Chapter 2

"Eric... please, just let my sister out." Wendy looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears, her voice soft as a whisper. "You two are legally married. If anything happens to her, what will people say about you?"

She hesitated, her gaze flickering, then added, "I can understand her, really. She grew up in foster care, no family at all. Of course she's a little unstable. Seeing you treat me so well, bringing me here, caring for me so gently... she must feel threatened. Maybe she did all that because she's just terrified of losing the only person she can rely on. Can't we just let it go, please?"

The tenderness in Eric's eyes was almost overflowing.

"Wendy, you remember she has no one, you still call her your sister, but when she pushed you into the water, did she think of you as family?"

His gentle expression iced over in an instant.

"If I don't teach her a lesson, she'll never learn how to behave. But since you're asking for her, I'll give her a chance."

He pressed the intercom, his voice cold. "Herman, bring that woman back."

The old butler's nervous reply came through at once.

Eric cut the connection, turning to Wendy. "Don't worry. When she comes in, I'll give her ten minutes to apologize to you—until you forgive her. If she refuses, her punishment gets worse."

Ten minutes?

Even if you gave me ten thousand years, I couldn't do it.

Seconds ticked by.

Eric drummed his fingers on the armrest, growing impatient.

"What's going on? What's taking so long?"

Just then, the front door burst open.

Herman stumbled in, panic in his eyes.

"Sir! Sir!"

Eric frowned. "What is it? She won't come out?"

"N-no... it's the crate... the dog crate... it's gone!

Eric froze. "Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

"It sank... or floated away... I don't know! The buoy snapped!" Herman gestured wildly, words tumbling out. "The lake's flooded, I went to pull the rope and it was just—empty! I sent people out with spotlights, but there's no sign of the crate anywhere..."

The old butler looked up, truly terrified. "Sir, if... if Madam was still inside, in this weather... she might already be..."

The room went dead silent.

Wendy clapped her hand over her mouth, gasping, "Oh my god! My sister..."

I drifted right in front of Eric, close enough to see his lashes tremble.

Even for a second, would you regret what you did if I really died?

But Eric's face showed no shock. No grief.

Only suspicion.

Then, a twisted, mocking smile.

"Dead?" He let out a snort, as if he'd heard the world's funniest joke. "Herman, you really don't know Chloe at all."

"She grew up in foster care. She'd fight a stray dog for half a loaf of bread, do whatever it took to survive. You think someone like that would drown in a lake?"

It felt like something stabbed straight through my soul.

So even in death, you think I'm just playing some cheap trick.

"But the rope..." Herman tried to argue.

"She broke it herself!" Eric snapped. "Didn't she learn to pick locks as a kid? That crate was nothing to her! She waited for the storm, staged her own 'death' just to make me feel guilty, just to get attention!"

The more he spoke, the more convinced he became, flames of anger burning in his eyes.

"She wants to threaten me with her own death? Not a chance."

Eric strode to the window, staring out into the black night, his voice cold and sharp. "Send every guard out. I want her found. Expose her little game."

"And check the cameras, check every road out of here. If any staff are caught hiding her or sneaking her food, fire them on the spot—and blacklist them from ever working in this business again!"

"Yes, sir..." Herman dared not say another word, hurrying out.

The living room was silent now, just Eric and Wendy.

Wendy walked over and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. "Eric, she's gone too far... How could she scare us like this?"

"She just wants attention." Eric covered her hands with his, his voice a little softer but still full of contempt. "She's always been jealous of you. She can't stand to see me care for you. Don't worry—when I catch her this time, I won't go easy."

I floated above them, watching their shadows entwined on the floor, feeling nothing at all—not even hate.