Chapter 4

He didn't remember at all.

It was his brainwashing and hypnosis that made me treat the person who killed my mother like a real daughter and love her that way.

I stayed silent.

So he grabbed clothes and shoved them onto me, then he wrapped an arm around my waist and hauled me out the door.

He also forgot that I'd cut myself that very morning.

If he hadn't bandaged me in time, I would've needed the hospital to transfuse blood into me-not the other way around.

Whether it was because of the meds or not, I shouldn't have been the one donating.

But Carter didn't give me a single chance to fight.

At the ER, he ordered the nurse to hold me down and he drew my blood himself.

My wrists were layered with scars. Finding a vein under them wasn't easy.

I'd already lost too much blood that morning. Before the bag was even full, there was nothing left to give.

Carter kept squeezing my arm.

Useless.

There still wasn't enough.

My head grew light. The skin on my arm turned raw and red under his hands, but the blood still wasn't enough.

He switched to my other arm, drawing as he murmured in a gentle voice that made me want to vomit.

“Honey... Ava is our daughter. Can we scrape together two bags for her? Please?”

When he finally got what he wanted, he patted the top of my head with indulgent satisfaction.

“Good girl. Sit here and wait. Drink some water. Once Ava's surgery is over, I'll come back and stay with you.”

He couldn't wait to leave.

My vision blurred from blood loss. How could water fix that?

In a haze, familiar sobbing pulled me half-awake.

“Dad... if you hadn't come in time, I really would've died today!” Ava's voice whined.

I rubbed my forehead and heard Carter's voice, low and fervent:

“Ava, as long as I'm alive, I will never let anything happen to you.”

“What the hell is Henry thinking?” Carter demanded. “How dare he fight with you?”

Carter's words only made Ava cry harder.

“He cheated on me, Dad. A one-night stand. We fought, and I ran out... and then I got distracted while driving...”

“Unbelievable,” Carter snapped, his voice rising. “I'll go teach him a lesson.”

“Dad...”

Her tone softened.

As the curtain shifted, I saw Ava hook her arms around Carter's neck and kiss him.

But Carter pushed her away.

Ava immediately pouted. Tears spilled in strings down her cheeks.

“Henry and I are just messing around,” she said, voice sweet and injured. “You're always stuck with Mom. I'm lonely every day.”

No wonder Carter got trapped by her.

Every word she said was designed to pull a man under.

In an instant, the anger in Carter's eyes melted into desire.

He cupped the back of Ava's head and kissed her hard.

But because Ava was hurt, he treated her like a treasure, careful, reverent.

Nothing like the way he took me. With me, he was rough. Forceful. Like he didn't have to care whether I broke.

In the fog, more memories surged into my mind.

I clenched my teeth against the pain and lifted my phone, recording them as they kissed.

They didn't stop until deep into the night.

When Carter finally left, Ava suddenly yanked the curtain open.

Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked at me with a mocking smile.

“Mom,” she said brightly, “did you hear it?”

She touched her bright red lips and went on,

“You're old. You can't keep a man anymore. There are so many eighteen-year-old young ladies out there. All I need to do is curl a finger, and Dad is just like those men. He loves me so much he can't breathe.”

“He even tolerates me being a little wild.”

Looking at her, so pretty, so smug. My reason got swallowed whole by rage.

I lunged up and grabbed her throat.

Ava didn't fight back. She only cried loudly, 'Dad!'

The next second, a brutal force slammed into me.

I was kicked hard to the floor.