Chapter 4

I couldn't sleep. The revelation at the launch party kept replaying in my mind like a horror film I couldn't shut off. Marcus's cruel words about me being 'desperate' and 'pathetic' cut deeper than any knife could. I paced my small studio apartment, the walls seeming to close in with each pass. My charcoal sketch from earlier stared back at me from the coffee table—the wounded woman still standing despite everything.

The sudden knock at my door startled me so badly I nearly knocked over my lamp. Who would be visiting at—I glanced at the clock—nearly midnight? For a terrifying…