Chapter 2

When the rhythmic beeping of medical machines finally woke me, it was already noon the next day.

The sharp, sterile scent of rubbing alcohol hung heavy in the air.

A nurse was adjusting my IV drip. Catching sight of my open eyes, she let out a visible sigh of relief.

She told me that a ski patrol team had found me at the bottom of the slope that morning and alerted the police. If they had been even half an hour later, I would have died from severe hypothermia and blood loss.

I listened in silence, looking down at my left shoulder, which was now wrapped tightly in thick bandages. A steady, dull ache pulsed beneath the gauze.

My mind replayed Julian’s impatient reprimand on the phone right before I tumbled down the cliff, the memory crystal clear.

Leaning back against the hospital pillows, I stared out at the overcast sky. The very last spark of hope I held for this ten-year relationship was completely extinguished, leaving behind an unprecedented sense of absolute calm.

The nurse had placed my personal belongings on the nightstand. My phone was plugged into a charger, fully powered.

Using my uninjured right hand, I picked it up and unlocked the screen. Several voicemails from Julian from the previous night immediately popped up.

His tone sounded casual and utterly careless.

"Where did you go? Where’s the pizza?"

"Mia is starving. How can you be so spiteful?"

"Mia was just playing a harmless joke on you. Do you really have to take it this far?"

Following those were a few painfully fake voice messages from Mia.

"Maya, Julian is really mad, but don't worry, I smoothed things over for you."

"Come back soon, or he's really going to ignore you."

There were a few more, but I couldn't even be bothered to play them.

Next were a few brief texts Julian had sent this morning, demanding to know where the hell I was and why I hadn't answered my phone all night.

I didn't frantically call him back to explain myself like I used to. I didn't reply to a single message. Instead, I simply pressed the lock button.

What I needed right now was rest—both physical and mental. Only when I was fully recovered would I have the energy to uncover the truth behind everything that had happened.

After being discharged, I didn't go back to Julian. Instead, I took the savings I had accumulated over the years and hired the most expensive private detective in the city.

I gave him every single detail of the hunt in the snowstorm, demanding he track down the man who shot me with that crossbow.

I didn't want to go through the usual police channels and spook my enemy. I had to uncover the truth myself and seize control of the narrative.

The detective was alarmingly efficient. In just a few days, he managed to track a digital and physical trail straight to a single suspect.

That afternoon, he drove me to a dilapidated, filthy trailer park right off the interstate.

Piles of discarded tires and rusted scrap metal littered the area, and the air reeked of a nauseating mix of motor oil and cheap tobacco.

Accompanied by a few heavily built muscle men on his payroll, the detective marched aggressively toward a rust-eaten trailer at the edge of the lot. With one brutal kick, he forced open the warped door.

Before the occupant could even react, two brutes surged inside, violently dragging a man out and pinning him face-down in the freezing mud.

The man stared up at us in sheer terror.

The detective informed me that his name was Tom, a scumbag who had spent years operating on the fringes of the black market.

I stared into the man's terrified eyes and evaluated his build. Within seconds, I was absolutely certain—he was indeed the shooter from the snowy woods.

The men kept Tom pressed firmly into the dirt, roughly hauling him up by his collar so he was forced to look at us.

"Who sent you?" I asked.

Tom kept his mouth shut.

The detective sneered coldly. "Who hired you? Give us a name. And you really don't want us to ask a second time."

In the very next second, one of the muscle men drove a savage fist straight into Tom's face.

His cheek scraped against the sharp gravel, drawing immediate blood. Tom coughed violently and screamed in absolute panic, "It was Mia! A woman named Mia! She gave me fifty thousand dollars in cash. I was supposed to make it look like a robbery gone wrong in the mountains and take you out!"

A jolt shot through my body. Even though I had strongly suspected as much, actually hearing her name spill from his bloody lips still made my stomach turn with pure disgust.

Just how twisted and psychotic was this woman's obsession with Julian?

Forcing down the nausea, I pressed 'save' on the video recording I had been covertly taking on my phone.

Then, I pulled up the keypad to dial 911.

"That's enough," I said, glancing down at Tom, my voice like ice. "Hand him over to the cops. This evidence is more than enough to put him away for attempted first-degree murder."

Just as my thumb hovered over the call button, Tom lost his mind. He began thrashing and twisting violently beneath the bodyguards.

"No! Don't call the cops, I'm begging you!" he roared in raw terror, his face turning an explosive shade of red from the effort. "I can't go to prison! If I go inside, Mia will absolutely pay someone to shank me to death! Please, if you don't call the cops, I'll trade you a secret about Mia! A secret that will completely destroy her!"

I stopped my thumb, holding my phone steady, and shot the detective a meaningful glance.

The bodyguards slightly loosened their crushing grip on the back of Tom's neck.

I stared down at him and hit 'record' once more. "If whatever comes out of your mouth next is just garbage to stall for time, I'll make sure the DA tacks on another charge."

"It's about the fire!" Tom gasped frantically for air, his wild eyes locking onto mine. "The big fire at Julian's family estate years ago! I was doing a delivery for the manor's kitchen that day, standing right outside the courtyard. I saw everything!"

I frowned, cutting him off. "That was a tragic accident. Mia's mother died trying to save—"

"It was no accident!" Tom shrieked, his voice cracking violently. "That poor woman dragged an unconscious Julian out of the flames. But the smoke was so thick, she thought Mia was still trapped on the second floor, so she turned around and charged right back into the blazing house. But in reality, Mia had already escaped!"

I froze. My heart seemed to skip a beat, and my voice tightened instinctively. "What are you saying?"

Tom swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva, absolute dread reflecting in his eyes. "I saw it with my own two eyes. Teenage Mia was hiding right outside the house... She personally reached out across the frame, and from the outside, she deadbolted the exit door shut behind her own mother!"

A sharp, piercing ring instantly flooded my brain. I took a staggering step back in utter disbelief.

"Why would she do that? That was her mother! Did her mother abuse her or something?"

Tom let out a guttural, morbid laugh. "You're too naive. You have no idea how evil human nature can get. As long as her mother died in that fire, Julian's wealthy family would be forced to adopt her to save their reputation. She could instantly upgrade from a maid's brat to a rich heiress. She could use the 'my mother died saving you' card to manipulate and milk Julian for the rest of his miserable life!"

For countless years, Julian had practically worshipped Mia out of a crushing sense of indebtedness, allowing her to trample all over my boundaries time and time again.

And it was all a fabricated, grotesque lie.

"Just for money and Julian's undivided attention, she watched her own flesh and blood burn to a crisp," Tom continued, grinding his teeth in hatred. "Afterward, I used that secret to blackmail her. She was terrified at first and paid up obediently. But recently, she’s clearly decided I'm a liability! Yesterday, the second I got back to the camp, I spotted gang enforcers lurking at the intersection—guys who have been hunting me down. She definitely sold me out to them! She wanted me to kill you, and then she was going to use the mafia to silence me for good. Since that psycho won’t leave me an out, I sure as hell won't let her get away with it!"

I stood frozen in place, staring down at Tom’s venomous, blood-stained face in the dirt, as a bone-deep, terrifying chill slowly crawled up my spine.