Chapter 2

I dragged my battered body and what was left of my dignity to the hospital to get checked, then went home. The moment I got home, I started packing away everything that had anything to do with Sebastian.

Jewelry, necklaces, photo albums, journals, all of it. I didn't want a single piece.

Then I saw what was in the glass jar and froze.

It was a button from Sebastian's high school uniform.

The day we took our graduation photos, every girl in class had been scrambling to grab a button off some boy's jacket, except me. I'd stayed in my seat and hadn't moved.

Then, right as everyone posed for the class photo, Sebastian pushed through the crowd, held up his own button, and confessed in front of everyone.

"Ruby! Over the past three years of high school, not one guy in this entire school has dared to confess to you. I made sure of that.

"I didn't want to interfere with your studies, but I couldn't stand the thought of you even glancing at another guy. Exams were right around the corner, and I wanted us at the same university.

"Ruby Baxter, I like you. So this button? You're only allowed to take mine."

Back then, Sebastian's possessiveness over me had already scared off every other boy who might have gotten close.

Maybe if Tessa had never existed, we really could have grown old together.

Maybe.

I laughed at myself, dropped everything into a cardboard box, and had someone throw the whole thing in the trash.

When Sebastian came back, he'd brought more than just the lemon cake. He'd hauled in bags of luxury gifts for Tessa, and she practically preened under the attention.

Then he spotted me, and his expression stiffened.

"Sorry, Ruby. These are all maternity things for Tessa. Tell me what you want, and I'll buy it for you next time."

I pushed his hand away before it could reach me, my face blank. "Don't bother."

Sebastian frowned. "Something wrong?"

"Tomorrow's the anniversary of my mother's death. I need to go see her."

He caught the shadow in my expression and went still for a moment, then leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "I'll go with you."

I didn't want to seem out of the ordinary, so I let him come along.

My mother had loved snow, so after she passed, I'd buried her on the snow mountain nearby.

This was probably the last time I'd see her before I left for good, and having Sebastian there felt fitting.

But the next morning, right before we left, he couldn't say no to Tessa's pouting and brought her along too.

I frowned, but I didn't say anything.

The whole way up the mountain, Sebastian held Tessa steady with his own hands, one arm braced constantly against her lower back like she was something breakable.

He fussed over her every step of the way, completely forgetting whose mother we'd actually come to visit.

By the time I'd finished quietly clearing the weeds off my mother's grave, Sebastian had already been on the phone for a while, his eyes drifting back toward Tessa every few seconds, unable to relax.

"Here. The divorce papers."

The instant Sebastian looked away, Tessa slipped up beside me and pressed a folder into my hands.

I saw Sebastian's signature on the papers and felt a rush of triumph. I shoved the folder into my bag before anyone could notice.

But Tessa's eyes turned distant as she looked at me. "Don't forget what you promised me. And..."

I cut off whatever she was about to ask, my answer swift and certain. "Don't worry. I'll vanish for good."

I'd made my promise, but Tessa kept drifting closer anyway, something unreadable in her eyes.

"In that case... could you do me a favor?"

I blinked, wondering what she could possibly want from me.

The next second, her hand clamped around my wrist, and she started dragging me toward the edge of the cliff.

As she pulled, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Mrs. Walker! Please, don't push me! This is Mr. Walker's baby! Please, give my child and me a chance to live!"

I saw the sheer drop of ice and snow in front of her, and my face went white. I hauled her back with everything I had, my voice dropping to a furious whisper.

"Have you lost your mind? Stop screaming!"

"This is a mountain covered in snow. You'll set off an avalanche!"

But before the avalanche could scare me, something worse did: blood, spilling out from beneath Tessa in thick streaks.

Red bloomed across the white snow, so vivid it hurt to look at.

I froze for a second, and Tessa dragged me down into the snow with her. Sebastian saw it happen and practically threw himself across the distance to catch her.

Then, with Tessa covered in blood in his arms, he ran for the car without looking back and sped away.

At the same time, a low, ominous rumble began building somewhere above us, near the peak.

"Sebastian! Help me!"

I screamed at him from where I lay on the ground, but the sound disappeared into the snow.