Addie POV:
They hadn't left.
Whispered voices seeped through the crack under the door. My ears, sharpened by adrenaline, felt unusually keen.
"Chayce, is just ruining her reputation really enough?" Kendra's voice was laced with a new thread of anxiety. "What if she tells someone what happened tonight?"
A cold, dismissive laugh from Chayce. "And who would believe her? The word of a drugged-out slut? Besides, I'll make sure she never gets the chance to open her mouth."
"What I'm really worried about is her precious little brother, Leo," Kendra said, her tone turning sharp. "That kid is just starting high school, but his mother's lawyer has been in constant contact with him. If we just force Addie into a marriage, the trust will still be under the lawyer's supervision."
Leo.
A giant, invisible hand squeezed my heart. They were going after my brother. My sweet, goofy, teenage brother.
I remembered my mother's last days, her frail hand in mine, making me promise I would always look after him. I would not let them touch him.
"I have a plan for that," Chayce soothed her. His voice was casual, as if he were discussing the weather. "I've already had someone collect photos of Leo at parties. It's easy to find a few shots that look like he's doing drugs or sleeping around, maybe Photoshop a few more. Create a narrative."
A chill, colder than any fear I'd felt before, crept down my spine. This man, the one I thought was a simple, sun-kissed hockey player, had a mind like a viper's nest.
"Then," Chayce continued, "we anonymously leak the 'evidence' to his high school and the press. He gets expelled, publicly shamed. The trustees will have no choice but to reconsider his eligibility as a secondary beneficiary."
Kendra's delighted little laugh was the ugliest sound I had ever heard. "You really have thought of everything. With her brother's reputation on the line, Addie will be even more compliant."
My nails dug into my palms until they drew blood. I welcomed the sting. The burning in my body and the ice in my heart were locked in a war, and the battleground was a strange, terrifying clarity.
I had to get out. Not just for me. For Leo.
I couldn't let them extinguish the last bit of light in my life.
Slowly, millimeter by millimeter, I tried to move my fingers. Then my wrist. It was a silent, agonizing effort. The drug had turned my muscles to lead, and every tiny twitch cost me a mountain of energy. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
Outside the door, their conversation shifted to my father.
"Your husband, Benny, is such a fool," Chayce said with open contempt. "So wrapped around your little finger he can't see straight. Barely even asks about his own daughter."
"He's just weak," Kendra sighed, a note of smug satisfaction in her voice. "But that makes him easy to control. Once we have Addie's mother's inheritance, I'll find a reason to divorce him. The company will be mine by then, too."
So her entire marriage to my father was a long con.
A surge of strength, born of pure rage, shot through me. I managed to turn my wrist, my fingers brushing the edge of the nightstand.
The cool, smooth surface of a glass water tumbler met my fingertips. An idea sparked in my mind. A desperate, crazy idea.
I could break it. Make a sound. Or maybe... use a shard to keep myself awake.
Just as I gathered my strength to act, Kendra's voice dropped, coiling around a new, more horrifying suggestion.
"Chayce," she said, her tone turning sinister, "I just feel like leaving Addie alive is a liability. Why don't we just... finish it?"
She paused.
That brief, heavy silence was more terrifying than any words.
Chayce understood. His voice was low when he finally spoke. "What are you suggesting?"
I held my breath. My heart was a frantic drum against my ribs, so loud I was sure they could hear it through the door.
My body trembled uncontrollably, a storm of chemicals and sheer terror.
I pushed my fingers harder, straining against my own unresponsive muscles. My fingertips finally curled around the base of the cold glass.
I was about to sweep it to the floor.
But then Kendra spoke the words that would be burned into my memory for eternity.
