The yellow cab jerked to a halt outside a luxury high-rise on Central Park West. Adelia tapped the new phone against the payment terminal and pushed the door open.
She pressed the buzzer for Audrey Finch's penthouse.
A minute later, the heavy door swung open. Audrey stood there in a pair of emerald green silk pajamas. When she saw Adelia's torn dress and smeared makeup, she sucked in a sharp breath.
Audrey grabbed Adelia's arm, yanked her inside, and slammed the door shut, locking out the world.
Adelia dropped the heavy black coat onto the floor. She collapsed onto the soft beige velvet sofa. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently as the sobs finally ripped through her chest.
Audrey didn't ask a single question. She walked to the kitchen, poured a mug of hot chamomile tea, and pressed it directly into Adelia's freezing hands. The heat from the ceramic mug slowly thawed Adelia's numb fingers.
Adelia took a slow sip. The warm liquid coated her raw throat. In a raspy, broken voice, she told Audrey about the hospital window. About Coleman holding Elia's hand.
"He postponed the wedding," Adelia whispered.
Audrey grabbed a thick fashion magazine off the coffee table and hurled it across the room. It smashed against the wall. "He is a blind, pathetic bastard!" Audrey yelled.
Adelia's hands started shaking again. She stared down at her tea. She confessed what happened at The Mark Hotel. She left out Axel's name, calling him a stranger.
Audrey's eyes went wide. She immediately sat down and wrapped her arms tightly around Adelia, pulling her into a fierce hug.
After the tears stopped, Adelia leaned back against the cushions. Her eyes were dead, staring blankly at the dying brown leaves on the trees in Central Park outside the window.
Audrey let out a heavy sigh. "This is all because of Aspen. That damn mountain."
The word Aspen triggered a violent flashback. Adelia squeezed her eyes shut.
The sound of howling wind roared in her ears. She remembered the blinding white snow. She remembered dropping to her knees, digging through the ice with her bare hands. Her fingernails snapping off. The blood freezing to her skin as she dragged a crushing, dead weight out of the avalanche crater. The absolute terror of the freezing temperature seeping into her core. She remembered the agonizing hours in the snow, sacrificing her own warmth to keep death at bay. The extreme cold had permanently damaged her nerves, leaving her with severe Raynaud's syndrome.
Audrey grabbed Adelia's cold hand. "This is all because of Aspen. That damn mountain. What Elia and the Tates did to you after that... they made you carry their cross, and for what? For him?"
Adelia let out a hollow, bitter laugh. "The Tate family told me to keep my mouth shut. I'm just the adopted orphan. Elia is the real blood. They needed the Cooper money."
She remembered standing outside the ICU. Coleman had opened his eyes and looked straight at Elia, calling her his savior.
Audrey stood up and paced across the Persian rug. "How much longer are you going to carry this cross for them, Adelia? How much more of your blood do they get to drink?"
The question hit Adelia like a physical blow. She looked down at her hands. Faint, white scars lined her knuckles from the frostbite.
She took a deep breath. The dead look in her eyes vanished. A cold, hard fire ignited in her pupils.
She slammed the tea mug down onto the glass table. The loud crack echoed in the room.
"I'm done," Adelia said. "I am done being their punching bag."
She stood up and walked straight to the floor-to-length mirror in the hallway. She stared at the woman with red, swollen eyes and a broken posture.
"Give me clothes," Adelia demanded.
Ten minutes later, she walked out of the guest bedroom wearing a razor-sharp, white Tom Ford power suit. She had used heavy concealer to hide the red marks on her neck. She painted her lips a dark, blood-red.
The broken girl was gone. A soldier stood in her place.
Audrey leaned against the doorframe, a proud smirk on her face. She tossed a set of Porsche keys through the air.
Adelia caught the keys flawlessly. The cold metal pressed into her palm, giving her a sudden surge of control.
She picked up her phone and dialed Coleman's private number. It rang twice before he sent it straight to voicemail.
Adelia smiled coldly. She waited for the beep.
"I will be at the penthouse in thirty minutes," she said to the recording. "If you aren't there, I will burn your clothes on the balcony."
She hung up and walked out the door.
