Chapter 4

He pulled out his phone and called the cops.

I was too weak to even get up. Blood filled my mouth, thick and metallic. My voice came out raw.

"They desecrated my mom's ashes like that, and you're seriously pretending not to see it?"

Pierce only checked whether Jared was hurt.

"He's just a kid. Why couldn't you talk things out? Besides, Daphne already tried to stop him."

The cops showed up fast. As they moved to put me in the squad car, I struggled. "Officer, I didn't even touch them!"

Daphne pointed at a bruise barely bigger than a fingernail on Jared's knee, tears pouring down her face. "She hurt my son like this. He's still so little. This could traumatize him forever!"

The two workers backed her up too.

I was taken to a detention center for disturbing the peace and sentenced to five full days.

The second I heard that, panic hit me. "Pierce, can't we settle this privately? You know Ellie's heart condition is serious. If she doesn't see me for five days, she'll panic. What if something happens to her?"

Pierce hesitated.

Daphne instantly wrapped herself around his arm. "Pierce, if you let this go now, Jared will think actions don't have consequences. He's still young. What if he grows up spoiled?"

Pierce's expression hardened immediately.

"Lucia, you were wrong. Let this be a lesson for both kids. I'll take care of Ellie. You can use this time to think about what you did."

"Pierce!"

I jumped up and tried to grab him, but an officer dragged me away to change.

I didn't even want to imagine what Ellie would go through after five days alone with Daphne and Jared.

The fear crushed me. I paced nonstop inside the tiny cell.

That night, I finally broke down.

I collapsed onto the hard bunk, and the pain from everything that happened finally hit all at once.

I closed my eyes, hoping sleep would make the time pass faster.

Less than five minutes later, someone jolted me awake.

A man in the next cell leaned against the bars and whistled. "You're hurt pretty bad. Figured I should wake you in case you died quietly over there."

I turned my back to him and ignored him.

Five minutes later, he woke me up again.

I barely got a second of uninterrupted sleep that whole night.

By morning, I was slumped against the wall, exhausted.

I tried to ask the guard to let me use the bathroom.

But the guy across from me always seemed to know. Every single time before I could speak, he called the guard over first.

I held it until my stomach cramped and cold sweat drenched my back.

Right before I blacked out, he smirked. "Pretty girl, that's what happens when you mess with people you shouldn't."

That's when I realized Pierce had paid someone to make my life hell in here.

I didn't even have the energy to hate him anymore.

I just wanted time to move faster.

By the fifth day, I'd been reduced to skin and bones.

Pierce was already waiting outside the detention center.

The second he saw me, pain flashed across his face.

He walked over and pulled me into his arms. "Did you learn your lesson? Your mom's ashes weren't completely ruined. I had someone gather what was left and place it in a new urn. She's been reburied in a better cemetery plot. Once you recover, I'll take you there."

I didn't answer. I shoved him away.

Then I pulled the papers from my bag and stuffed them into his hands.

"The money you paid for my mom's grave wasn't enough. Sign."