e McC

ee line, a terrifying orange against the bruised sky. Panic was starting to ripple through the resort

ing me around. It was Elias. His face was smud

voice was raw, laced with desperation. "She's panicked. Her

ou want my help? You shoved me into a ravine yesterday and left me for dead. You called me delusio

king about? I didn't push you. You stu

itment ceremony? Or the eagle tattoo that you told me was fo

"Aubrie! What are you doing here? Causing trouble again? Can't you see this is serious? K

drama of me finding out my fiancé is marrying your stepdaug

arm. "She's always been so dramatic, so jealous of Kallie. Kallie' s

adable, hardened again. "Aubrie, I told you to leave. You

supported by Esteban, towards a waiting emergency vehicle.

said, my voice dangerously calm. "S

ou're disrupting the evacuation! Your petty jealousy is going to get people killed

e of the clearing, away from the path to the e

ive, burning branch detached from a towering palm tree, hurtling towar

" Elias

ntly shoved me away, sending me sprawling backward. I saw th

me, hot and blinding. The world tilted. Elias didn' t even glance back. He was already running towar

st thing I heard before the pain consumed me,

I was in a hospital bed, my left leg encased in a heavy cast. A drip fed fluids into m

tered the room. "Ms. McCoy, you

words were hoars

und you near the ravine. It was touch and go for a while." She paused, her eyes softening. "

I had already decided. A cold, hollow ache settled in my chest

"Can you arrange for the procedure? The

"Of course. We just needed to confirm your sta

hite ceiling. The decision had been made

hospital staff had retrieved from my bel

d a huge scene. I don't know what's wrong with y

ns and a final, brutal dismissal. The familiar, suffocating feeling of being gaslit, of being told my r

Ms. Davies, came to my room. I signed the papers, formalizing the dis

f a bank transfer receipt. A large sum of money, transferred to an account under Kallie' s name. "

ter, my hero. She always kno

ng out for the best, Kalli

e. A bitter, ironic chuckle escaped my lips.

d thought, I hi

diately buzze

g to make things worse? Do you have any idea what you're doing to my fa

abandoned me in a burning resort? The one that watched you marry

bout your unstable nature, Aubrie. She said you twisted things, just like that incident wi

g over me. "She set him up. She and her father orchestrated th

e Kallie was his savior. You' re just trying to drive a wedge between us, jus

ith a strange, cold clarity. "Was it poison when I designed your dr

d the idea of me, the connections, the empire I was building. You lo

iggle echoed in the

s poison ivy, cooed. "Don't waste yo

'm done. We're done. Completely. Permanently. And don't ever think about contact

profound relief. "Good," I said, my voice steady. "Bec

at the cast on my leg, then at the empty space beside me in the hospital bed. The em

hed the last vestige of who I used to