Chapter 4

My heart skipped a beat, and I dashed forward, desperate to stop him. "Dad, please. Don't hit him. It's really not Carlos's fault. I ran into him, and he was just trying to help."

"You're sticking up for him?" Derek snapped, yanking me back with a glare so cold it sent chills down my spine.

He said, "Why are you so quick to defend him? What, are you two really hooking up behind my back? He deserves every punch. He knew it was you. Why couldn't he just stay away?"

He looked like he had totally lost it.

"Derek, you're out of your mind," I yelled, watching Carlos grit his teeth and endure every blow. Guilt and helplessness crashed over me like a wave.

He growled, "Yeah, I'm out of my mind.

"Isn't divorce what you both want? Well, listen up, Holly. I'm not divorcing you! No way I'm letting you two have your way."

Right then, I stared at his twisted face, listening to his insane rant.

Thinking back on all the years he had played favorites, been cold, and ignored me, an icy coldness spread through my heart.

Looking back, the real lunatic was me. I was the idiot who actually chose to marry him all those years ago.

I took one final look at the marks on Carlos's back. I couldn't stand this insanity anymore, so I spun around and bolted out of there.

I returned to that peaceful house on the outskirts, the one I had nearly forgotten. I lived there before marriage.

I sent Carlos a text: [Sorry I got you mixed up in all this.]

Then I locked the door behind me.

Finally, the world was quiet.

But the scenes in my head kept swirling, refusing to quiet down.

The look in my parents' eyes as they handed the company shares to Antonio.

Lilah, Derek's mother, used to say something like this. "A woman's most important job is to have kids."

Derek was always backing Kaylee up, telling me to "cut it out."

My brother was the star at every party, while I faded into the background.

And just now, Derek looked absolutely insane, like he didn't trust anything except his own wild, paranoid ideas.

All the resentment, all the pain nobody ever bothered to notice, the hopelessness of being nothing but a thing to them. It all crashed down on me like a tidal wave, swallowing me whole.

God, I was exhausted. Completely drained.

Honestly, I had more than enough.

I took out the bottle of pills I had been hiding for so long. Without a second thought, I downed them all in one go.

Maybe this was what freedom feels like.

If being alive meant drowning in pain and getting tangled up in all this mess, then maybe it was better to let it all end.

It felt like I was surfacing from a sunken ship, struggling through pitch-black darkness.

The first thing that hit me was the pungent smell of disinfectant.

Then came the burning pain in my throat and a crushing weakness, like my whole body had been hollowed out.

Once my blurry vision started to clear, the first thing I saw was a worried, handsome face staring down at me.

It was Carlos.

He was sitting right by my hospital bed, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Holly? How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"

I tried to say something, but my throat was so dry I couldn't get a single word out.

He quickly wet a cotton swab and gently dabbed it on my lips, careful not to hurt me.

"Why did you save me?" My voice came out rough, barely sounding like me, and tears slid silently down my cheeks.

I choked out, "I was ready to end it, but you dragged me back. It just hurts even more."

Carlos went quiet.

His eyes swirled with a mess of pain and helplessness.

Words failed him, so he murmured, "Derek. He's on his way."

His words felt like a stab straight to my heart.

I jerked in panic, terror flooding through me as I tried to scramble off the bed, the IV line tugging painfully at my arm.

I said, "N-No! I don't want to see him. Get me out of here, please. Carlos, get me out of here!"

I was rambling, clutching his sleeve like it was my only lifeline.

I continued, "He'll probably just think I'm pulling this stunt to get his attention again.

"He's just going to call me names and think I'm pathetic.

"I don't want to hear it anymore, please."

The fear and despair in my eyes were impossible to miss.