's bare back.

The "A" that used to be tattooed on his left shoulder blade was now completely covered by a massive black rose.

The rose looked so real, like it was mocking me.

I deleted the photo, but I couldn't stop the tears.

It started to rain outside.

I dragged my exhausted body out of the clinic. The cold wind bit at my face.

The ten-million-dollar check felt heavy in my hand.

Severance pay. For five years of my life.

Just then, my phone rang again.

An urgent call from my father's doctor.

"Miss Sterling, your father had a massive heart attack!" the doctor's voice was frantic. "It's critical. You need to get to the hospital now!"