Chapter 3The Billionaire Wants My Blood

I went back to the penthouse—the "marital home" she’d bought.

I spent an hour taking every "His and Hers" item she’d meticulously placed—the matching towels, the monogrammed pillows—and tossed them into the trash chute. Then I booked the first flight to London.

I was reaching for my suitcase when the front door was nearly kicked off its hinges.

Morgan stormed in. Before I could react, she had her hand around my throat, slamming me back against the hallway wall.

"You played me!" she screamed, the veins in her neck bulging. "The money is gone! You filed for bankruptcy? You liquidated the very thing I bought for you?"

I gasped for air, staring back at her with a defiance that fueled her rage. "Yeah," I choked out. "Your money… it felt dirty. I didn't want it."

Her grip tightened. I saw red at the edges of my vision. "You’re dead, Nico. I will destroy you."

I managed a jagged grin. "Then do it. Kill me. But you’re never getting that money back."

She abruptly let go. I slid down the wall, coughing and clutching my throat. She hovered over me, her face a mask of pure malice.

"You think you can just run?" she hissed. "I know where your father’s ashes are buried, Nico. You think I won't have that urn smashed and scattered in a gutter by tomorrow morning?"

I started to shake. In my last life, this was how she broke me. She’d used my father’s memory to force me to donate bone marrow to Cody.

I lunged at her, my palm connecting with her cheek in a stinging slap. "You monster!"

She didn't flinch. She just slowly turned her head back to me, her eyes burning. She swiped a thumb across her lip where I’d drawn blood.

"Good," she whispered. "I like it when they fight back. Since you won't be a husband, you’ll be a prisoner."

She pulled out her phone. "Cancel all flights in Nico Vance’s name. Freeze his personal accounts. And put a guard at the cemetery. If anyone so much as touches his father’s plot, I want to know."

She looked down at me one last time. "From today on, you don't go anywhere without my permission."

The house arrest began. She confiscated my phone and my ID. I was locked in a gilded cage, a high-tech villa on the outskirts of the city.

By day, she was the powerful executive. By night, she came home to find new ways to break me. She’d order the cook to make things I was allergic to. She’d turn the AC down to freezing and take all the blankets.

Eventually, she started bringing Cody over. She’d let him lounge in her lap while I sat across the room, a silent witness.

"Look, Morgan, he’s watching us," Cody would giggle, leaning into her.

Morgan would barely glance at me. "He’s just a toy that won't follow instructions. Don't mind him."

I sat there, watching the performance, feeling nothing but a profound sense of nausea. In my first life, this would have gutted me. Now, it was just pathetic.

I got up to leave the room.

"Stay right there," Cody called out. "Nico, get me a glass of water. I’m parched."

I ignored him and kept walking.

"I said stop!" Morgan’s voice cracked like a whip. "Cody asked for water. Did you lose your hearing?"

I turned around. "Is this why you forced me to marry you? To be a waiter for your pet?"

Morgan was across the room in seconds. She grabbed a handful of my hair, forcing my head back. "Husband? You think you earned that title? You’re here for penance, Nico. Your father ruined Cody’s family. He drove them to the brink of extinction. Now, you’re going to pay that debt back in blood."

I froze. "What are you talking about? My father was an honest man. He never hurt anyone."

"Lie to yourself if it helps you sleep," she spat, shoving me away. "But you’re going to spend the rest of your life making it up to him."

She turned to Cody, her voice instantly turning sweet. "How should we punish him today, Cody?"

Cody stared at me, a cruel light in his eyes. "I’ve been feeling so lightheaded lately, Morgan. The doctor said I’m anemic. Maybe Nico should give me some of his blood?"

Morgan didn't even hesitate. "Done."

She called her private doctor. Two security guards pinned me to the dining table while they drew eight hundred milliliters of blood.

My vision went black. I felt cold—a deep, hollow cold that started in my chest and spread to my fingertips. I collapsed onto the floor, unable to move. Morgan looked down at me, her eyes devoid of anything resembling humanity.

"This is just the beginning, Nico. I’m going to take everything you owe him, piece by piece."