Chapter 7

“Oops!” She covered her mouth like a child caught doing something naughty. “I was trying to help.” Nora gasped weakly, her breath a whisper. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”

Hadley’s expression twisted as she seized the necklace around Nora’s throat.

Hadley yanked the necklace at the back of Nora’s neck. “Why? You’re asking me why?”

“Maybe ask yourself first—what makes you think you deserve to wear the same necklace as me? You’re just a gardener’s daughter. What right do you have to share my last name, to make me call you sister? And now you’ve even become a director at Damien’s company! What right do I have to go from one lousy boyfriend to another, while you get to climb into Damien’s arms and be a bigshot?!”

“Why did you come back? Dad and Mom’s love, Damien’s love—they were always supposed to be mine alone!”

Hadley finally let it all out, her face twisted with pure hatred. The sweet, elegant girl everyone knew had completely vanished.

She’d been pretending all this time—just waiting for this day.

Nora felt the familiar terror of death creeping in again. She clawed at the necklace around her throat, struggling to breathe, but no matter how hard she pulled, her strength was gone.

She couldn’t die. Kane was still waiting for her.

“Let go… you can have it all…”

Hadley sneered, tightening her grip. “No, no. I’m not a charity cast. I’ll take back everything that you took from me.”

The pearl necklace snapped. Beads scattered across the floor.

Hadley laughed. “Looks like the heavens don’t want you to die easily.”

Satisfied, she crossed her arms and looked down at the coughing, crumpled Nora. “My dear sister… the walk down the mountain takes more than three hours. By the time you get to help, the flowers on your grave will have wilted. You can scream all you want. No one on this entire mountain will dare to save you.”

She patted Nora’s cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Damien for you. I promise—your funeral will be fabulous.”

This had all been part of Hadley’s plan.

From the moment Nora came up the mountain for the masquerade, Hadley had never intended for her to come back down alive.

Nora refused to accept it.

She staggered to her feet, trying to return to the ballroom, only to be blocked by security. Through the glass, she saw Hadley whispering sweetly to Damien—and then smirking at her.

On the way down the mountain, she begged every person she passed to call an ambulance.

But Hadley had been right. Not a single soul helped her. They all avoided her like she was plague.

Her little sister had truly gone to great lengths this time. Not that she needed to. Nora was already planning to disappear. She just... wanted to see Damien’s face when he unwrapped his birthday present. And maybe—just maybe—see if Kane would come for revenge.

She tilted her head back, eyes tracing the sudden burst of fireworks in the night sky.

But the path down the mountain? It was swallowed in pitch darkness.

Hatred surged inside her, sharp and freezing, until it numbed everything else.

She wanted nothing more than to tear those two apart—Hadley and Damien—with her own bare hands.

Stumbling, her hair in disarray, she finally collapsed on the roadside.

At midnight, fireworks bloomed, lighting up every corner of the night.

Nora felt the last of her strength fade away. Maybe this was really the end. She wouldn’t make it to the meeting place. Did that count as breaking their promise again? Would he hate her for it?

The oxygen in her lungs thinned. Her thoughts slowed.

Her fingers brushed the small button in her pocket.

And with that… she closed her eyes.