Chapter 2

June’s POV

I stared at him, my chest heaving with rage and disbelief. “You wouldn’t dare chase me out of my own house,” I said, my voice shaking. “All of this belongs to me. You’re here because of me. What are you even saying right now?”

Frederick laughed like I’d just told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. “Oh, blah blah blah. Are you done with your speech?” He took a step closer, his eyes cold and cruel. “Or should I remind you that you gave everything to me? You had no interest in your father’s company because you were a lazy ass bitch. You don’t know fucking anything.” He gestured around the room. “And well, I made use of it and here we are in this beautiful paradise. If you had left things in your care, you’d probably be begging for food by now, so don’t come here and lecture me.”

My throat tightened. “Still, this belongs to me,” I said weakly, knowing even as the words left my mouth how pathetic they sounded.

“Oh, it doesn’t.” Frederick’s smile widened as he reached over and touched the other woman, his fingers trailing possessively along her shoulder. “It’s either you leave now or my sweetheart here, Betty, is going to kick your ass. And you don’t want to lose your child, do you?”

Something snapped inside me. I stepped closer, tears streaming down my face. “Are you threatening me?” I demanded, my voice breaking.

He tilted his head, almost amused. “No, I’m not threatening you. You know, I’m actually a good person.” He walked over to the drawer while I just stood there, frozen. He pulled out a thick stack of cash and turned back to me. “Take this and find a good apartment. Maybe start selling flowers or something because you’re boring as fuck. And maybe a boring man will see you and get married to you.”

The words hit me like a slap. I wiped at my tears, trying to hold onto whatever dignity I had left. “Let me just tell you one thing. We’re stuck together forever, whether you like it or not. We’re going to be a happy family, our baby and us.”

Frederick stopped. He looked at me for a long moment, then walked over to the clipboard and pulled out a stack of papers. “We’re getting a divorce, my love.”

“No,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “I’m not getting a divorce.”

He stared at me like I was insane. “What do you want? You just found me cheating and you still want us to stay together?”

“We’re going to stay for these children, Frederick,” I said, my voice desperate now, pleading.

That’s when he grabbed my hair. The pain was instant and blinding, his fingers twisting tight, yanking my head back so hard I thought my neck might snap. I screamed, trying to pry his hand away, but he was too strong. He practically threw me to the floor, and I landed hard, gasping.

“You’re going to sign this document right now,” he said, his voice low and vicious.

I was sobbing now, my whole body shaking. He threw the papers and a pen at me, and they landed beside my trembling hands. I couldn’t see through the tears. I couldn’t breathe. But I picked up the pen anyway because what choice did I have? I signed.

Frederick pulled the papers away and looked them over. Then he turned to Betty and Julian, grabbed them both, and kissed them. His hand slid down and grabbed Julian’s dick, and he grinned. “You both look so hot now. I can have both of you anytime I want without my wife around.”

I was still on the floor, broken and humiliated. I forced myself to stand, my legs barely holding me up, and turned toward the door without a word. I stumbled down the stairs, tears blurring my vision, got to the car and collapsed into the driver’s seat, gripping the steering wheel like it was the only thing keeping me from falling apart completely.

I was about to start the engine when Frederick appeared at the window. He tapped on the glass, and I reluctantly rolled it down. He threw another stack of cash at me, bills scattering across my lap.

“You know, I’m not that wicked,” he said with a smirk. “Now have a nice life, love.”

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I just closed the window and drove out of that driveway, away from everything I’d ever known.

****

I kept driving until the white lines on the highway blurred into one endless streak. The tears came in waves, hot and relentless, streaming down my cheeks and dripping off my jaw. I didn’t bother wiping them away. My entire world had shattered in the span of one night, and here I was, alone on some nameless stretch of road with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.

No siblings. No family. Nothing.

The gas light blinked on, pulling me back to the present. I took the next exit and pulled into a run-down station, filled the tank with shaking hands, then drove across the street and parked in an empty lot, phone clutched in my trembling fingers.

I dialed Blue’s number.

It rang once. Twice. Three times. Four.

“Blue, please pick up. Please, please, please pick up.” My voice cracked, desperate and small.

Voicemail.

I tried again. And again. Nothing. She was probably with her boyfriend right now, wrapped up in her own perfect little world while mine crumbled to dust.

I searched for hotels nearby on my phone. I didn’t even know where I was. I found a cheap place a few miles down the road and drove there in a daze, checked in without really seeing the clerk’s face, and dragged myself up to the room.

The door clicked shut behind me, and that’s when I finally broke.

I collapsed onto the bed and sobbed. Deep, wrenching sobs that tore through my chest and left me gasping for air. Everything hurt. My heart, my head, my entire body. I cried until my throat was raw, until there were no more tears left, until I was nothing but an empty shell curled up on scratchy hotel sheets.

My stomach growled, a sharp reminder that I wasn’t just responsible for myself anymore. The babies. Frederick’s babies. I had to eat. I had to keep them alive, even if I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep going myself.

I forced myself up, washed my face, and headed out. The fresh air hit my face, cold and sharp. A few blocks down, I spotted a small restaurant with warm light spilling from its windows. It looked quiet. Safe.

I slipped inside and found a corner booth by the window, away from everyone else. When the food arrived, I stared down at it, my eyes still burning. I took a bite. Then another. But my appetite was gone, replaced by a sick, churning feeling. Still, I forced myself to eat. For them. For the tiny lives growing inside me who didn’t ask for any of this.

I was halfway through my meal when the door burst open.

Gunshots exploded through the air, sharp and deafening. I dropped to the floor instantly, my heart hammering against my ribs. What the fuck was happening? This couldn’t be real.

I fumbled for my phone and dialed Blue again. It rang and rang. No answer. I left a frantic voicemail. “Blue, please, I need you, something’s happening, please call me back, please—”

I ended the call and started to dial 911.

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.”

The voice was low, smooth, and dripping with dark amusement. I looked up slowly, my blood turning to ice.

A man stood over me. Tall. Impossibly tall. His face was sharp and angular, almost too perfect, like something carved from marble. He looked like a god. But there was nothing divine about the gun pointed directly at my face.

“Please,” I whispered. “Please, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t see anything. I’ll leave right now. I’m so sorry. Please.”

He tilted his head, studying me with cold, calculating eyes. “I don’t like leaving traces,” he said calmly. “You were just here at the wrong time, love.” He cocked the gun. “Now say your goodbyes. Any last words?”

Panic seized me. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. “Please,” I begged, tears streaming down my face. “Please, I can’t leave like this. I can’t die like this. Please.”

For a moment, something flickered across his face. Regret? Hesitation? I couldn’t tell.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “But you have to go.”

The sound was deafening.

Bang.

Pain exploded through my body, white-hot and all-consuming. I fell back, gasping, clutching at the spreading warmth on my chest. My vision blurred. The ceiling above me swam in and out of focus.

So this was it. This was how I was going to die.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​