From the distance, pairs of glowing animal eyes flickered between the trees, sending shivers crawling down my spine.
I reached for my phone to call Grace Johnson—only to find my pockets empty.
I cried until my throat was raw. Hunger gnawed at me, cold soaked into my bones. I prayed desperately for a miracle.
Then pain shot through me—something sharp and jagged clamped hard around my left foot.
I shrieked.
“What—what is this?!”
A cold voice cut through the night.
“Awake, are you?”
I looked down. Chloe was crouched there, her hands pressing firmly against the steel jaws of a hunting trap clamped around my leg, her eyes glinting with malice.
“This is Daniel’s punishment for you,” she sneered.
“For smearing me online and hiring trolls to insult me.”
“You probably didn’t know, did you? When your family booked a trip, Daniel purposely chose my lodge. But he felt embarrassed to bring you along, so he decided he’d rather come back alone later to see me.”
Her voice grew sharp with hatred.
“I wanted to be a gracious host, to show myself at my best. But your brat couldn’t stop boasting about how amazing his father was.”
She leaned in, her tone dripping venom.
“Did you know? Even after your marriage, Daniel and I kept meeting in secret. He told me he married you only because you trapped him with that pregnancy. He never wanted you.”
Her face twisted with resentment. And yet, deep inside, I felt no ripple, no shock.
Her fury, her venom—it was because she loved Daniel Brooks.
