Chapter 3
It was just because I shared the same blood type as one of his mistresses. Travis forced me to
donate blood against my will–and I lost the child I had just conceived. And then, he had the nerve
to blame me for not being able to carry it to term.
Or the day before he handed me the divorce papers, he had reassigned all the top specialists–for
her. And my mother, the only family I had left, died in the hospital with no one there to save her.
I stood there shaking, soaked from spilled water, my clothes clinging to my skin.
He still held me, his scent different now–tainted by something I couldn’t quite name, something
that had never belonged to me.
I turned my face away and caught sight of a tattoo inked along his collarbone–a string of numbers. Their birthdays. The same day as my mother’s death.
Her final words echoed in my head, and quietly, without a sound, I slipped out of his embrace.
But he stuffed a check into my hand–eight million dollars. “They like this villa. Why don’t you
move out for now?”
I took the check and replied softly, “Alright.”
Then handed him the bottle of medication in my other hand.
His gaze warmed instantly, and he reached for my hand. “Elise…”
But just then, a shrill, gleeful laughter rang out from outside the door.
Something was wrong.
Panic flooded my chest as I bolted out the door.
There they were–Blair and Lila–kicking at my rabbit over and over again as she lay trembling on the ground.
I shoved them away, tears breaking free at last. “Daisy! Daisy!”
She was barely breathing but still tried to twitch her little nose, sniffing gently at my hand.
Blair and Lila stood there, unfazed, arms crossed like they were watching a dull show.
“Oh, that’s your rabbit? We thought some stray wandered in our house.”
Chapter 3
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Why are you still here? Didn’t Travis tell you to leave?”
I stood up and slapped Blair hard across the face. A second later, another slap landed on me-
Lila’s eyes
welled with tears the moment she saw Travis appear. “Travis! She hit my sister!”
He stared at the palm of his own hand in a daze, then looked at me, guilt flashing across his expression. “Elise, I… I didn’t mean to…”
Blair gave a cold, amused laugh. “This is how the great Mr. Langley shows his sincerity? Still can’t let go of his ex–wife after the divorce?”
“Well, Lila and I can’t be with a man who’s tangled up with someone else.”
“We’re respectable women. We don’t ‘do‘ mistress.”
Then she glanced sideways at me, a cutting smile curling on her lips. “Unlike some people… Can’t take a hint after the divorce. Is this what they call ‘classy‘ in high society?”
Travis’s face froze. “Elise, apologize to Blair and Lila.”
Snow began to fall. I knelt down and cradled Daisy’s small, trembling body. She was already stiffening in the cold.
My eyes turned red, and I met his gaze, voice low and unshakable. “They killed my
rabbit.”
They killed the rabbit who’d been with me for ten years. The last thing my mother had left me in this world.
Travis’s eyes flickered with concern, but Lila suddenly grabbed Blair’s arm. “Travis, it was that damn mutt! It attacked her first!”
I felt rage boil in my chest. Daisy was gentle–she would never attack without reason.
Travis knelt beside Blair and took her hand gently. “Does it hurt?”
Blair turned her face away. “What does it matter if it hurts? The one responsible won’t suffer anyway.”
Travis’s voice was full of indulgence. “My sweet little angel… What do you want me to do?”
Blair cast a wicked look at me. “Since your ex–wife feels so connected to that animal… why not let her spend a night in the cage too?”
Chapter 3
