Chapter 2

"Spin for me, Chloe. It looks like it was made just for you."

Early the next morning, Eleanor's cheerful voice drifted from the dressing room.

I pushed the door open. My feet froze.

Chloe stood in front of the three-way full-length mirror. She wore a pure white wedding gown. The layers of the skirt spread across the floor around her feet.

My chest went cold. That was the custom gown I spent six months designing for my wedding with Julian.

We were supposed to marry by the end of this year. Then everything fell apart. Now the gown was on Chloe. Every seam fit her body perfectly. It looked like someone had altered it just for her.

Chloe saw me. Her smile vanished. She shrank back half a step. Her eyes turned red in a second.

"Genevieve, you're here? The dress was so pretty. I just wanted to try it on. Don't be mad. I'll take it off right now..."

"Take it off for what? Keep it on." Eleanor frowned. She pulled Chloe back toward the mirror. She glared at me with pure annoyance. "Genevieve, you're leaving for Chicago anyway. This dress will only gather dust in the closet. Chloe never had a dress this nice growing up. Why can't she have it?"

I looked at Chloe in the mirror. She looked down. Tears hung on her lashes. Her fingers were stroking the silk skirt that belonged to me.

I didn't yell. My breathing didn't even change. I just looked at Eleanor with a dead calm.

"That is my wedding dress."

"Not anymore," Eleanor cut me off, completely justified.

She slid open the jewelry box on the vanity. She pulled out my sapphire brooch.

It was my lucky charm. Julian bought it for me at a Swiss auction on my birthday. That was during the hardest years of building the darknet money network.

Back then, he said: "Blue is your lucky color. I want this stone to protect you through every storm."

Everyone in this house knew what that brooch meant to me.

Eleanor didn't even look at me. She pinned the sapphire right over Chloe's heart.

"Julian told me this blue stone brings good luck. Chloe needs it. She's been having nightmares."

I watched the pin sink into another girl's chest. My voice came out low.

"That was my favorite piece."

Eleanor's fingers paused. Her eyes shifted away. Then her voice turned even harsher.

"You have the blood marker from the late Don. Nobody in the Great Lakes will dare touch you. Chloe only has us."

A bitter feeling washed over me. I couldn't even force a laugh.

I turned around, walked out of the dressing room, and went straight to Julian's office.

He was reading the hostage transfer manifests with tired eyes. When I walked in, he closed the folder. He came around the desk and took my hand. His fingers were cool. His eyes held that familiar look of guilt and concern.

"Genevieve, did you sleep badly? You look terrible." He reached up and touched my cheek. His voice was gentle. "I know this is unfair to you. But you always know what's best for the family. Do this for us. Once Chicago cools down, I will come get you myself."

I let him touch my face. I looked straight into his eyes.

"Julian, the blood marker is gone. It's been gone for two years."

Julian's fingers stopped against my skin. His eyebrows pulled together.

"Genevieve, stop throwing a fit."

"I'm not throwing a fit," I said calmly. "The marker is gone. Two years ago, I traded it to the Great Lakes to buy your life. I'm going to Chicago with nothing. They will not treat me like a guest. I might die there."

The guilt in Julian's eyes vanished in a split second. Irritation and disappointment took its place. He dropped his hand and let out a heavy sigh.

"Genevieve, what happened to you? Bringing up something from two years ago to lie to my face. Is this a joke to you?"

"I'm not lying."

"Enough!" He rubbed his temples. "The old man loved you most. He would never let you throw away our family's only lifeline just for me. If you don't want to protect Chloe, just say it. Why make up a ridiculous excuse to dodge your duty?"

The office door banged open.

Chloe stumbled in. She was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

"I'm sorry! It's all my fault! Julian, Genevieve, please stop fighting... Send me to the Great Lakes instead! Let me die there! Just stop fighting..."

She swayed on her feet. Her knees gave out. She collapsed onto the rug.

Julian's face changed instantly. He rushed over and caught her in his arms. Panic and pure protectiveness filled his eyes.

"Chloe! Are you okay?"

Footsteps pounded down the hallway outside. Arthur and Marcus stormed in.

Seeing Chloe shaking in Julian's arms, Eleanor screamed.

"Her meds! Get her sedative right now!"

Arthur's face was dark as thunder. His cane slammed against the hardwood floor with a deafening crack. He pointed right at my face. His voice dropped to a cold, venomous growl.

"Genevieve, look at you! Ruining the family's plans over a stupid dress and a pathetic lie! You pushed your own sister to the edge in front of your fiancé! You don't even know how to act like the eldest daughter of this family!"

Marcus glared at me with cold disgust.

"If you can't behave before you leave, go down to the wine cellar and cool off."

There was no trial. There was no defense.

Two massive bodyguards stepped forward. They twisted my arms behind my back and dragged me down into the damp, freezing cellar.

The heavy iron door slammed shut. The sound of the deadbolt echoed through the silence.

There was no heat down here. The damp cold crawled up from the concrete floor, turning my legs numb. I slid down against the rough stone wall. The rough ground scraped my knees and ankles until they throbbed with pain.

Everything around me was pitch black. It felt like an early grave.

Hours passed. I heard quiet footsteps coming down the metal stairs.

A key turned in the lock. The iron grate opened a crack.

Julian came in. He held a wool blanket and a bottle of water. The anger was gone from his face. His eyes held a trace of suppressed pity.

He crouched outside the iron bars. He pushed the blanket through the gap. He reached out to touch my hair, but I tilted my head away.

His hand froze in the air. He pulled it back and let out a soft sigh.

"It's too cold down here. Why did you have to cross the Don? If you just back down and apologize, he won't keep you locked up."

I sat in the dark. I didn't look at him.

Julian twisted open the water bottle and slid it across the floor. His voice was soft and coaxing.

"Genevieve, stop acting like a child. Keep the old man's marker safe. Tomorrow in Chicago, use your leverage. Negotiate with the Great Lakes."

He looked at me. A confident, tender smile touched his lips.

"Get through this and come home safe. We'll get married right away. I'll give you the biggest wedding on the West Coast."

I leaned my head against the cold stone. A wave of sickness rose in my stomach.

I had no words left to explain anything. I said nothing.

Julian took my silence as agreement. He paused for a second. "Get some rest."

He turned and climbed the metal stairs. His footsteps faded into the distance.

Half an hour after the cellar fell silent again, sounds drifted down from the main hall upstairs.

Laughter, music, and the clinking of glasses.

The whole family was celebrating Chloe's survival.

None of them cared that it cost them their other daughter.