Chapter 4

After I got in the car, Anderson stood at the door without moving.

"Lisa."

He looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite read.

Finally, he said only: "Take care of yourself."

Laura's voice was clipped. "Why are you still standing there? Aren't you getting in?"

Anderson smiled and pointed to the car behind us. "I'll ride in the other one. I'll be right behind you."

He shut the door with a thud.

Laura's frown deepened. "What is going on with Anderson today? He's acting completely bizarre."

"Nothing's going on," I said quietly. "He just wants to send me to marry someone else in Mia's place."

"In her place?"

Before I could explain further, Laura suddenly tensed.

"Wait — driver, stop the car!"

"You're going the wrong way. Why are you heading out there? Turn around!"

"Laura." I cut her off. "He's not going the wrong way. I'm being taken to the Brown estate."

"The Brown estate?"

I told her everything.

By the time I finished, Laura was trembling with rage. "That bastard. How could he do this to you? Has he completely lost his mind?"

I stayed calm. "Anderson's family raised me all these years. Consider it repayment."

"They raised you, yes — but you saved Anderson's life. That debt was settled a long time ago!"

"And on top of that, these past two years, every time his back gave out and he could barely get out of bed, you were the one who never left his side!"

"You gave him everything. How dare he treat you like this?"

Laura wasn't wrong.

If we were keeping score, I had cleared my debt long ago.

But it didn't matter anymore.

My phone buzzed with a new message.

It was from Mia.

"Lisa! Today is such a happy day — Anderson just gave me a wedding gift. Isn't it gorgeous?"

I stared at the photo.

The gemstone bracelet.

My whole body went cold.

That bracelet had belonged to my mother. It had been passed down from my great-grandmother's generation. Because I was so young when she died, Anderson's mother had been keeping it safe for me. They had promised — promised — to give it back on my wedding day.

How could he just give it to Mia?

"Stop the car!"

"Miss, once the wedding car starts moving, it can't stop —"

Right. The driver had already been paid off by Anderson. They were dead set on delivering me to the Brown estate.

Anderson's car was right behind mine, but there was no way to confront him face to face.

My hands were shaking as I called him.

"Anderson." I kept my voice steady. "Why did you give Mia my mother's bracelet? That belongs to me."

"Lisa, it's just a bracelet."

His voice on the other end was dismissive. "Mia liked it. Just let her have it. If you want a bracelet, I'll buy you any one you want —"

"She likes it, so she gets everything that's mine?" I cut him off. "My wedding heels. My mother's bracelet. My husband. And now — you want me to take her place marrying some old man?"

Anderson went quiet.

"You know about that?"

After a brief pause, his voice dropped lower. "Lisa, the old Brown patriarch is ninety years old. He's not going to do anything to you. This marriage is just a formality."

"Mia saved my life once. She's so young. I can't just stand by and let her life be destroyed."

Saved his life?

"Lisa, I only registered the marriage with Mia to protect her from her parents. Once things settle down with her family, once the old man passes, I'll come and bring you home. Everything will go back to the way it was. Trust me."