Chapter 3

Life at the rehab center was harder than I'd imagined.

Day after day of electrostim therapy and acupuncture, and my legs still would not wake up.

Dr. Calloway was a gentle man. He was patient with me.

"Clara, your muscle atrophy isn't severe. If the surgery works, there's a real chance you'll walk again."

I smiled at him, tired.

"Don't sugar-coat it. I know my odds."

That afternoon, I was in the therapy room stretching my legs on a resistance machine.

The door opened.

Sienna walked in. Two bodyguards in tow.

"Oh—still grinding away on a lost cause?"

She walked right up to me and looked down at the sweat on my forehead with open distaste.

I stopped. I looked at her, cold.

"What do you want? You're not welcome here."

She laughed, soft, dragged over a chair, and sat down.

"I came to see how pathetic Julian's ex really is."

She took out a gold-embossed invitation card and dropped it across my legs.

"Julian and I are getting engaged next month. If you manage to stand up by then—you're welcome to come raise a glass."

I looked at the red card. It was bright enough to sting.

I didn't blow up. I calmly brushed the invitation onto the floor.

"Congratulations. A snake and a rat—what a perfect match. Keep an eye on him, won't you? Don't let him wander off again."

Sienna's face went chalk. Then she surged up and slapped me across the face.

The sound cracked through the therapy room.

My cheek swelled. Blood beaded at the corner of my mouth.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Talking to me like that."

She jabbed a finger at me.

"You can't even stand. Julian was done with you. If you hadn't been clinging to him like a leech, he'd have dropped you ages ago."

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I looked at her.

"You're pathetic. Do you actually think he loves you? He's using your father's name."

"Liar!" she shrieked.

"Julian loves me. He was willing to ship you off to this wasteland to let you die—for me."

Her words drove into my chest like a blade.

I closed my eyes to hide the despair in them.

"Are you done? Then leave."

Sienna leaned in and dropped her voice.

"Do you really think Dr. Calloway is going to do that surgery for you?"

My eyes snapped open. Fixed on her.

"What are you saying?"

She lifted her chin, smug.

"My father is Dr. Calloway's mentor. One word from me, and he cancels you."

"You'll spend the rest of your life exactly like this. Sitting."

She swept out with her goons.

I sat in the chair, cold all the way through.

Her words rang in my head like a spell.

If even Dr. Calloway pulled out—the only door left was the one I'd already been heading through.