Ryan didn’t spare me a glance. He rushed to Sophia, holding her trembling body. His voice shook. “Sophia, are you okay? Are you hurt?” He called for the butler. “Get a doctor, now!”
His friends all swarmed to console Sophia. No one asked if I was hurt. No one cared about the ruined keepsake on the floor.
I crouched down, picking up the bent silver moon, my fingertips smeared with blood and wine.
The music in the mansion still played, but the last shred of hope in my heart shattered completely.
I couldn’t stay here any longer. All I needed was to buy back my father’s painting at the upcoming auction—then I’d take my brother and leave.
When I opened my eyes again, the sting of antiseptic filled my nose.
Mr. Brown, the butler, sat by my bed holding a thermos. “Ma’am, you fainted yesterday. I brought you here. This is your favorite oatmeal—eat it while it’s hot.”
I took it from him, my fingers icy. Brown was the only one in the Hayes family who still showed me kindness.
I pulled out my phone and opened the visa app. The status read: “Under review. Expected approval in three days.”
I had planned to wait for the visa, then take my brother and leave this suffocating city.
Suddenly, the door burst open. Ryan stormed in, his eyes bloodshot as he clutched my throat. His voice was savage, almost feral. “Sophia’s missing! Was it you? Did you kidnap her out of jealousy?”
“I didn’t…” My throat tightened under his grip, choking me.
“Didn’t?” He slammed me against the wall, shoving his phone in my face.
On the screen was Sophia’s bracelet, found in the mansion garden. “Who else but you would hurt her? Your brother’s still in the hospital. If you don’t hand Sophia over, I’ll pull the plug on his ventilator right now!”
“Don’t touch Aaron!” I struggled, but he was far too strong. He dragged me outside, shoved me into his car, and drove straight to an abandoned warehouse near Chicago.
In the center of the warehouse yawned a bottomless snake pit, the cold air hissing with serpentine sounds, making me tremble all over.
Ryan tied a rope around my waist and suspended me above the pit. If he let go, I would fall straight in.
“Tell me where Sophia is!” He slashed a lock of my hair with a knife. “If you don’t, I’ll feed you to the snakes!”
I stared at the writhing mass below, my mind going blank. I hadn’t kidnapped Sophia, but he wouldn’t believe me. Aaron was still in the hospital. I couldn’t die.