Chapter 2

I was back in my custom-fitted Range Rover, the leather cool against my skin. The roar of a Texas storm was fading outside.

My ranch hand, a kind old man named Javier, was in the passenger seat.

"Miss Chloe, look over there," he said, pointing.

On the muddy shoulder of the road, a lone coyote pup was whimpering, soaked and shivering.

Daisy.

The memory hit me like a physical blow. The fall, the betrayal, the cold dirt over my face. My baby, gone before it ever had a chance.

The pup looked at me with those same dark, intelligent eyes.

"Just a varmint, Javier," I said, my voice cold and unfamiliar even to my own ears. "Leave it be. It'll find its mother or it won't."

Javier looked at me, surprised. "But Miss, it's just a baby."

"Drive," I commanded.

He didn't argue. He put the truck in gear and we drove away, leaving the whimpering sound behind.

In the backseat was a gift box. A custom-made leather briefcase for Liam's birthday, with his initials embossed in gold. I had been so excited to give it to him.

On the way back to the ranch, I told Javier to pull over by a dumpster behind a strip mall. I got out, opened the back door, and tossed the expensive gift into the filth without a second thought.

I got back in the car, my hands steady.

I vowed to myself, never again. I would not support Liam. I would not rescue his monstrous pet. I would make them pay for what they did to me and my child.