Chapter 3

3

I struggled wildly, the sheer will to live giving me the strength to break free from my father and Caleb.

I collapsed on the floor, gasping for air. "In your dreams!"

I pointed at them, my voice trembling with rage. "I'm not dying for a piece of human trash, and I'm done being your shield!"

"I've paid back every cent of your 'upbringing' with my blood. From this moment on, I am dead to you!"

I couldn't stay in this suffocating house for another second. I saw them for the monsters they were.

My loyalty to Caleb was officially a joke.

Caleb realized I was serious about burning bridges, so he tried to change his tone.

"Skylar! What are you saying? We're family! Where will you go without us? It's just one little favor, why are you being so dramatic?"

A little favor?

Swapping a death sentence was a little favor?

Lexie saw Caleb softening and decided to up the stakes.

"Caleb! If your sister saves my brother, I won't ask for a dime in dowry! In fact, I'll bring eight hundred thousand dollars to the marriage!"

My mother's eyes practically turned into dollar signs. "What! Eight hundred thousand? I've never seen that much money in my life!"

My father smiled, his temper vanishing. "Lexie, you can't take those words back. And we won't take back our promise to help you."

Lexie snorted dismissively. "You people act like you've never seen cash. That's nothing. My dad is also giving us a penthouse downtown and a brand new BMW."

"Marry me, and you'll be living the high life forever."

Caleb grabbed Lexie's hand, his face flushed with greed. "Lexie! I promise I'll be the best husband ever. I'll do whatever you want!"

Mother slapped her chest in a vow. "Forget her dying for him once, she'll die for him twice if she has to!"

Father nodded. "Ask for anything, Lexie. We'll make sure she works for us until her last breath."

I watched the circus with a cold sneer.

If I remembered correctly, I had walked past the slums yesterday and seen Lexie's family.

Loan sharks were beating her parents half to death, and Lexie was almost dragged away to pay their debts.

Where was this sudden fortune coming from?

Only the idiots in my family would believe her lies.