When Love and Hate Rise Like the Tide

"Will their deaths bring my family back?" Xavier grabbed Riley's chin, his grip so tight it threatened to crush her jaw. "It's only been five years, Riley. You can't take it anymore?"

He released her and signaled to the bodyguards behind him. "Make her drink."

Two men in black stepped forward. One pinned Riley by the shoulders while the other forced her mouth open. Cold liquor poured down her throat, choking her until tears streamed down her face. Unable to fight back, she eventually collapsed onto the floor, her face flushed and her clothes soaked with alcohol.

When would this torture finally end?

She had no idea.

"Xavier, didn't you promise to take me out for a candlelit dinner? What's going on here?"

A bright, feminine voice suddenly came from the doorway. Through her tears, Riley saw Lily West standing there in a white dress, her long hair falling over her shoulders and her features delicate and beautiful.

Riley's breath caught, and a wave of sorrow washed over her.

Lily really did look remarkably like Riley had at twenty-two. No wonder Xavier had chosen to keep her by his side.

The moment he saw Lily, his expression softened. "Can you wait a little longer, baby? Today's my wedding anniversary with Riley, and I'm giving her a present."

Lily cast Riley a contemptuous glance before giving Xavier's sleeve a playful tug. "Come on, don't waste your time on someone who isn't worth it. What do you say?"

Xavier fell silent. Clearly, that was one thing he couldn't agree to.

Instead, he gently changed the subject. "Be good. You're hungry, aren't you? Come on, I'll take you to dinner."

Taking Lily's hand, he led her toward the door. As they passed Riley, however, Lily deliberately reached out and knocked over a towering stack of liquor bottles beside her.

The entire stack came crashing down with a deafening roar. Shards of glass rained down on Riley, and although she instinctively threw her arms over her head and face, she was left covered in cuts.

"Ah!" Lily cried. "I didn't mean to! Should we take her to the hospital?"

Xavier didn't even glance at Riley. "Leave her."

Instead, he took Lily's hand and frowned. "You've cut yourself."

It was nothing more than a faint red scratch, not even deep enough to bleed. Yet Xavier treated her as though she might shatter, bringing her fingertips to his lips for a gentle kiss.

"Does it hurt?"

Lily slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. "Not anymore."

Xavier quickly took control of the kiss, drawing her closer as it grew more passionate.

Lying in a pool of her own blood, Riley listened to the sounds of their kisses, her heart twisting in agony.

"Lily..." Xavier murmured Lily's nickname, his voice thick with desire.

Lily. Riri.

Even their nicknames sounded so alike.

By the time they finally broke apart, Xavier was thoroughly aroused. He swept Lily into his arms and, without looking back, told the bodyguards, "Clean this up. Just don't let her die."

After a pause, he added in an icy voice, "That body of hers is only good for one thing now. At least I can still make her suffer."

Riley watched him carry Lily away, feeling as though her heart had been torn in two.

Everything had changed. Tears came before she could even find the words, and the days when she and Xavier had loved each other seemed impossibly distant.

Five years ago today, they should have been the happiest newlyweds in the world. Xavier should have been holding her close, kissing her forehead and saying, "Riri, I finally get to call you my wife."

Now, another woman was in his arms.

They had been childhood sweethearts, growing up together and remaining practically inseparable from kindergarten through college. Everyone knew how much Xavier loved Riley.

Once, when she casually mentioned craving a cake from the west side of town late at night, he'd driven two hours through heavy snow to get it for her. Whenever she had menstrual cramps, he'd stay awake all night rubbing her stomach to ease the pain.

On the day he proposed, he'd even knelt to put her shoes on, promising to treat her like a princess for the rest of her life.

Everything changed with the accident on their wedding day.

Riley's parents had driven drunk and killed Xavier's entire family. Their wedding had turned into a funeral, and the man who loved her had become her enemy.

Xavier lost his father, his mother, and his younger sister. From that day on, he was the only member of the Parker household left.

Consumed by hatred, he'd had Riley's parents sent straight to prison, where he made sure they received "special treatment."

The last time Riley visited them, she'd been told they had slit their wrists. By then, the abuse they'd suffered in prison had already left them covered in injuries and reduced to skin and bones. Their wrists were now cut so deeply that they were barely clinging to life.

With their last remaining strength, they gently stroked her cheeks, struggling to speak through their tears.

"Riri, Mom and Dad did something terrible. We deserve to go down there and make amends to the Parkers. You haven't done anything wrong, though. You have to keep living..."

"Xavier hates you, but he loved you deeply once, too. Please, we're begging you. No matter what happens, you have to hold on for five years. If you still can't find a reason to live after those five years, then... you can... come be with us."

Her parents died that day, leaving Riley to continue atoning for what they'd done to the Parker family.

For five years, more than eighteen hundred days and nights, Xavier had subjected her to every kind of torment imaginable. He made her kneel in the snow during the bitterest winter months, locked her in rooms without air conditioning in the sweltering summer heat, and forced her to eat foods she was allergic to.

Countless times, she'd thought about ending her life. Only the promise she'd made to her parents had kept pulling her back from the brink.

Then, three months ago, Lily appeared.

With her resemblance to Riley's younger self and even a similar name, Lily was the replacement Xavier had so carefully chosen. He lavished all his affection on this substitute while directing every ounce of his cruelty toward Riley, his actual wife.

His methods of torment had always been varied and bizarre. By now, she should have been used to them.

Yet no matter how many times she watched Xavier and Lily kiss, heard him call her, or saw him shower Lily with the same affection he'd once reserved for her, the pain still left Riley struggling to breathe.

Now, only seven days remained until the end of her five-year promise.

Lying in a pool of blood, Riley reached beneath her clothes for the family photograph she'd kept hidden there. Blood seeped between her fingers, staining the picture red.

The three people in the photograph were smiling brightly, their happiness a dream she could no longer reach.

"Mom... Dad..." she whispered. "I'll hold on for seven more days... Just seven days, and then... I'll come find you..."