Chapter 4

On the third day, I picked up a freshly compiled property list and headed for the law firm.

Anna grabbed my arm before I could get out the door.

"Sister, you came to my room last night, didn't you."

"I'm pregnant, sister. Just found out."

"You think getting there first means you've got Victor locked down? He's been bored of your stiff, boring act for a long time."

I shook her hand off and looked at her belly with something close to pity.

"After all this, he still won't acknowledge you publicly."

"Anna. Is it really worth it?"

"As your sister, I don't get why you'd betray me. But in the end—"

"I hope you'll be a good mother, Anna."

Then I turned and walked away.

"Ahhh—"

A scream ripped through the air behind me. Then two splashes—*thump, thump*—into the water.

The next thing I knew, Victor had shoved me into a razor-wire fence. Within thirty seconds, my back was a bloody mess.

"Flora, why did you push her? Her right arm's damaged—she can't swim!"

I stared at him, speechless.

"She fell in, so I must've pushed her?"

"Why the hell would I push her?"

Victor looked at me with disappointment.

"Still playing innocent? I've already bent over backward for you. What more do you want?"

"It wasn't me."

I cut him off and kept walking.

"Don—Miss Anna's spiking a fever. It won't come down."

Victor shot me one last glare and rushed toward Anna's room without a backward glance.

I moved carefully, trying not to press my back against the spikes again.

Blood soaked through my white shirt. But in Victor's eyes, there was only Anna.

I looked around the estate I'd called home for years. Felt like a dream. A bad one.

I gripped my phone, pulled out my suitcase, and started throwing things in like a madwoman.

This place made me sick.

Everything in this house that belonged to me—I was taking it all.

Except two things.

First—the necklace Victor gave me when we got together. Blue Tears.

The main stone was the exact shade of blue as Victor's eyes. I couldn't look away the first time I saw it. He'd bid through the night at an auction to bring it home for me.

Second—the love letters he wrote when he was chasing me.

Every vow that once made my heart race so hard I couldn't sleep—now every word was a joke.

I left the necklace and the letters on the coffee table. Then turned and walked out without looking back.

Before I left, I tossed my phone into the trash. Buried it along with everything else.

At my friend's law firm, I went over the property list one final time. Everything was ready.

After I picked up what was in the Swiss safety deposit box the day after tomorrow, I would be gone from Victor's world completely.

Standing outside the firm, watching the scattered neon lights paint smiles on every passerby—I realized the wounds on my back didn't hurt so much anymore.

From today on, there was no Flora left in this world who'd break her heart over Victor.