###Chapter 2
2
I froze. Dropped the charges? What the hell were they talking about?
I rushed to the law firm as fast as I could. But by the time I got there, the file-my mother’s case file-was already shredded into confetti.
Everything blurred. I collapsed to my knees, grabbing the lawyer’s sleeve, my voice breaking.
“You promised. You said you’d help me get justice for my mother!”
The lawyer looked uncomfortable and let out a long sigh.
“The person who withdrew the complaint… was your husband. Mr. Marks. None of us are in a position to go against him. I’m truly sorry.”
And just like that, with a small nod, he had security drag me out into the street.
But I wasn’t giving up.
There had to be someone in this godforsaken city who still had a spine.
Hands shaking, I called every top law firm I could find. One by one, they turned me away. The replies were all the same.
‘Sorry, Miss Ward. Mr. Marks made it very clear-anyone who touches that case is out of business by morning. We can’t help you.”
dropped to the pavement. My palm landed on jagged concrete, blood seeping from the cut-yet barely felt a thing.
When I was sixteen, my father threw Mom and me out. The same day, Piper and her mother moved in.
still remember Piper-just thirteen-smirking from the staircase. That’s when I learned the ruth. My father had been cheating for years.
Mom and I ended up on the streets. One freezing night, we stumbled into the middle of a <idnapping. A bunch of black-clothed guys dragging a young man in to a van, Colin Marks, heir o the Marks Family, was being dragged into a van.
Mom didn’t hesitate. She jumped in, fought the men off, saved Colin-almost died doing it. Stabbed over and over.
Afterward, Colin brought us into his home, against his parents’ wishes.
Mom turned down his offer to support us. Instead, she worked as a housekeeper in the Marks’ estate. I transferred to Colin’s school. Day after day, I watched that sweet, kind boy grow into someone I couldn’t help falling for.
He loved me back. On my 20th birthday, he held my hand, knelt in front of my mom and promised he’d spend the rest of his life protecting me.
But all that started changing a year ago.
He went to karaoke with some friends. When he got back, he started talking about Piper… differently.
“She’s not who I thought she was,” he said one night. “She’s working three jobs to pay for school.
7:28 pm
D
Can you believe that?”
“And get this-some rich guy tried to hit on her, said he’d spoil her rotten. She stood up and slapped him across the face. What a feisty girl.”
Then he added, “I know you two never really got along. But maybe it’s because you never gave her a real chance. If you just spent some time with her, maybe you’d see how lovable she is.” My gut was screaming at me that something was off. But I brushed it aside. Told myself I was just being paranoid. That I was overthinking things.
And then, not long after, a friend told me that Colin had bought a bracelet. Not just any bracelet- a vintage piece that once belonged to a real-life European princess. Not only did she wear it, it was apparently one of her favorites.
So naturally, I thought… maybe he bought it for my birthday.
But on the day of my birthday, Piper posted on Instagram. That exact bracelet, worth millions, was wrapped around her wrist. In the photo, a man’s hand was holding hers-fingers laced.
That night, I waited until the last birthday candle burned itself out. Colin never came home.
It was the first time he ever forgot my birthday.
After that, he always had some excuse for missing our important dates-anniversaries, celebrations, milestones. There was always something that came up.
At the same time, Piper’s Instagram kept updating-his familiar silhouette in the background, his ringless fingers holding a wine glass, his toned body behind a fogged-up shower door…
Six months ago, we’d signed our marriage certificate. He told me he wanted to give me the perfect wedding.
Now I know… there won’t be a wedding at all.
I picked up the phone and dialed.
“You wanted my shares in Marks Corporation, right?” I said coldly. “I’m signing them over. All of
them.”
It was a “gift” he gave me the day he finally won me over-those shares. I told him it was way too much, but he held my hand tight and insisted I sign the papers.
That gentle voice still echoes in my mind like a cruel memory,
‘Baby, if you want the stars or the moon, I’ll give them to you. What’s a few shares compared to that?”
I know now-what we had, it was real. But people change. Hearts grow cold. And love? Love is never immortal.
The boy who once held me like I was his whole world-he’s long gone. Swallowed by time.
Just as I ended the call, my phone lit up with a message from Colin.
[Calmed down yet? I’ve arranged the cemetery and paid for the funeral. Satisfied now? Stop testing my patience.]
Another one followed almost instantly:
[Did you not see my message? Get to my office now. Sign the non-prosecution agreement for Piper.]
Something in me finally broke. I called him. My voice was shaking with rage.
“Why the hell should I sign that form for her? And if I say no, what then? You gonna press my bloody finger onto the damn paper?”
3
