Chapter 1My Madness, His Million-Dollar Hit

Locked in a psychiatric hospital for four years after my husband diagnosed me, I returned home to changed locks. I buzzed for ten minutes before a strange woman answered, wearing my silk robe and diamond necklace. She smirked, calling Victor. “Babe, a crazy woman’s here.” Victor approached, eyeing me like a stray dog. “Out? I’ll have the driver take you to a motel.”

I ignored him, searching for my daughter. Four-year-old Lucy read in the living room. At my call, she flinched, hiding behind the woman. “Mommy, she’s scary,” she whispered. Victor stepped between us, voice hardening. “Don’t frighten her. Lawyers tomorrow.”

Numb, I walked into freezing rain. A nearby billboard flashed a movie trailer. The poster showed me, hair wild, strapped to a bed, screaming. The film, Madwoman, had grossed millions with rave reviews. The director’s credit revealed Victor’s name. Shaking, I dialed a number saved for four years. It rang twice. “You finally called,” a voice said.

...

"Dominic."

The name tasted like ash and blood as it forced its way past my lips.

The line went dead silent for a fraction of a second.

Then came the sharp screech of a chair dragging across a floor, followed by hushed whispers in the background.

"Kathy?"

His voice was deep, thick with sudden tension, traveling across thousands of miles of ocean to strike my eardrums.

"It's me."

I stared blankly at the massive billboard of Madwoman. The woman on the screen looked like a raving lunatic, and Victor's name underneath felt like a rusted nail driven straight into my skull.

"Are you out?" Dominic's voice wavered, carrying a trace of a tremor.

"Yes." I closed my eyes, letting the freezing rain wash over my face.

"Wait for me," he said, his tone instantly shifting to cold authority. "Three days. I'll tie up my business here in London and catch the first flight back."

"Okay."

I hung up, and the screen went black. Through the downpour, a black Maybach beeped its horn.

It was our driver, Frank. Four years ago, he had treated me with absolute deference. Now, he didn't even bother to roll his window down all the way, leaving only a tiny crack.

"Ma'am, Mr. Creston ordered me to pick you up. He booked a room for you at the budget motel on the south side of town."

A cheap motel.

I looked down at my bare ankles, purple from the biting cold, and let out a dry, hollow laugh.

I, Kathy Barrett, had brought a massive family fortune into my marriage with Victor. He had used my inheritance to build his entire empire, only to throw me into an asylum for four long years. And now, on my first night of freedom, he expected me to sleep in a fifty-dollar-a-night motel.

"No need."

I turned my back on the Maybach and stepped into the rain, hailing a passing taxi.

"Take me to the Crestview estate."

Frank kept honking behind me, but I didn't look back.

Thirty minutes later, I stood outside the iron gates of what used to be my home. The main digital lock had been reprogrammed, but I knew that inside the ventilation shaft near the garage lay a physical spare key. It was a failsafe I had hidden during the renovation because I was notoriously forgetful.

The lock turned with a heavy click.

The heavy wooden door swung open.

The living room was dark, save for the flickering orange glow of the fireplace. Sienna's sweet, high-pitched laughter floated over the back of the sofa.

"Victor, is that crazy bitch really gone? What if she comes back with a knife to slit my throat?"

Victor's deep, smooth voice followed, laced with lazy arrogance.

"She wouldn't dare. After all the electroshock therapy she endured at Havenwood, her spine is completely broken."

"But Lucy looked so frightened. I should take her to a child psychologist tomorrow. What if she inherited that crazy woman's genes?"

"Thank you, Sienna. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without you raising Lucy as your own these past four years."

I stood in the shadows of the foyer, looking at the high heels and men's leather belts discarded carelessly on the floor. My stomach turned.

Four years ago, Victor had knelt in the pouring rain, begging me to save his failing company. Eight months pregnant, I sold the last piece of land my mother had left me to clear his debts.

In return, he bribed a team of doctors, pumped me full of hallucinogens, and had me dragged into an unmarked van.

"If you're so terrified of my genes, why are you still living in my house?"

I stepped out of the shadows, my voice echoing through the vaulted ceiling.

The two on the sofa bolted upright.

Sienna frantically pulled up the slipping silk robe, which happened to be mine.

Victor's face instantly darkened. He grabbed a throw blanket and tossed it over Sienna's bare legs.

"Kathy! Who the hell let you in?"

He marched toward me, his eyes filled with the viciousness he would reserve for an armed intruder.

"This is my house," I said, staring him down. "My name is on the deed. Why shouldn't I be here?"

Sienna shrunk behind Victor, her eyes red, trembling like a frightened rabbit.

"Kathy, please don't start acting up. Victor did this for your own good. You just got discharged, and you need a quiet place to heal..."

"Shut up."

I reached out and grabbed a porcelain vase resting on the foyer cabinet. It was a rare piece Victor had bid three hundred thousand dollars on at an auction, presenting it to me as a birthday gift.

A loud crash echoed through the room.

The vase shattered into a million pieces right at Victor's feet. Shards flew, slicing through the fabric of his trousers.

"Who gave you permission to speak to me?"

Sienna shrieked, wrapping her arms tightly around Victor's waist. "Victor! She's trying to kill us! She's having another episode!"

The door to the second-floor bedroom suddenly opened. Lucy, wearing a pink nightgown, rubbed her eyes and stepped onto the landing. Seeing the chaos below, she burst into tears.

"Mommy! I'm scared!"

Hearing her call out "Mommy" shattered whatever resolve I had left.

"Lucy, come to Mommy." I dropped the remaining shards and moved toward the stairs.

But Lucy stumbled down the steps, bypassing my outstretched arms entirely, and threw herself into Sienna's embrace.

"Mama Sienna, the bad lady is breaking things again! She's crazy! Get her out of here!"

I froze. My hands hovered in the air, my fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

Mama Sienna.

The bad lady.

Crazy.

Sienna pulled Lucy close, stroking her back with maternal tenderness. "It's okay, sweetie. Mama Sienna is here. No one's going to hurt you."

Victor turned back to me, the disgust in his eyes practically overflowing.

"Kathy, have you had enough? Is this your idea of motherly love? You come back and immediately start terrorizing our child!"

"I'm terrorizing her?" I pointed at Sienna, my voice cracking with hysteria. "You brainwashed my daughter to love this woman, you stole my home, and you made a fortune selling videos of my torture! Are you even human, Victor?"

I lunged forward, desperate to pry Lucy from Sienna's arms. "Give me my daughter!"

The moment my fingers brushed Lucy's arm, Victor grabbed my wrist and twisted it with brutal force.

A sickening crack echoed, followed by a blinding wave of agony. I gasped, and Victor threw me hard onto the hardwood floor.

I landed amid the broken porcelain. Shards sliced deep into my palms and knees, and blood immediately began to seep through my thin hospital uniform.

"Daddy is beating the bad guy! Kill the crazy lady!" Lucy cheered, clapping her hands from the safety of Sienna's arms.

My tears mingled with the blood pooling beneath me. Victor looked down at me, pulling a tissue from his pocket to wipe his hands, as if he had touched something vile.

"Frank, get in here."

The front door pushed open, and the driver entered with two burly security guards.

"Sir."

Victor pointed at my bleeding form on the floor. "Throw this lunatic out. If she ever sets foot on this property again, break her legs and ship her straight back to Havenwood."