"This is what you call loving me? Wanting to marry me?"
"You went back to the States and slept with someone else."
"And now you're standing at my door."
"You're disgusting."
I said it word by word, staring straight into his eyes.
The rage in them nearly combusted. He slammed his fist into the wall.
"Just wait." He spat the words and stormed off.
My heart was pounding out of my chest.
He didn't know that right now, Alex Gilbert was still lying naked in my bed.
I didn't take the threat seriously. Usually he'd just sleep with some other girl for a night to spite me.
I didn't expect this.
Soon after, Alex sent me a photo from the hospital.
My father was in the background, unconscious on the bed.
Then a video. In it, he pointed at the oxygen tank, smiling, asking what I thought would happen if he pulled it out.
I shook so hard I could barely walk.
I grabbed a cab and burst into the ward like a madwoman.
What I saw made me bite through my lip.
My father lay still, unconscious.
And there was Alex in the chair beside him. Nurse Tanya was curled naked in his lap, arms draped around his neck.
In my father's hospital room.
The nurse looked at me, smug, shifting her body against him.
My vision went red.
"How can you be this shameless?"
Alex shoved her off and stood, smirking.
"This is what happens when you don't listen to me."
As he spoke, he walked to my father's bedside.
He looked at me smugly and reached for the oxygen mask.
"Don't!"
Rage ignited every nerve. I lunged, grabbed his hair, clawed his face, and swung my handbag straight into his skull.
Tanya tackled me to the floor.
I twisted, snatched the phone from the ground, and cracked it against her head.
Alex shoved me off. My lower back slammed into the bed frame. I tried to stand—once, twice—but the pain pinned me down.
He pulled out a coil of rope from somewhere.
Before I could react, he'd clamped my wrists together and lashed my hands and feet to the hospital bed rails.
"I've spoiled you too much."
"That's why you've forgotten your place."
I bit down hard, refusing to let a single tear fall.
But cold dread was already pooling in my chest.
Tied up. Immobilized. Helpless. I was terrified of what he'd do next.
He shoved me into the adjacent room.
All the blood drained from my face.
"What are you doing?" My voice cracked.
"I offered you the chance to be my canary. You didn't appreciate it."