Chapter 4

Now in his forties, Colin had lost that sharp edge he used to have. He looked calm and graceful. If I didn't know he was a sick pervert, I might have been fooled by his act.

When the interview ended, and Amber was about to leave, Colin made an excuse to keep her for dinner. "Letting a young girl leave hungry isn't what a gentleman would do."

A flash of excitement lit up his eyes. I knew that look. It was the same look he got when he was stalking his prey.

Amber was on the phone with a friend, excitedly talking about interviewing Colin and making plans to go hiking together tomorrow.

But she didn't know. She probably wouldn't walk out of this house.

While waiting for dinner, Amber came up to me on her own. "You look so familiar," she said. "Do you know Mabel Young?"

When I heard that name after so many years, my whole body jolted. I turned and stared at her in shock. "What is she to you?"

She replied, "She's my mother. I think I've seen a photo of you. She keeps it."

Mabel was my high school homeroom teacher.

Back then, I had developed so much that the boys in my class kept teasing and harassing me.

Even when all the other teachers told Mabel not to get involved, she still stood up for me. Under pressure from both parents and the school, she punished those boys.

For all three years of high school, she protected me like a second mom to me. She helped me become the top student in the state.

I grabbed Amber's hand. My voice was shaking so much that I didn't even notice. "You're Mabel's daughter?"

"Yeah, so you really know my mom. I knew I recognized you. When I was little, I often saw her looking at your photo and crying quietly," Amber said.

My throat tightened. It took me a long time to finally ask, "Is she okay?"

Amber shook her head. "She said she wasn't good at teaching. Her proudest student was gone too."

My eyes felt so dry. I held her hand tighter and tighter. "Listen, later, only eat what I give you. Understand?"

She was scared by the look on my face, but she still nodded.

I switched out the drugged drink meant for Amber, and when Colin drank it and was knocked out from the effects, I sent Amber away.

I couldn't let her go through what I did.

I actually wanted to leave with her, too. But just as I was about to step out the door, I stopped.

Alex grabbed me. He gave me a cruel smile. "You're done for."

"You're just as disgusting as your father," I said.

I curled up in the tiny storage closet, holding my phone. I typed that number, the one I knew by heart, over and over again.

Twenty years had gone by. Maybe he had forgotten me by now. Maybe he was married with kids and a family of his own.

And after the way I ended things so coldly back then, even if he remembered me, he probably hated me.

While I was thinking that, my finger accidentally hit the call button.

The moment it connected, Colin burst in. "Vivian, you've been bad again."

I hung up right away.

Colin grabbed me by the throat. His eyes were full of rage. It was the rage of a man whose possession had been taken from him.

I had only seen that look once before. That was when his mother left her inheritance to his younger brother before she died.

Within a few days, his brother got into a car accident and was paralyzed in bed.

I figured my ending would be even worse than his.

Colin dragged me into the bathroom. Most of what happened was a blur. I just remember the pain everywhere. When they were done, they tossed me out onto the street like I was nothing, like a stray dog.

Half conscious, I could still hear Alex and Colin laughing. Cruel laughs.

"That's what you get for disobeying. Without me, you're nothing," Colin said. "I'll take you back when you finally realize your mistake."

The winter chill made my bones ache, and I felt like I was dying.

"Vivian." Warm arms wrapped around me. I had no strength left and fell into a deep sleep.