Chapter 2

I stood watching the tiny, frail figure hooked up to machines in the hospital bed, pain curling my spine inward.

Beside me, the head nurse whispered in reverent awe:

"Ma'am, this is our top VIP suite. It has the finest medical equipment in the country. You can rest easy now."

My body stiffened. Behind me came steady, deliberate footsteps.

A chilling, commanding presence enveloped the room. That familiar scent instantly dragged me back to those seven chaotic, terrifying days years ago.

Sebastian King leaned casually against the doorway, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an unreadable smirk.

"I thought our paths would never cross again in this lifetime, Miss Vance."

I caught the mockery in his tone, but my lips only tugged into a bitter smile.

"I was cast out of the Vance family years ago. I stopped being an heiress a long time ago."

"You saved Ian. That means you saved my life. Name your price. What do you want?"

A flicker of genuine amusement finally sparked in his hooded eyes. His towering frame closed the distance, backing me slowly into the corner until the cold wall pressed against my spine.

My eyes darkened. I squeezed them shut.

Years ago, when I was penniless and Derek was hunted within an inch of his life by loan sharks, I stooped so low I took the stage at an underground club, auctioning my smiles to the highest bidder.

Greedy, nauseating eyes had crawled all over my skin. Through the haze of flashing lights, a man in a tailored overcoat had walked in like a god of death. He picked me up over his shoulder and carried me out. Nobody dared breathe, let alone stop him.

I never forgot that night.

Because just weeks prior, to marry Derek, I had hurled a billion-dollar betrothal contract straight into Sebastian’s face.

Sebastian King. The heir the Vance family had chosen as my fiancé.

Back then, I was willing to destroy my entire life for Derek. I had discarded my pride and begged Sebastian on my knees.

Sebastian had stared down at me for an eternity before proposing a brutal transaction.

He locked me in his penthouse for seven straight days. It felt like pure retribution; I truly believed I would die in that bed.

Just as I felt Sebastian’s warm breath against my ear, a sudden gust of wind shattered the silence.

A violent force yanked me backward.

I opened my eyes in shock to see Derek, his eyes bloodshot, his face twisted in rabid fury.

Before I could speak, Derek’s hand swung through the air and slapped me across the face with a sickening crack.

"You shameless whore! Where did you pick up this side piece? You couldn't even wait, could you?"

Derek’s grip was brutal, the pressure threatening to snap my wrist in two.

At the same time, I felt Sebastian’s gaze drop onto my stinging cheek, his eyes turning murderously dark.

Derek shoved me behind him, glaring at Sebastian with a mocking sneer:

"And what kind of pathetic stray are you? Desperate enough to touch used trash like her? Feasting on my leftovers—doesn't it make you want to puke?"

Standing behind Derek, his venomous words felt like serrated blades piercing my lungs. I began to tremble uncontrollably.

Tears blurred my vision, and through them, I caught sight of the dark red hickey stamped on the side of Derek’s neck.

A sudden surge of feral rage consumed me. I ripped my wrist out of his suffocating grip.

"Derek Sterling... all these years, is that really what you thought of me?"

Derek blinked, momentarily stunned by my tears, but my defiance immediately sent him over the edge.

"Eleanor, where do you get the nerve to question me? When the mob was hunting me down, where the hell were you during those critical days? You think you have the right to talk to me about love?"

Seeing me freeze, disgust dripped from his sneer.

"You were so cold-blooded, so heartless. The only reason I married you was because nobody else wanted you. I just bought myself a free maid."

Sebastian’s brow furrowed, his jaw tightening with lethal disgust.

Derek took Sebastian’s silence as agreement. He snatched a fistful of my hair, dragging my face inches from his, spitting:

"See that? Look at him! Nobody wants you except me!"

I clenched my jaw until my gums bled. Catching Sebastian’s lethal expression from the corner of my eye, I gave a faint, almost imperceptible shake of my head.