Chapter 2

Oliver arrived at the house in a hurry.

"Sign it now. You already agreed — don't try to back out."

Eliana read through the divorce agreement in silence.

Every time she had stalled, Adrian had crossed out another item on her list of marital assets. One by one, until nothing was left. The final version left her with nothing — not even the clothes on her back.

She didn't hesitate for a single moment. She signed her name cleanly and pushed the papers back across the table.

Oliver stared at her for a moment, then snatched them up quickly, as if afraid she might change her mind. The look he gave her as he left made no attempt to hide his contempt.

"Eliana, you brought this on yourself."

"All these years, we've all seen how good Mr. Wyndham was to you — and you never deserved it. When Mr. Wyndham nearly drank himself to the hospital at a client dinner, it was Serena who took every glass for him. When he got lost surveying a remote development site up north, it was Serena who carried him to safety on her back — for miles. And that time the rival company sent men after him? Serena took a knife meant for him. He'd be dead without her."

"And where were you during all of that? Spending his money. Living off his love."

Eliana's voice was flat, her face still.

"Are you done? You can go."

"You —"

Oliver shot her a venomous look and walked out, already on his phone.

"Mr. Wyndham, I watched her sign it myself. Serena's downstairs waiting — I'll hand the papers to her first, then get the expedited processing started..."

Eliana didn't listen to the rest. She began to pack.

Bang.

The door was kicked in from outside with sudden, brutal force.

Adrian stormed in, grabbed her by the arm.

"Eliana — look what you've done."

"I thought you'd finally come around and agreed to the divorce. Then you turn around and have someone run Serena down in the street and steal the papers? Is that what happened?"

Eliana's expression went still. "I didn't."

But Adrian didn't stop to hear it. He dragged her outside.

At the hospital, Serena lay in the bed — pale, fragile, the perfect picture of vulnerability. The moment she saw Eliana, her eyes filled with tears.

"Eliana, I know you've never liked me. If you didn't want the divorce, you could have said so. Why sign the papers and then have someone run me over..."

Eliana kept her voice even. "I didn't do it. Adrian, if you don't believe me, call the police."

"The police?" Adrian shook his head with a cold laugh, and something old moved behind his eyes. "The Ashford family practically owns the Met. Filing a report would only give you more time to cover your tracks."

"Besides, I've seen with my own eyes how you've treated Serena in the past."

Eliana closed her eyes.

She had retaliated before — that much was true. She'd ruined Serena's reputation once, had her sent away. But every time, Adrian had found a way to bring Serena back, and Eliana had been left with nothing but the same warning: Touch her again and I won't hold back.

This time, she hadn't done anything. And still, he refused to listen.

"Adrian, what exactly do you want from me?"

"Get down on your knees and apologise to Serena." His tone left no room for argument. "Or the Ashford Group disappears from London by morning."

"Fine."

Eliana bent at the waist. Her voice was so calm it might have come from underwater.

"I'm sorry." She was already straightening to leave when Serena called her back.

"One sorry isn't enough, is it."

Adrian's gaze softened — warm, melting — as he turned to Serena. "What do you want to do with her?"

Serena smiled. Pure. Guileless.

"I don't want to take revenge on Eliana. But she needs to feel what I felt. Maybe then she'll think before she gets behind the wheel again."

Eliana's breath caught.

Adrian hesitated exactly one second, then said quietly, "All right."

She was taken to an open stretch of ground, hands bound to a chair. She struggled against the rope.

"Adrian — don't do this. I didn't — I swear —"

He didn't hear her, or chose not to.

A moment later, an engine roared.

Serena climbed into the Porsche — the sports car Adrian had bought Eliana as his very first gift to her — and floored the accelerator.

The impact sent Eliana flying, chair and all. Pain lit up every nerve in her body.

In the last second before she lost consciousness, the silver ring on the chain around her neck snapped free and rolled across the pavement, coming to rest at Adrian's feet.

He looked down at it. Something shifted in his expression — just for a moment.

Adrian had made that ring himself at a small jeweller's workshop, seven years ago. The first thing he ever gave her.

She'd never cared for him at all — wasn't that the whole point? She'd never loved him. She'd thought nothing of his gifts.

He crouched to pick it up.

"Adrian —" Serena's voice, tearful, broke through. "I don't know what happened — I lost control of the car. She's unconscious."

Adrian straightened and walked over to her.

Eliana lay on the ground, her vision dissolving. The last thing she saw was Adrian's back — his arm around Serena's shoulders as he led her away.

His low voice carried back to her.

"Get her treated. I don't want her dying on me and making this complicated."

And the last thing she felt, as everything went dark, was the bottom dropping out of the world entirely.