Those men came into the pigsty every night.
In the darkness, I miscarried again and again.
The bodyguards hauled me up and threw me into the trunk of an SUV.
When the plane took off, I lay curled in a corner of the cabin.
I opened my mouth, trying to make a sound.
Only a rasp crawled out of my throat.
Leigh sat on the leather sofa and placed a pair of black noise-canceling headphones over his ears.
"Enough. Stop playing mute. Save your energy. You're going back to the city to get on your knees and beg Ivy for forgiveness."
The plane landed on a private helipad in the heart of downtown.
A bodyguard wrapped my body in a sheet of black waterproof tarp and stuffed me into the last row of a town car.
The car pulled into the underground garage of the Continental Hotel.
The elevator went straight to the top-floor ballroom.
The doors swung open.
The ballroom was draped in heavy red carpet, crystal chandeliers throwing blinding light across every surface. The bodyguard stripped away the tarp and dumped me in the center of the floor.
Leigh stood beneath a spotlight, microphone in hand.
Guests holding champagne flutes crowded around on every side.
He pointed at me.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the gift I've prepared for Ivy, to help lift her spirits."
His gaze swept the crowd.
"A vicious woman I dragged back from the mountains."
Laughter erupted.
Several women in evening gowns drifted forward, wine glasses in hand. They looked down at me.
"I heard she spent three years out there?"
"She probably rolled around in the mud on purpose. And that smell. She's trying to disgust Ivy."
I lay facedown on the red carpet.
I extended my right arm, pressed my elbow into the floor, and dragged my body forward. My broken legs trailed behind me, leaving a dark, wet streak across the carpet.
Ivy descended the spiral staircase in a pristine white gown.
She saw the bloodstains on the floor and let out a shriek.
She collapsed into Leigh's arms, fingers clawing at the lapels of his suit jacket.
"Leigh, the blood on her is so red... I'm scared..."
Leigh's expression turned cold in an instant.
He turned toward the hotel security staff standing by the entrance.
"Get water over here. Scrub every drop of that filth off the carpet."
Two security guards came running with plastic cleaning buckets. The buckets were full of ice-cold, grimy water.
Leigh pointed at me.
"Pour it over her head. Wash off that disgusting act of hers."
The guards lifted the buckets.
Ice-cold water laced with grit came crashing down from above.
It poured over my matted hair and seeped into the unstitched wound across my abdomen.
The bone-deep cold sent my body into violent spasms.
Leigh walked over and stopped beside me. The toe of his leather shoe landed an inch from my fingers.
"Crawl over there. Bow your head to the floor three times for Ivy."
He looked down at me.
"Admit that you faked a pregnancy and played dead to compete for my attention. Do as you're told, and I'll let you stay on as an errand girl at the company."
I lowered my head.
The banquet moved into its second half.
The bodyguards dragged me out of the ballroom and dumped me in the corner of the hallway outside the women's restroom.
My clothes clung to my skin. Bloody water dripped from the hem onto the marble tile.
Ivy stepped out of the restroom, a touch-up compact in her hand.
She stopped in front of me.
She lifted her right foot. The sharp stiletto heel came down on the broken index finger of my right hand.
She ground it side to side.
Every nerve in my body screamed at once. I seized up and recoiled on instinct.
Ivy watched me and let out a light, airy laugh.
"Did you really think Leigh set you up at some cozy little retreat?"
She bent down and stared into my face.
