Chapter 1

At my engagement party, my fiancé's student dumped a bucket of red paint over my white dress and screamed that I had killed my own parents.

Preston and I stood on the little stage, holding champagne and smiling at our guests.

Lena came charging across the ballroom.

"You cursed little jinx!" she screamed, hurling the paint at my chest. "Your parents died because of you! Stay the hell away from Professor Grant!"

She spun on Preston, eyes wet, chin trembling. "What does she have that I don't? Tell me, Preston. What?"

He slapped her. Hard. Then dragged her toward the door.

"Listen to me," he hissed. "I have zero interest in a gold-digger. You touch Claire again, and I swear to God, you'll regret it."

Lena wouldn't go quietly.

She came back like a ghost. She blocked my car. Threw coffee in my face. Hired thugs to jump me in parking lots. Every single time, Preston went scorched earth on her.

The worst was the car bomb. A month in the ICU. A limp I'd carry forever.

Preston lost it. He broke both her legs himself and shipped her off to prison.

The whole city said the same thing: "Professor Grant would take a bullet for that woman."

Until last Tuesday.

I went down to the basement to grab a bottle of red wine. I heard voices behind the wall.

Her voice.

"My leg hurts so bad when it rains. You were brutal to me, baby."

Preston, quiet, flat: "Then remember it."

Lena giggled. "What if she found out? That punishing me turned into sleeping with me?"

"Cut it out. I'm kidding. As long as you're here every day, I won't stray."

My blood turned to ice.

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So this was our "unshakeable love." A rotten little joke.

"Gentle, Preston. You're always so rough with me."

Her voice slid through the wall again.

"Professor Grant, has your precious Claire ever seen you like this? What would she do if she heard us right now?"

"Shut up."

"You like me better. You only keep her around because you feel sorry for her, right?"

"Focus, baby girl."

"Preston, I want out. I've been in this basement so long I'm losing it."

"Not yet. Not the right time."

I balled my fists so tight my nails cut into my palms.

Lena was supposed to be in prison. She was supposed to be rotting behind bars. And she was here. In my basement. How long? A month? Six? Or had she never gone in at all?

I turned around and dragged myself up the stairs.

At the bedroom door, my knees gave out. I hit the floor hard.

I lay there staring at the ceiling while tears slid into my hair.

I was eighteen when the earthquake hit. Mom and Dad threw themselves over me. They died. I survived.

After that, closed spaces made me want to scream.

Preston built this mansion for me. No arched ceilings. Glass everywhere. He said, "Claire, no wall is ever gonna trap you again."

He took me to doctors. He flew me around the world. He held me every single night I woke up shaking.

So I finally gave him my heart.

He used to love me like it was the only thing keeping him breathing.

And now—

A hand pulled me up.

Preston frowned. "What the hell are the maids doing? My wife is on the floor and nobody notices?"

I looked up at him. He'd cleaned himself up. No trace of her on him.

Except for the collar of his shirt, flipped up too high, hiding something.

I could still see it. A hickey.

I pushed his hand off. "I sent them home early."

A thud downstairs.

I locked eyes with him. "Someone down there?"

His face twitched. Then he smiled. "You're hearing things. Probably the pipes."

I didn't say anything.

I couldn't sleep that night.

When I woke up, Preston was on the couch, phone in hand, looking worried.

"Claire, honey. Lena's trending online."

I opened Twitter. There it was: "#ProfessorGrantsExStudentReleased"

"Sources say Lena Shaw was released early for good behavior. She's homeless and remorseful."

"Can teacher and student mend fences?"

"Forgive her! Professor Grant, take her in!"

Preston sighed. "The whole internet is watching. If I turn her away, we'll be branded monsters by morning. The university's breathing down my neck too. If she ends up dead on the street, my career is over. Just… let her stay. A little while."

Right on cue, the front door burst open. Lena dropped to her knees in front of me, slapping her own face and sobbing.

"Claire! I'm an animal! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

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