Chapter 1

All because I refused to give the parachute to Wendy Shaw.

The very next day, my husband tied our daughter to an unmanned plane with barely anything on her.

I stared at him in disbelief, tears already falling.

"Adrian, have you lost your mind? You're willing to risk your own daughter's life over another woman?"

His eyes were cold.

"Claire, if you hadn't insisted on giving the parachute to Annie, Wendy wouldn't have spent the whole night having nightmares.

"I'm putting Annie up there to toughen her up. It's for her own good."

I couldn't understand how he could say something like that about our daughter.

But the plane had already started rising. There was no time to argue.

"Adrian, if she falls, she'll die. I'm begging you. Let her down.

"If you're angry, take it out on me. If you want a divorce, I'll agree to that too."

He gave me a disgusted glance, then turned to Wendy and asked whether her head still hurt.

Something in me went cold.

Annie's crying tore through me. In the end, I even begged Wendy.

She put on a concerned expression.

"Adrian, maybe you should bring Annie down. Claire already doesn't like me.

"If this damages your marriage too, I'll feel terrible."

Adrian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Wendy, you're too soft-hearted. I've spoiled Annie. She needs to learn a lesson."

He had already decided our daughter would be punished.

I looked up at Annie, terrified beyond words.

And I laughed once.

Five years of backing down. I was done.

On the day Adrian and I married, Wendy came back from overseas. That same night, he brought her into our home.

At first he told me she'd leave as soon as she found a job.

Instead, little by little, he started treating Wendy like his real wife. My daughter and I became the servants in our own house.

Wendy didn't like weeds in the yard. Adrian made Annie kneel on the ground and pull them out one at a time.

Wendy liked dogs. So Adrian brought one home, and then he made Annie learn the same commands he taught it, on all fours, while Wendy watched and laughed.

I kept believing Adrian would change.

He never did. He only got worse.

When I turned to leave, Adrian grabbed my wrist, his jaw tight.

"Where are you going? Back to your lover?"

Once, Wendy complained of stomach pain, and Adrian left me standing on the side of the highway so he could rush her to a doctor. That night, strangers got hold of me.

He still believed I'd been pining after some other man.

I laughed bitterly.

"None of your business."

Wendy folded her arms and spoke with perfect innocence.

"Claire, none of this has to be a big deal. Just kneel down and apologize to me properly.

"And hand over that necklace while you're at it. Then I'll forgive Annie."

She was humiliating me in the open.

Adrian stood beside her and didn't say a word in my defense.

In his eyes, I was nothing more than something to keep Wendy happy.

Annie was screaming that she hurt, begging me to save her.

I clenched my teeth.

"Fine. Adrian, you'll keep your word."

He sneered.

"Claire, I won't go back on it."

Adrian had his own code, and the thing he despised most was a broken promise.

That was enough for me.

I didn't hesitate. I went down on my knees in front of Wendy and put my forehead to the floor, and then I did it again, and again.

My forehead swelled and split. I barely felt it.

"Is that enough?"

Wendy didn't tell me to stop, so I didn't stop.

I kept going until the skin gave way and blood ran into my eyes.

Something in Adrian's face flinched.

He almost reached for me. I pulled away.

"I did what you asked. Now let Annie down."

Adrian scoffed.

He was about to give the order when Wendy gasped.

"Adrian, my chest feels tight. It must be from yesterday, on the plane.

"I still feel like something could happen to me. Like I could die."

He wrapped an arm around her at once.

He could never stand to see Wendy cry.

And just like that, Adrian broke the promise he claimed mattered so much. For her, he broke his own code with his own hands.

His eyes turned cold again.

"Wendy, what else do you want?

"Claire and Annie owe you. Take it out of them however you like. I'll back you."

My husband stood in front of another woman and told her he would punish his wife and child on her behalf.

I smiled.

There was nothing left in that smile.

Then Adrian had me taken up onto the plane too.

He left one parachute.

And told me to choose.

Myself.

Or my daughter.