Chapter 3

The next day, Graham drifted back into partial consciousness through a wave of sharp pain and a suffocating tightness in his chest.

He forced his eyes open and sat up, clutching his stomach. His old stomach problem had flared up again. He was about to get up and call for someone when he realized he was not lying in his own bed at home. He had been locked in a storage room.

Cramping pain twisted through his stomach in waves, so intense that his mind began to blur.

"Is anyone there? Open the door! Open the door! My stomach's acting up!"

He had no idea what was happening. All he could do was pound on the door with everything he had, his voice hoarse and shaking.

Light footsteps sounded outside, followed by a voice that was familiar yet cold. It was his mother. "Graham, stop shouting."

Lionel spoke right after, sounding both reproachful and exasperated. "You brought this on yourself! You pretended to go along with Holly ending the pregnancy, and then you went behind our backs and had someone lock Colin in a walk-in freezer!

"Colin has hated the cold ever since he was little. Do you have any idea how long he was stuck in there? He nearly froze to death! We're only keeping you in here for a day because you're our son. Consider yourself lucky we're going this easy on you!"

Graham felt as though he had been struck by lightning, and the blood in his veins seemed to freeze.

Colin had been locked in a freezer, and they thought he had done it?

"I didn't!" he shouted with all his strength, his voice warped by his immense pain. "I would never do something like that! Bring Colin here and let him say it to my face! Bring him here!"

"Graham..." Colin's voice came from outside, carrying just the right amount of fear and hurt. "It's fine, really. I was just a little cold and a little scared. Mom, Dad, please don't keep him locked up like this. I'm okay."

Joyce sounded even angrier. "You hear that? Colin's being so understanding about this! Meanwhile, you're nothing but spiteful!

"Colin nearly died because of you. All we're doing is keeping you in there for one day without food or water, and that's more mercy than you deserve. You still won't admit you were wrong!"

A whole day without food or water, and while his stomach was flaring up?

Graham found it beyond absurd. The cold and the pain had his teeth chattering.

He fought through the overwhelming panic of his claustrophobia and the searing pain in his body, trying to reason with them. "Mom, Dad, I'm claustrophobic. I can't stay in here for long!

"My stomach is acting up too, and it really hurts. Please let me out and take me to the hospital—"

"More lies!" Lionel cut him off impatiently. "Claustrophobia, stomach problems, you're just fishing for sympathy! We won't fall for it again. Stay in there and think about what you did!"

Graham's heart sank little by little into an icy abyss.

He stopped staring at the shut door and turned his attention elsewhere. He knew Holly had to be out there too.

Graham's voice was quiet, carrying one last faint flicker of hope. "Holly, can you believe me just this once? Just once.

"If I really wanted to hurt Colin, why would I have agreed so easily to let him come back? Why would I have agreed to let you end the pregnancy?"

For a few seconds, there was no sound from the other side of the door.

Then came Holly's voice, as cool as ever and almost entirely devoid of emotion. "Graham, when you do something wrong, you have to face the consequences. It's only one day. Just tough it out and think of it as a lesson."

Tough it out?

A lesson?

The last spark inside Graham went out for good.

Icy despair wrapped around his heart like vines, tightening more and more.

How could he have forgotten?

Holly loved Colin. She always had, and that had never changed.

He had spent five whole years trying and failing to warm her heart of stone. How could he have expected her to believe him, even once, when it came down to him or Colin?

The footsteps gradually faded. No matter how hard he pounded on the door or how loudly he shouted, no one outside answered.

The darkness, the suffocation, the pain, and the cold all tangled together and tormented him. He curled up on the cold, filthy floor as his mind grew hazier and hazier.

The panic of the confined space gripped his throat like an invisible hand, and every breath grew harder.

At last, he passed out completely. When he came to again, it was to the familiar smell of hospital disinfectant.

His body still ached, but at least he was no longer trapped in that hopeless darkness.

A nurse was adjusting his IV line.

When she saw his eyes open, she spoke in a businesslike tone. "You're awake. You had stomach surgery, and there are signs of infection and bleeding since the operation, so we'll need to keep you here for a few days for observation.

"You'll also need a family member to stay with you. Where's your family? You should call them."

Graham's cracked lips moved, and his voice came out terribly hoarse. "I don't have any family. Could you hire a caregiver for me? The best one you've got. I'll pay for it myself."

The moment he finished speaking, the door swung open, and Holly walked in.