Chapter 4

Half a month later, in an old, low-rent apartment, the walls were peeling, and the air was thick with a stubborn musty smell.

Caroline finished packing her last bag and sat down on the narrow wooden bed.

She had just come back from the sanatorium. Her mother's condition was stable for the time, but keeping it that way would cost a fortune.

She'd sent out dozens of resumes, but once word got out she was Darian's ex-wife, nobody wanted to take the risk.

She gave a self-deprecating smile, thinking Darian was making sure she had nowhere left to go.

While sorting through her old things, Caroline noticed something odd about the hidden compartment of her leather suitcase.

There seemed to be something hard stuffed inside.

Caroline used scissors to carefully cut open the lining, and an old notebook with a worn cover fell out.

This wasn't hers.

There was nothing written on the cover, but as soon as she flipped to the first page, the strong, familiar handwriting struck Caroline like a bolt of lightning.

She recognized instantly that it was Darian's handwriting.

[March 12. Edgar brought her over. She was wearing a white dress, shivering in the rain like a leaf. Daniela wanted her gone, so all I could do was trap her in the prison called marriage.]

Caroline's hands were trembling uncontrollably.

She flipped through the pages, each one filled with secrets that took her breath away.

[May 20th. She baked a cake herself. Daniela was watching through the surveillance camera, so I had to toss the cake in the trash right in front of her.

[She cried. I wanted to hold her, but those eyes behind the camera were waiting to catch her slip up.]

[October 8th. I found traces of poison in the tonic Edgar sent over. To control her, he didn't care if it destroyed her.

[I switched the tonic, but had to act like nothing happened while watching her take it. Caroline, I'm sorry.]

Caroline's tears splashed onto the page, blurring the dark ink.

So, about all that cold treatment she thought was real, it was Darian putting on an act to dodge Daniela's constant surveillance.

And all the heartless things she believed he did were enduring in silence, trying to keep her alive.

She turned to the last page.

The handwriting was messy, with dried bloodstains smeared across it.

[Tomorrow is our third anniversary. Daniela's getting more ruthless. She wants to get rid of me for good at the board meeting and drag Caroline down with me. I have to let her go.

[Divorce papers are set, and Bonnie makes for a perfect cover. Caroline, hate me if you must.

[The farther you stay from me, the better. If I'm not around, I want you to live in peace.]

The date at the bottom was the very day she woke up after the car accident.

"No, it's not like that," Caroline collapsed onto the floor, her sobs wracking her body.

The blood on that cufflink wasn't anyone else's. It was his. He had really been so sick already.

He shouldered all the criticism and scorn alone to protect her, even if it meant making her despise him.

And she really did as he wished. She said those heartless words to him back at the Cooper Manor.

Caroline sprang to her feet, snatched her coat, and burst out the door.

She had to see Darian. She needed to confront him and demand the truth, face-to-face.

But as she reached the door, she froze.

She had nothing left. If she went to see him, she'd only drag him down.

Daniela had eyes and ears all over the city. If Caroline showed up out of the blue, everything Darian had done to protect her would go up in smoke.

Caroline took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

She stared at the name of an overseas holding company mentioned in the diary, C&D Investment.

Darian had secretly put it under her name three years ago, but his most trusted people had been running it all this time.

He'd set up a three-billion-dollar escape route for her. Even if he was gone, she could rely on that fortune to live safely and richly for the rest of her life.

"Darian, you really think this is what's best for me?" Caroline clenched the diary so hard that her knuckles turned white, her eyes shifting from confusion to fierce resolve.

She muttered, "You threw me into hell, and now, you want me to stay in heaven all alone? No way."

She was going to drag Darian out of that abyss, even if she had to rip the entire Cooper family to shreds.