Chapter 2

Tiffany leveled the dark muzzle at me.

A shot cracked out.

I threw myself sideways on instinct, and Tiffany burst out laughing, swinging the barrel up at my head like a woman who had lost her mind.

I kicked off my heels and scrambled away across the dirt.

The bullet tore past, the wind of it grazing my skin, and bored a deep hole into the ground where I'd been.

Terror was all over my face. Tiffany's was lit with excitement. She shouted at me, "You won't be this lucky next time!"

Beside her, Robert took the girl's hands with doting eyes. "Silly thing. Hold the gun like this if you want to hit her."

He closed his hands over Tiffany's and steadied her aim at me.

I couldn't afford the bitterness welling up in me. I scrambled to my feet to run, but the tie lashed tight around my legs sent me crashing hard into the mud.

A shot rang out. The two of them had fired into my ankle.

I clamped my hand over it, the blood running bright red through the gaps in my fingers, more and more of it.

The blood at my ankle stung my eyes. I still didn't have proof that Robert had moved his assets. I couldn't die.

Something almost like reluctance crossed Robert's face. He came over and looked down at me. "Or just kneel and apologize now. Promise you'll never hurt Tiffany again."

Pain and fury hit me at once. My mind had no room to think. The words came straight out. "Kneel to that woman? Never."

"These shoes were custom-made cowhide heels Robert had brought back from Italy just for me," Tiffany said. "Now they've got your filthy blood on them."

"Lick them clean and I'll think about letting you go." The malice on her face wasn't even dressed up.

The next second, I gritted my teeth and worked the tie loose from my legs, and threw my whole body straight into that black muzzle.

My blood-soaked hands closed over Tiffany's and forced the trigger down.

If I didn't die this time, I would stake this life of mine on dragging Robert and Tiffany to hell.

The bullet drove into me in an instant. I went straight over backward, my whole body shaking with the agony of it.

Tiffany let go of the gun, panic flashing through her eyes. "It was her, she pulled the trigger herself!"

Robert gathered her against him, soothing her. "It's all right. I'm here."

He bent down and murmured by my ear, "Sign those shares your father left you over to me yourself—then you can die."

The words went into me like a poisoned blade, stabbing again and again at the softest part of me.

The next moment he straightened up and kissed her cheek, gentle. "There now. Don't let her spoil your mood."

"I'm so scared. My head's spinning." Tiffany's voice trailed off, her eyes closed, and she sagged into Robert's arms.

The fury drove his heel down into my wound. "If anything happens to Tiffany, I won't let you live."

I couldn't hold back the scream, couldn't stop my body from curling in on itself.

He wouldn't give me another look.

Robert lifted Tiffany up in his arms and strode toward the sports car.

At his signal, a bodyguard threw me into the trunk like a piece of junk.

I lay there listening to Robert call that woman's name over and over inside the car, blood and tears running together down my face wherever they pleased.

I still remembered that year. He was the heir holding all the capital in Easton, yet he cared about nothing outside his studies, and I was just a girl whose looks drew envy out of nowhere.

That day a group of students had cornered me on the rooftop, tormenting me, and he happened to be up there reading. He stepped in for me.

That one moment brought Robert into my world, and it showed everyone just how far his power reached.

He went straight to the classmate leading the bullying, and in his name as chairman of the school board he called an immediate assembly of every teacher and student, telling the whole world that he was my weapon. As long as the Randall name existed, no one could touch a hair on me.

From that day I began to fall for Robert, and he gave me all the gentleness in the world. In our world there was only each other, no one else.

When he proposed to me under the blazing northern lights in Iceland, every outlet raced to report on the golden couple we made, calling us a perfect match made by heaven.

He gave me the most spectacular wedding in the world. On the day we married, we became the couple everyone on earth envied, the pair blessed by the gods. Almost everyone was moved by this love between two who had grown up together.

Just when I thought I would be happy for the rest of my life, a woman named Tiffany shattered the illusion I had of love.

I pressed down the thing tearing at me inside, picked up my phone, and found that familiar number.

"Brenda. Have you made up your mind?" The voice I hadn't heard in so long came straight to my ear.

He'd picked up the instant I called.

My lips parted, and heat rushed to my cheeks at once. My brow was knotted tight, my heart pounding like a drum, and in the end I still gathered the courage to speak. "The deputy director post you mentioned before, the one you wanted me for..."

My voice cut off. The words circled all the way to my lips and wouldn't come out.

"It's been kept open for you the whole time. Come whenever you like." There was a thread of gladness in his voice.

I drew a deep breath. "Give me seven days. Once I've handled my own affairs, I'll come and take the post."