Chapter 5

"Don't touch me. Please, don't touch me..." Lily's voice was barely a whisper, but the words were daggers in Charlotte's heart.

Richard stood nearby, his face drained of color. "They got away. The security cameras were wiped. The car had stolen plates. It was planned."

Black spots swam in Charlotte's vision. A metallic tang rose in her throat. She swallowed it down hard.

It was Vivian.

Hatred slithered through her veins like poison.

"Charlie, are you and Alexander still together?" Richard asked hoarsely.

"We're divorced now," Charlotte said evenly, looking up.

Richard rocked back a step, finally understanding why she had begged him to leave in such a rush.

"Charlie, come with me," he urged, gripping her ice-cold hand.

"Dad, you go first. I've made arrangements. I'll come find you. I promise."

Richard looked at his fiercely stubborn daughter and could only give a pained nod. "You have to take care of yourself."

As Charlotte pushed open the heavy doors of Blackwood Manor, her eyes landed on Vivian standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Sunlight streamed through the glass, bathing Vivian in a soft glow, making her look like a painting brought to life.

Charlotte remembered Alexander saying once, in that soft tone he never used for her, "Vivian can be a handful, but at least she's real."

Real?

Charlotte's gaze fell to the canvas. It was a painting of a jasmine flower in full bloom. Its petals were blinding white. But deep in the flower's heart, she could see a hidden smudge of dark red.

You could paint over the filth, but it was still there.

Without hesitation, Charlotte strode forward, picked up a nearby jar of crimson paint, and calmly tipped it over.

Splash!

Thick crimson paint cascaded down, swallowing the white flower whole.

Vivian stared at the ruined painting and suddenly laughed.

She flicked a strand of hair from her face. Crimson paint streaked her fingertips.

"Well, well. Done playing the victim, Charlotte?" she purred, tilting her head. Her voice was a singsong of childlike innocence and pure malice. "Finally decided to show your true colors?"

Charlotte met her eyes and asked coldly, "My sister. What did she ever do to you?"

Vivian clicked her tongue and tossed her brush aside. She pulled a cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and took a long drag, the smoke momentarily obscuring her perfect features.

"Oh, so that's what this is about," she said, blowing a perfect smoke ring. "You're here to play the avenging angel. Yes, I sent someone after her."

She tilted her head, wearing a smile that was cruelly innocent. "What can I say? She shouldn't have..."

Smack!

Charlotte slapped her hard across the face.

In her last life, Alexander had stopped her hand mid-air.

But now, Charlotte's hand burned as Vivian's head whipped to the side, vivid fingerprints blooming across her pale skin.

Yet Vivian only laughed.

She turned her head back slowly, her tongue darting out to touch the corner of her now-swelling lip. A spark of manic excitement lit up her eyes.

"Naughty, naughty, Charlotte. Hitting is against the rules."

Charlotte's nails dug into her palms, her chest heaving, but before she could speak, she heard footsteps. Two bodyguards grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms.

Vivian leaned in close, her red lips brushing against Charlotte's ear as she let out a sweetly sinister whisper.

"Your sister mouthed off at me, so I found a few guys to satisfy her." She giggled. "Bet she had fun all night long."

Charlotte trembled sharply as she stared down Vivian with boiling hatred in her gaze.

"Now, since you hit me, how should I punish you?" Vivian said, tapping a finger to her chin. "Oh, I know. Getting framed is so much more interesting, don't you think?"

Before Charlotte could process the words, a blinding pain exploded at the back of her neck.

Everything shattered into black.

In an abandoned factory, the cloying smell of rust and decay filled her nostrils as Charlotte woke to a throbbing pain in her head.

The concrete floor beneath her was cold and damp. She looked up and met Vivian's cold eyes.

She was also tied up, a fresh bruise blossoming on her cheek.

"This is your idea of 'fun'?" Charlotte rasped.

Vivian didn't answer, looking past Charlotte to stare at something behind her.