Chapter 2

The pain from the cigarette burn on my hand was more intense than all the other injuries on my body combined. I knelt on the floor, my hair and clothes soaked with spilled drinks. My eyes were lifeless, filled with a deathly emptiness.

I clung desperately to the sleeve of the handsome man before me, my face dry of tears but full of hollow determination.

"James, please," I pleaded, staring up at the man I once loved with every fiber of my being. "Save me."

"Boss, don't fall for it," someone nearby warned. "This woman's an expert at playing the victim. Don't let her fool you."

James frowned, looking down at me - once the proud, arrogant princess of the Coleman family, now groveling at his feet like a stray dog.

Suddenly, he smiled. He removed the cigarette from my hand and roughly tilted my chin up, showing no hint of compassion.

"Charlotte Coleman," he said coldly. "Did you ever imagine you'd end up like this when you caused Rose's death?"

My eyes remained empty, the result of countless instances of abuse and humiliation.

"I didn't kill Rose," I whispered.

He kicked me to the ground without mercy, then brushed off his sleeve where I had grabbed it, as if disgusted.

"Pathetic," he spat.