Chapter 2

2

The pain in my chest was so sharp I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming.

It was so pathetic. My husband wanted me dead for the sake of an outsider.

We met back in middle school because of a cruel prank.

Gabe was the poor kid, skinny and introverted, always getting bullied by the varsity guys.

After I found them dumping trash on him in the boys' bathroom, I finally stepped in to protect him.

He thanked me with his head down, and our lives became intertwined from that moment on.

When I was fourteen, tragedy struck.

My cousin accidentally set our house on fire. My parents and grandparents were all swallowed by the flames.

I became an orphan overnight.

It was Gabe who pulled me out of the river when I tried to end it all.

"Quinn, from now on, your life belongs to me. You live for me."

It sounded possessive, even then. But it was exactly what my broken soul needed. It made me feel like someone finally loved me.

I was startled awake by the sound of high-pitched screaming.

The moment I opened my bedroom door, I felt the blood drain from my face.

My ears began to ring.

"No!"

"Who gave you permission to touch him!"

I screamed, charging forward without a second thought.

Shadow was lying in a pool of blood. His legs were mangled, and only the faint rise and fall of his chest showed he was still alive.

Sherry laughed even louder when she saw my face. She timed it perfectly, kicking me hard in the knee.

I lost my balance and crashed to the floor.

Sherry's friends swarmed me, pinning me down against the hardwood.

"Oh, my sweet little cousin. You're still such a loser."

She giggled, picking up Shadow's bloody, broken body and shaking him in front of me.

"Please, I'm begging you. Give him back. I'll do anything!"

Shadow was the only living thing besides me that had survived that fire.

I couldn't lose him.

"Fine. Give me ten head-butts on the floor, and I'll give you this flea-bitten mutt."

I looked at Sherry's arrogant face. Dignity didn't matter anymore.

When I finally looked up, my forehead was smeared with blood.

Sherry's grin widened. "Quinn, you really look like a dog right now."

"But did you really think I'd let him go?"

With those words, she raised Shadow high and slammed him onto the floor with everything she had.

"No!"

I fought with every ounce of strength to break free, but I was too late.

Warm, metallic blood sprayed across my face.

My sanity snapped in that instant.

I grabbed a paring knife from the side table and lunged at Sherry like a wild animal.

All I wanted was for her to pay with her life.

That was the scene Gabe walked into.

THUD!

I felt like a bird with broken wings, flying backward through the air.

My body slammed into the furniture with a sickening crunch.

"Gabe…"

Sherry started sobbing, her eyes welling up with fake tears.

"I just wanted to make things right with her… I didn't expect her to set her dog on me…"

"I didn't mean to hurt the dog… I'm so sorry. I was just so scared."

"Yeah, Gabe, Sherry wanted us to throw a party for your wife today to surprise her. We didn't think… thank God you got here in time!"

Sherry's friends chimed in perfectly.

She spun her lies through her sobs, turning the truth upside down in seconds.

Gabe kissed the top of her head tenderly before walking toward me as I lay crumpled on the floor.

"Stop playing dead, Quinn."

His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.

I tried to open my eyes. I wanted to see the man I had loved for ten years as he said those cold, heartless words.

But the blood from my forehead blurred everything. I couldn't see his face at all.

Suddenly, the world spun. Gabe hauled me up by my collar.

But before he could do anything else, my body went limp like a rag doll.

Before I blacked out, I thought I saw a flash of panic in Gabe's eyes.

I must have been dreaming.