Chapter 3

I didn't have much to pack, but the studio was another story.

I had painted hundreds of canvases over seven years, and more than a few had won awards.

I had been planning to put together an exhibition of my own.

The movers packed each canvas with care.

Chloe clicked into the studio on her stilettos, taking her time. "Hold on."

She stopped in the middle of the room, swept a lazy glance around, and lifted her chin. "Everything in this house belongs to me now, Ashley. Taking anything without my permission is theft."

I let out a sharp laugh. "I bought everything in here with my own money, and I painted every single one of these with my own two hands. So what the hell are you talking about, Ms. Grant?"

I thought I handled that pretty well.

Under Peter's care, I had gotten so much better at standing my ground against the people who used to bully me.

This time, I was only trembling a little.

Chloe smiled, impossible to read. She looked me up and down slowly.

"Ashley, I heard you had a breakdown and ended up in a psych ward." She tilted her head. "Crazy people should stay where they belong."

She waved a hand behind her, and that familiar cruelty settled across her face like a mask she'd never really taken off. "Come on in, boys. Smash every last one."

A group of men carrying bats flooded into the studio.

The color drained from my face. "No. You can't."

Everything happened too fast.

They tore through the room, and the sound of splintering wood and ripping canvas filled every corner of the studio until there was nothing left but broken frames and shredded fabric scattered across the floor.

Chloe surveyed the wreckage with a satisfied smile, then turned to me with a look so cold it burned. "Ashley, you really thought seven years would change anything? You were nothing under my heel back then, and that's exactly where you'll stay."

My mind went blank. All I could process was that seven years of my life's work had been reduced to rubble in a matter of minutes.

Something inside me snapped. I lunged at Chloe, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and slammed her head into the floor.

She shrieked, her voice shrill with disbelief. "You bitch! You actually hit me?"

I was past the point of reason. I pinned her head down and pressed harder. "You just wiped out seven years of my life like it was nothing. Yeah, I'm hitting you."

"Ashley, what the hell is wrong with you?" Julian stormed into the studio, grabbed me by the hair, and slammed my head straight into the wall.

I crumpled to the ground, and pain tore through every bone in my body.

Through blurred, tear-filled eyes, I watched Julian cradle Chloe gently in his arms.

Chloe wiped the tears from her cheeks, her voice trembling with perfectly rehearsed innocence. "Julian, I only came to help Ashley move her paintings. But she'd rather destroy them than let me touch them. I tried to calm her down, and she attacked me."

Julian looked down at me sprawled on the floor. Disgust was written all over his face. "Ashley, I've been too lenient with you. That ends now."

The pain was so blinding that I could barely make out what Julian said next. Something about teaching me a lesson.

Several men stepped forward and closed in around me. They drove their boots into my stomach, one after another, over and over.

My face went white, and sweat beaded across my forehead.

The pain was worse than anything I could have imagined. It felt like being thrown right back to the years when Chloe had made my life a living hell.

Even through the haze, I caught the triumphant smirk spread wide across Chloe's face.

A warm trickle of liquid ran down between my legs.

I reached toward Julian with the last of my strength, desperate to hold on to something, to anyone. My fingers clawed at the air.

Chloe's expression shifted in an instant. She pressed a hand to her forehead and let her voice go faint. "Julian, I feel dizzy."

Julian scooped Chloe up and carried her out without a second glance.

The world around me blurred and began to fade.

Julian, I hate you.

Someone, please. Save my baby.