Chapter 1Drowning The Woman Who Saved You

The day the man who assaulted me was released from prison, the very first thing he did was ambush me on my walk home.

He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me into the damp shadows of the alley. His breath was sour, hot and rancid against my collarbone. I fought until my nails split, until my blouse was ripped to shreds, until my strength completely gave out and I closed my eyes in numb, suffocating despair.

That was when my husband, Everett, stepped out from the mouth of the alley.

"That's enough," he said, his voice flat, cutting through the dark like ice water. "Go see my accountant and collect your check."

He paused, adjusting his platinum cufflink. "And don't ever touch my wife again."

The man grinned, hitched up his trousers, and took off into the night without a backward glance.

The blood in my veins turned to slush. I lay on the wet asphalt, staring up at Everett as if he were a complete stranger wearing the skin of the man I loved.

"Yes, I hired him," Everett said smoothly, looking down at me with detached amusement. "You slapped Alyssa in public last week. You made her cry until her eyes were swollen. Consider this your penance."

He let out a short, mocking laugh.

"You've played Mrs. Conway for so long you forgot what you actually are, didn't you? Damaged goods. A hand-me-down." He tilted his head, his eyes darkening. "Alyssa is different. She gave me everything. Untouched. Pure."

He crouched down, his fingers brushing my bruised cheek, though there wasn't a flicker of warmth in his touch. "Don't look at me like that, Naomi. I'm just helping you remember your place."

I bit down on my knuckles until I tasted copper, swallowing the sobs that threatened to tear through my chest.

When he turned away, I slipped my trembling hand into my pocket and pressed a number I had memorized long ago.

"I changed my mind," I whispered into the receiver. "Come get me."

* * *

Standing in the chill of the midnight wind, I forced my spine straight. I let my lashes drop, shielding the deadness in my eyes.

"You're right," I said quietly. "It won't happen again."

"Good girl," Everett said, clearly pleased. He peeled off his tailored suit jacket and draped it over my bare, shivering shoulders.

The fabric reeked of Alyssa's perfume—cloying, artificial gardenias.

"Stay sensible like this, and I'll make sure nobody ever threatens your title as Mrs. Conway," he murmured, his tone slipping back into the velvet tenderness he used to reserve only for me. "Come on. It's cold out here. Don't catch a chill."

It was the same soothing voice that had lulled me to sleep for a decade, but tonight, it only made frost creep along my bones.

I pulled the lapels tighter, went over to the curb, and climbed into the passenger seat without a word.

The moment the door shut, I froze.

The sleek, bespoke black leather interior had vanished. In its place was baby-pink quilted upholstery, accompanied by an overwhelming wave of synthetic gardenia that made bile rise in my throat.

This sports coupe was the first luxury car Everett had bought when his venture capital firm struck gold. Back then, I didn't have a license, and he had pressed the keys into my palm with eyes full of adoration.

"Don't worry, baby," he had whispered. "I'll be your personal chauffeur for the rest of our lives. This seat belongs to you and only you."

A year later, an ambitious young secretary had tried to ride up front with him. Everett had fired her on the spot before having the vehicle professionally detailed eight consecutive times. Everyone in his circle knew that anything belonging to Naomi was untouchable. Everett guarded me like a sacred relic.

So how had that man vanished so completely?

Noticing my blank stare, Everett’s lips curved into a fond, indulgent smile.

"Cute, isn't it? Alyssa picked it out herself." He tapped the steering wheel. "Young girls love this sort of whimsical nonsense. You should've seen how impatient she was last Friday... couldn't even wait until we got upstairs. She climbed right onto my lap and bled all over the original leather. I had to rip the whole interior out. You don't mind, do you?"

Imagining the two of them tangled right where I was sitting, the nausea finally breached my throat. I broke into a violent, hacking cough, choking until tears and snot streaked my face.

Everett looked startled. He quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and reached out to rub my back.

Through my blurred vision, a foolish, desperate spark flickered in my heart. "At least he still cares," I thought. "At least he's worried."

Then his hand bypassed my shoulder entirely.

With swift precision, he scooped up a plush Melody bunny sitting on the dash, holding it safely out of range of my coughing fit.

"Careful," he scolded softly, his brow furrowed with genuine anxiety. "Alyssa loves this little thing. She holds it every time she rides with me. If you ruin it, she'll cry her eyes out."

The cough died instantly in my throat.

I sat there, feeling like the most pathetic clown on earth.

Outside the tinted window, streetlights blurred into streaks of amber and grey. I blinked hard, wishing with everything in me that this was just a fever dream. That if I squeezed my eyes shut and woke up, Everett would still be the boy whose entire universe revolved around me.

Reality offered no such mercy.

When the screen of my phone lit up in my lap, it held only a single, encrypted message:

"Three days. We are coming to bring you home, Miss Beaumont."

The car crested the hill and pulled into the driveway of our gated estate. Under the porch light stood a slender, delicate figure. She was wearing my silk robe, smiling warmly as if she were the lady of the manor greeting her guests.

Before I could unbuckle, Everett caught my wrist.

"Alyssa spent all evening brewing herbal soup to help calm your nerves," he said, his grip firm. "You know how to behave, right?"

He looked into my eyes, cold and steady. "She didn't crawl out of the gutter like you, Naomi. She's clean. An unblemished canvas. I don't want a repeat of last week. And I certainly don't want... what happened tonight to happen again."

Last week was when I found out and slapped Alyssa across the face, calling her a home-wrecker.

Tonight was the "lesson" he arranged to put me in my place.

I pulled my wrist smoothly from his grip. A faint, hollow smile touched my lips.

"If you adore her this much, Everett, why don't I just step aside and let her have the ring?"