Chapter 2

The morning sun streamed into the room, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. It felt obscene, this bright new day, after the darkness of my revelations. I spent the morning in a daze, playing the part of the blissful new bride while a storm raged inside me.

After Liam left for the office-a shared office, I now realized with a sickening lurch-I walked through our new house. It was a masterpiece of modern design I had poured my heart into. Now, every clean line and open space felt like a part of the lie, a beautifully constructed prison.

I found a box of mementos from our courtship: dried roses, ticket stubs, silly photos. I used to look at them and feel a warmth spread through my chest. Now, I felt nothing but ash. I took the box to the fireplace, not for warmth, but for destruction. I watched as the flames consumed the paper memories, turning our fabricated history into smoke. It was a small act, but it was a start. It was a promise to myself.

Later that day, Liam called. "Chloe is throwing a small get-together for us tonight at the country club. Just a few close friends."

My stomach tightened. Chloe. Of course.

"I' m a little tired, Liam," I said, trying to keep my voice even.

"Don' t be like that, Ava. It' s for us. Chloe went to a lot of trouble." His voice held that familiar edge of control disguised as care.

I had no choice. To refuse would be to raise suspicion.

The country club was a blur of expensive perfume and fake smiles. I saw them from across the terrace before they saw me. Liam-or was it Ethan?-had his arm draped casually around Chloe' s shoulders. She was laughing, her head tilted back, her hand resting possessively on his chest. The sight was so intimate, so natural, it was like a punch to the gut. This was their reality. I was the intrusion.

As we approached, Chloe detached herself and rushed to hug me. "Ava! You look stunning! Married life agrees with you."

Her eyes, however, were cold and mocking. She was sizing me up, enjoying her private joke.

She linked her arm through Liam' s. "Isn' t he just the best? You' re a lucky woman, Ava."

I smiled a tight, brittle smile. "I know."

The evening was a performance. I sipped champagne, nodded at the right times, and endured Chloe' s constant, subtle digs. She would "accidentally" call me by the wrong name, or bring up an inside joke between her and the twins that left me on the outside looking in. Liam would just chuckle, squeezing my hand as if to say, just play along.

I needed a lifeline. Excusing myself, I went to the ladies' room and locked myself in a stall. My hands were shaking. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I knew by heart.

"Ben?" My voice was a choked whisper.

"Ava? Is everything okay? You sound… off." Dr. Ben Carter. My colleague, my truest friend. A man whose integrity was as solid as a foundation stone.

"I need your help," I said, the words tumbling out. "Something' s wrong. Terribly wrong."

I couldn' t say more, not there, but he heard the panic in my voice. "Whatever it is, I' m here. Just tell me what you need."

"I need… I need you to look into something for me. A medication." I told him about the "vitamins" Liam had insisted I take for months leading up to the miscarriage. They were supposed to help with fertility.

"Send me the name," Ben said, his voice all business. "I' ll get right on it."

Hanging up, I felt a sliver of hope. I wasn' t entirely alone.

When I returned to the party, Liam was in a heated, hushed conversation with Chloe. They fell silent when they saw me.

"Everything okay?" I asked, my voice deceptively light.

"Just Chloe being dramatic," Liam said, waving a dismissive hand. But I saw the look that passed between them. A shared secret. A shared conspiracy.

Later that week, Liam brought up Chloe' s birthday. "She' s having a huge party at the estate this weekend. Everyone will be there."

"Liam, I have that architectural competition deadline. It' s my parents' wedding anniversary, too. I was hoping to see them." It was a lie about the competition, but the anniversary was real. A date he had conveniently forgotten.

His face hardened. "The competition can wait. And you can see your parents any time. Chloe' s party is important. It' s important for us to be seen there, together. As a family."

"She' s not my family," I said, my voice sharper than I intended.

"She' s my family," he snapped, his charm vanishing in an instant. "And that makes her yours. Don' t make this difficult, Ava. You know how much Noah looks up to me. It would be a shame if his scholarship funding suddenly had… issues."

There it was. The threat, veiled but unmistakable. My brother Noah was on a prestigious scholarship funded by a foundation Liam' s family controlled. My blood ran cold.

"Fine," I said, my voice a dead thing. "We' ll go."

His smile returned, triumphant and possessive. "I knew you' d see it my way."

The night of the party was a grand affair. The estate was lit up like a fairy tale palace, a beautiful facade for the ugliness within. Chloe was in her element, a queen holding court. She wore a glittering red dress, a stark contrast to the elegant but subdued navy blue I had chosen.

Halfway through the evening, the lights dimmed. A massive screen descended at one end of the ballroom.

"And now, a little surprise I put together!" Chloe trilled into a microphone. "A tribute to the happy couple!"

My heart stopped. I had a terrible feeling about this. The screen flickered to life. It wasn' t a tribute. It was a video. A grainy, secretly filmed video of a hotel room. My hotel room, from a business trip months ago. And a man, a colleague, was entering. The video was edited to look salacious, cutting away before anything happened, leaving everything to the imagination.

A collective gasp went through the crowd. Whispers erupted like wildfire.

Chloe' s voice was filled with fake tears. "I saw this… I didn' t want to believe it. Ava, how could you do this to Liam?" She turned to the crowd, sobbing. "And then… then she threatened me! She said if I told anyone, she would ruin me!"

She staggered dramatically, then pulled a small, ornate letter opener from her evening bag. Before anyone could react, she dragged it across her own arm, a shallow but bloody cut.

"She drove me to this!" she shrieked, collapsing into a heap on the floor.

The room exploded into chaos. But my eyes were on Liam. He didn't even glance at me. His entire being was focused on Chloe. He rushed to her side, scooping her into his arms, his face a mask of fury and concern.

He turned and looked at me, his eyes filled with a disgust so profound it physically hurt. "You bitch," he spat, the words cutting through the noise.

He carried Chloe out of the ballroom, leaving me alone in the center of the room, the wolves closing in.