"He’s stable, Ysabel," Dr. Aris repeated gently. "The stomach pump was successful. Now, we just wait for him to wake up. But..."
"But the world outside isn't waiting," I finished for him.
I could see it through the blinds. The news vans. The paparazzi swarming the hospital entrance like vultures. My phone was vibrating incessantly with notifications. Lucas Smith: Monster? Drug Addict? Abuser?
The deepfake was perfect. Terrifyingly perfect. It had destroyed a decade of hard work in an hour.
I touched Lucas’s cold hand with my bandaged fingers. "I’ll fix this," I whispered. "I promise."
I didn't know how. I was a surgeon who couldn't hold a scalpel. But I knew one man who could fix anything. So, I went home. I walked through the marble foyer, the silence of the house pressing against my ears.
I headed straight for his study. The heavy oak doors were slightly ajar. I raised my hand to push them open, desperate to beg him to use his connections, to sue the media outlets, to do something.
Then, I heard his voice.
"It’s done, Amber. Stop crying."
I froze. My hand hovered inches from the wood.
"Yes, the video is everywhere," Aiden said, his tone bored, clinical. "No, it won't be traced back to me. I used the offshore server. Lucas is finished. His career is dead."
The floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
"I had to do it," Aiden continued, a dark edge entering his voice. "Ysabel hired Nathan Blackwood. She thought she could go behind my back? She thought she could file a criminal case against your brother after I told her to stop? This is her punishment. She needs to learn that actions have consequences."
I couldn't breathe.
I kicked the door open. It slammed against the wall with a deafening bang.
Aiden spun around in his leather chair, the phone still pressed to his ear. His eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and then, terrifyingly, they went calm. He didn't look guilty. He looked annoyed.
"I have to go," he said into the phone, and hung up.
"You," I choked out, the word tearing from my throat. "You did this? You ruined Lucas?"
Aiden stood up, smoothing his suit jacket. "I did what was necessary."
"He’s innocent!" I screamed, marching toward him. "He’s my brother! He tried to kill himself, Aiden! He’s in a coma because of you! For what? For Antonio? For a drunk who stabbed your wife?"
"For order!" Aiden slammed his hand on the desk. "You defied me, Ysabel. I told you to drop it. I told you to let it go. But you had to call Blackwood. You had to escalate it. You forced my hand."
"I forced you to frame a movie star for heroin use?" I laughed, a manic, broken sound. "You’re a monster. You’re sick."
"I am protecting my family!"
"I am your family!" I shrieked. "I am your wife!"
"Amber is family!" he roared back. "I have known her my entire life. Her pain is my pain. And you... you are just being vindictive. Filing that case would have ruined Amber’s reputation by association. It would have ruined my reputation. I saved you from making a public spectacle of yourself."
"By ruining my brother’s image?" I spat at him. "By driving him to suicide?"
I lunged at him. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to scratch that smug look off his face with my useless, bandaged claws.
Smack.
The sound was a crack of thunder.
My head snapped to the side. The sting on my cheek was instantaneous, hot and sharp. I stumbled back, clutching the edge of the desk for support.
Silence filled the room. Heavy. Suffocating.
I touched my cheek. He had slapped me. Aiden, the man who had vowed to cherish me, had struck me.
"That," Aiden said, his voice terrifyingly low, "is what happens when you defy me."
He walked around the desk, towering over me. He didn't look sorry. He looked powerful.
"I told you to stop. Now, are you going to stop? Or do I need to find something else you love to destroy?"
I looked up at him through a blur of tears. I saw the truth then. There was no love here. There never had been. I was a possession. And now, I was a broken possession.
But Lucas. Lucas was still lying in that hospital bed. If the scandal continued, he would wake up to nothing.
"Fix it," I whispered.
"Excuse me?" Aiden cupped his ear mockingly.
"Fix it," I said, my voice trembling. "Clear his name. Release the proof that it’s a deepfake. Please. I’ll do anything."
Aiden smiled. It was a cruel, satisfied curving of his lips. He leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms.
"Then beg me."
I stared at him. "What?"
"You heard me," he said softly. "Beg me. Show me that you understand who is in control here. Show me that you’re done fighting."
My pride screamed. Every fiber of my being wanted to spit in his face. But the image of Lucas’s pale face flashed in my mind.
Slowly, painfully, I lowered my head.
"Please," I croaked. "Please, Aiden. Save my brother. I’m begging you."
Aiden watched me for a long moment, drinking in my humiliation like fine wine. Then, his face softened. The monster receded, replaced by the mask of the doting husband.
"Good girl," he murmured.
He reached out and stroked the cheek he had just slapped. I flinched, but I didn't pull away.
"I’m sorry it had to come to this," he said, his voice dripping with fake sympathy. "I really am. I’ll make the call. The video will be debunked by morning. Lucas will be the victim of a cyber-attack. He’ll be a hero."
I nodded, staring at his shoes.
"Now," Aiden said, clapping his hands together. "Let’s put this behind us. How about a date? Just the two of us. To make sure everything is going to be okay. To reset. Okay?"
He looked at me expectantly.
"Okay," I whispered.
"Go get changed," he said, kissing my forehead. "Wear something red. I love you in red."
I walked out of the study. I walked up the stairs. I walked into our bedroom.
I didn't cry. I was done crying.
I went into the walk-in closet and pulled out the red dress. But before I put it on, I sat on the floor and pulled out my burner phone.
I dialed Nathan.
"Delay the criminal case," I said, my voice void of emotion. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The red mark on my cheek was already bruising. "Process something else for me instead. Immediately."
"What is it?"
"My divorce papers," I said. "Draft them. Irreconcilable differences. Adultery. Abuse."
"Music to my ears," Nathan said.
"And Nathan?"
"Yes?"
I took a deep breath. "If you’re really up for revenge," I said, my voice cold as steel. "If you really want to destroy Aiden Smith… How about you marry me?"
