Chapter 2
Brent left me missed calls and texts but I didn’t bother to read them all. I drove straight to the embassy after having my coffee. My entire family was already in Switzerland–my cousins, my aunts, and most importantly, Lucas. My brother. The only one who truly gave a damn about me.N
And me? I stayed here all this time. For Brent. For a man who wouldn’t even touch me.”
I submitted the paperwork, sat through the dull conversations with officials, smiled politely, nodded when they told me processing would take a few days. Then I walked out into the California sun and didn’t feel a thing.”
That night, I did something I hadn’t done in years. I called my friends.”
There was an open beach bar I used to love. Loud music. Wild energy. Fire dancers and tequila shots. I used to live for it. But the moment I married Brent, I killed that part of myself.“>
I stopped being the life of the party and started being a wife who slept alone. Not tonight.”
Two of my friends, Tasha and Myra, were down immediately.}}
“Layla?” Myra blinked when I stepped out of my car. “That dress is… see–through.”
“It’s bold,” Tasha added, mouth open. “Are you sure about wearing that? What about your husband?“>
I smiled. “I’m tired. Of pretending. Of waiting. I want to feel alive again and I don’t care about that man anymore.“>
I headed straight for the music.]
The lights pulsed over my skin. I let the beat wrap around my hips and moved like I used to–uninhibited, loud, unapologetic. Men
surrounded me in minutes. Hands grazed my waist. Chests brushed my back. Skin against skin. I laughed like it didn’t matter. Because it didn’t.
Not anymore.
Then someone grabbed my arm.
“Layla,” Myra hissed, dragging me toward the bar. “You need to stop.“>
“Why?” I laughed. “Is there a rule I don’t know about?”
She looked over my shoulder. “Because Brent is here.“}]
My whole body went still.”
“What?”
Tasha pointed. “He’s been here since you walked in. Sitting there, near the bar counter. He hasn’t taken his eyes off you.“”
I turned. And there he was.
Brent. Leaning back against a bench, drink untouched, face unreadable.
But he wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was locked on someone else.
I followed it. Celeste. His stepsister. She was laughing, flipping her hair, whispering in some guy’s ear. Her hand casually slipped a card into his pocket.
Brent stood up the second he saw it.
He crossed the sand in long, angry strides. His hand wrapped around Celeste’s wrist before the guy could even blink.
I moved closer, heart pounding. Close enough to hear.
“What are you doing?” Celeste snapped. “I was just talking with him and why are you even here? Did you follow me?“>
Brent’s voice was low and sharp. “Who gave you permission to talk and flirt with that guy?”
Celeste yanked her arm free. “I’m not a baby. And since when do you care? You married that girl and disappeared. You didn’t check on me. You didn’t visit. You chose her, so stop pretending that you care!“}]
Brent’s jaw clenched. “That’s not true,” he said, his voice strained. “You think I didn’t care? I did, Celeste.“>
“Stop.” Her eyes glistened, voice sharp. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have left me. You wouldn’t have married her.“>
“I had to,” he replied. “I have a wife now. Things… they can’t be the same anymore.”
Celeste’s face twisted. Pain bloomed across her features, contorting into something darker, unrecognizable. “So I was right. It was all because of her. She’s the reason you stopped looking at me. She ruined everything.”
Brent took a step back. “Celeste-“}
“No,” she spat. Her gaze snapped toward me. “If she didn’t exist, you’d still be mine.”
My breath caught. Something in her eyes shifted. A snap. A flicker of madness.”
“She needs to die.”
Then it happened.”
In one smooth, terrifying motion, Celeste lunged.“]
I barely saw her reach for it–a kitchen knife from the bar counter, tucked next to a basket of sliced limes and lemons.
Steel flashed.
Before I could react, before I could scream, she was on me.”
The blade sank into my side. White–hot pain exploded through my body, sharp and consuming.
Gasps echoed around us. A glass shattered. I stumbled backward, clutching the wound, blood already soaking through my dress… then everything went dark.
