Chapter 1

Maeve's POV

I'd considered every scenario, but I never expected that the person who would betray me in the end would be my little sister, Meredith Sinclair.

I took a deep breath and fought the urge to slap her into oblivion.

I hissed, "What's the meaning of this? You were the one who said we should leave, and you were the one who blew our cover. How can you give in so easily?"

Unable to hold myself back, I smacked her on the back of the neck.

Meredith had always been spoiled. The slap immediately brought her to tears.

She shrank back and wailed, "But Huxley was just too scary! You should have thought about how much influence he has in the city. We were already exposed the day we planned to leave.

"I'm really scared of him. He's always walking around with that intimidating look on his face. He's even more pretentious than Irvin…"

Meredith glanced up at me cautiously, looking a little guilty.

I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Then, why didn't you tell me sooner? Need I remind you that I'm your sister, and you should trust me more?"

At that, Meredith pouted and protested, "I thought he was only keeping tabs on you. I figured he'd just take you back. I never imagined he'd come after me too! It's not like I'm his wife…"

I smacked Meredith again.

She covered her cheek and stared at me resentfully. "Maeve, why did you hit me again?"

I was practically laughing at how stupid Meredith could be.

Nothing was really wrong with her. She was just too naive. In fact, she was so naive that she could be downright foolish sometimes.

Irvin Zimmerman and Huxley Locke had grown up together. They had been best friends since childhood, so they were like brothers. There was no way Huxley would have kept our plan from Irvin the moment he learned about it.

Besides, Meredith had nearly miscarried at the hospital just two days ago. If word got out that the Zimmerman family's daughter-in-law had disappeared, it would also put tremendous public pressure on the family.

I sighed. I had spent so much time and effort planning our escape.

However, Meredith was pregnant. I couldn't really bring myself to blame her.

Meredith said meekly, "I'm sorry, Maeve. I really didn't mean to. You know me. I'm a careless person…"

She tugged at my sleeve, just like she had when we were little. Whenever she'd done something wrong, she'd always done that.

She added, "I considered the fact that Huxley has always treated you pretty well. If you came with me, we'd have to struggle out there for a long time. How could I bear to make you suffer?

"Irvin pushed me because of that woman. So, there's no way I can stay with him anymore. But you don't have to leave your marriage, Maeve. Huxley hasn't done anything unforgivable. My marriage may not be worth saving, but yours still is!"

Looking at the innocence in Meredith's eyes, I felt a bitter ache in my heart. The truth was, neither of our marriages was worth saving anymore.

I raised my hand, wanting to pull her into a hug.