Ember POV:
The endless banquet finally dragged to a close. Stepping out of the hotel lobby, the biting winter wind hit me instantly, carrying sharp sheets of freezing rain that lashed against the Manhattan pavement.
The hotel valet stood shivering by the curb. He respectfully pulled open the heavy door of the black stretch Lincoln.
Chace kept his arm firmly around Karyn’s shoulders, shielding her from the rain. He guided her into the spacious back seat first, then climbed in after her. He didn't even glance back. It was as if I had ceased to exist.
I stood alone on the wet sidewalk. The thin fabric of my shawl offered zero protection against the icy wind. I stood perfectly still for ten seconds, letting the cold numb my skin, before I walked toward the open door.
I bent my head, preparing to slide into the back seat opposite them.
Suddenly, Karyn shifted. She kicked her legs up, resting her sharp, pointed high heels directly on the leather seat I was about to occupy.
The razor-thin heel of her shoe grazed the fabric of my dress, missing tearing it by a millimeter. She completely blocked the entrance.
I stopped moving. I slowly raised my eyes and looked across the massive cabin at Chace.
Chace had his head resting against the plush leather headrest. His eyes were closed. He was completely ignoring Karyn’s blatant hostility. His silent permission hit me with a wave of nausea. It mirrored the exact way my wealthy relatives used to sit back and watch their wives humiliate my mother at family dinners.
I didn't say a word. I pulled my body back out into the rain. I walked to the front of the car, pulled open the passenger door, and sat down next to the driver.
I slammed the heavy door shut. The thick glass instantly cut off the sound of the storm outside. But the air inside the cabin was thick, heavy, and suffocating.
The driver shifted into gear. The massive engine purred, and the Lincoln glided smoothly into the dark, rain-slicked streets.
From the back seat, Karyn let out a high, breathy laugh. I heard the rustle of fabric. I knew she was rubbing the toe of her shoe up and down Chace’s calf.
Chace let out a low, vibrating chuckle. I heard the sound of his large hand wrapping around her ankle.
I sat stiffly in the passenger seat. I kept my eyes locked straight ahead, watching the windshield wipers violently slash the water away, over and over. My face was a blank mask.
My silence seemed to irritate Karyn. She stopped laughing. Her voice suddenly cut through the quiet, sharp and condescending.
She spoke to the back of my head. She told me that since Chace was a nostalgic man, she was willing to be generous and let me stay around.
But, she added, her tone turning to steel, I had to follow her rules. The mistress rules.
Rule number one: I was never allowed to make eye contact with Chace in public.
Rule number two: Whenever she was in the apartment with Chace, I had to stay locked in the guest room like an invisible ghost.
Every word she spat was dripping with poison. She was talking to me like I was a stray dog she was reluctantly letting sleep on the porch.
I rested my hands on my lap. I crossed my fingers, digging my nails so deeply into the meat of my palms that it burned. I forced my breathing to stay even.
When I didn't respond, Karyn lunged forward. She shoved her hand between the seats, her long, red-painted fingernail jabbing hard into the back of my leather headrest.
She lowered her voice into a vicious hiss. She warned me that the most important rule was that I was absolutely forbidden from getting pregnant.
She cursed me. She said if I ever dared to try and use a bastard child to climb the ranks, she would personally carve the piece of meat out of my stomach.
That word—bastard—struck the deepest, rawest nerve in my body. The trauma of my own birth screamed in my head.
I snapped. I whipped my head around.
My eyes met hers in the rearview mirror. My gaze was completely dead, filled with a cold, absolute murderous intent.
Karyn saw my eyes. She actually gasped, her body jerking backward away from the seat instinctively.
I held her gaze for one more second before slowly turning my head back to the windshield. I unclasped my hands. I flattened my right palm and pressed it gently against my own flat stomach.
The corner of my mouth pulled up into a dark, mocking smirk. I didn't need to trap him with a child. I was going to take his entire empire.
The car fell back into a deathly silence. The only sound was the wet hiss of the tires rolling over the flooded asphalt.
"You better pray I never get that chance."
