---

---

The day she was discharged, she didn't tell anyone.

She didn't go home. She went to check on her brother and her mother.

Julian's arms and legs had been pulverized. Her mother was still in a coma. They'd been moved into the same room.

She pushed open the door and saw a doctor standing over the bed.

Something about the silhouette turned her cold.

"Vivienne. What are you doing?"

She crossed the room and tore Vivienne away from the bed.

Clink. A syringe hit the floor.

Her mother's oxygen mask had been pulled aside. Seraphina's eyes burned red.

"What the hell did you inject her with?"

"You turned my mother into a vegetable, Vivienne, and now what? Now you're trying to kill her?"

Vivienne recovered fast. When she realized it was just Seraphina, she smiled — slow, nasty.

"A vegetable isn't enough. As long as your mother's alive, I'm nailed to a wall. Once she's dead, this all goes away. A year, maybe two, and I'm the respected cardiothoracic surgeon again. Who remembers a one-handed bet gone bad?"

"You caught me. So what? Do you really think you can do anything about it? Damien is mine. He only listens to me."

She hadn't thought even Vivienne could go this far.

Her whole body shook. She swung.

Crack.

Vivienne went down. She blinked up from the floor in total disbelief.

"You hit me?"

"Sera. Have you lost your mind?"

It wasn't enough. Seraphina raised her hand again.

Before it could come down, someone grabbed her wrist.