CHAPTER 14
After the conversation with Frank, after his confession that she’d been nothing more than a tool to him, after the way he had quite literally robbed her—leaving her only the house and a monthly handout—Nina was completely shattered.
Once, she had a fortress—her father and her husband. They had always protected her. She had lived as if behind a stone wall, convinced that nothing could threaten her, that her world was unbreakable.
And now she was standing in the ruins of her own life.
Whenever she closed her eyes, images flared in her mind. Frank’s words. His cold gaze.
“I just used you.”
His indifferent voice.
“I decided I’d improve my life with your help.”
She was suffocating. Sleep wouldn’t come. And how could it, when her life had just collapsed? When she’d believed in something for so many years and it had turned out to be a lie?
She couldn’t lie in that bed anymore. She couldn’t just stay there.
She needed to do something. But what? Go stand outside Vivian’s house and scream that she was a filthy thief who had stolen her husband? Turn into a pathetic, humiliated mess who had only just learned that her husband had lived a double life for twenty years?
No.
But before she had time to decide what to do, Nina was already on her feet, pulling a robe on over her pajamas and grabbing her car keys.
She didn’t even know where she was going. She just wanted to clear her head. The house was too hollow, too quiet.
But suddenly she arrived at Lynn's house.
Why?
She didn’t know herself.
She stayed in the car, turned off the headlights, and stared at the dark windows. Everything was quiet, peaceful. She couldn’t explain why she was here, why she didn’t just turn around and leave. Maybe because Jasper Garth had been her starting point. Her first mistake.
Maybe because if not for him, she wouldn’t have ended up in this hell.
She sat in the car, staring into the darkness, thinking about her life.
Allowing herself to dream for a moment. About what her life might have been like if she’d never met Jasper or Frank.
Even if that fateful night with Jasper had happened anyway, she could still be living a quiet, peaceful life with Lynn now.
And then, like a knife to the heart, another thought cut through her: what about Daphne? If not for Frank, Daphne would never have been born. And Daphne wasn’t to blame for having such a calculating bastard for a father.
Nina leaned back against the seat. She needed to leave. It had been stupid to come here at all.
Her fingers brushed the ignition button just as headlights flared into her eyes.
A taxi pulled up to the house. The door opened, and Lynn stepped out.
Nina watched her, holding her breath. What was she doing out at this hour—alone? It was almost two in the morning.
Lynn looked exhausted, digging through her bag, clearly searching for her keys. But before Nina could think any further, a second vehicle caught her attention.
A black SUV pulled up right after the taxi and stopped a few yards from the house.
Lynn didn’t notice it. She lowered her head, still searching for her keys.
Nina strained to see into the darkness, her fingers clenched around the steering wheel. An uneasy feeling prickled along her nerves. The moment the taxi pulled away, the SUV’s door flew open and two men stepped out. Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in dark clothing.
She knew instantly what was about to happen.
Lynn didn’t even have time to lift her head before they grabbed her from behind.
She yelped in surprise, tried to twist free, but it was already too late. One clamped a hand over her mouth, the other clamped an arm around her waist. She fought, struggling desperately, but they were stronger. They dragged her toward the car.
Nina didn’t think. Her body moved on its own.
She snatched the umbrella from the passenger seat, flung the door open, and ran. In a split second, her past flashed before her in brutal fragments—when she herself had been just as helpless as Lynn. She wasn’t going to let this happen to Lynn.
“Let her go!”
Her voice sliced through the silence like a blade. The men cursed in irritation, one of them twisting Lynn’s arm painfully to make her stop thrashing.
Nina swung and slammed the umbrella down on one of the attackers’ heads. He staggered back, swearing.
“Are you out of your damn mind?!”
But she didn’t stop. She struck again and again, with the fury that had been building inside her for years. She wasn’t going to let them take Lynn. She beat at them with the damned umbrella, screaming, doing anything she could.
“I’ve already called the police! Get out of here!”
At that, one of them snarled in rage and shoved Lynn away violently. Lynn lost her balance and fell, her head striking the concrete curb with a dull thud.
“No!” Nina rushed to her as the men were already jumping back into the SUV.
She barely caught a glimpse of the plate numbers before the vehicle peeled away and vanished into the darkness.
Nina dropped to her knees beside Lynn. She wasn’t moving. Her light hair was spread across the pavement, her eyes closed. A dark red pool of blood began to spread beneath her head.
“Lynn…”
She grabbed her by the shoulders, gently shaking her.
“Lynn, open your eyes!”
No response.
God.
God, please, not this.
With trembling hands, Nina pulled out her phone and called 911. The ringing stretched unbearably long. Why wasn’t anyone answering?
Please.
Please, let her live.
“Come on, hurry!” she nearly screamed into the phone as panic crashed over her.
“An ambulance is on the way. Stay on the line.”
Nina watched as blood continued to seep from beneath Lynn’s head. Her face was too pale, her chest barely rising.
“Lynn!” She touched her shoulder carefully, afraid to make things worse. “Can you hear me? Open your eyes. Please!”
Nothing.
The rest of the world ceased to exist—Lynn’s face in the glow of the streetlights, her motionless body, the cursed moon overhead.
She didn’t know what to do.
She didn’t know how to help her.
Before, there had always been someone who made decisions for her—her father, Frank. Now she was alone. And on the asphalt in front of her, her daughter was dying.
At last, she heard the siren. Red lights flooded the street, the screech of brakes tearing through the night.
Paramedics rushed out of the ambulance. Nina was pushed back as one of them bent over Lynn and the other rolled out a gurney.
“Unconscious, head trauma, blood loss…” she caught fragments of their hurried words but couldn’t focus.
She only stared at her hands. They were covered in blood. Her daughter’s blood.
“Who are you to her?” one of the paramedics asked, turning to her with a kit in his hands. “Her sister?”
She froze. Felt something shudder inside her, her heart pounding in her chest, her fingers tightening in a spasm.
He thought she was her sister. But she was her mother. And she couldn’t say it.
“I…” she swallowed hard. “I was just driving by and saw someone trying to abduct her.”
The man nodded, studying her for a long moment.
“Sorry. You just look a lot alike.”
She was still trembling from the shock. Watching the ambulance, the words slipped from her lips on their own:
“Can I ride with you?”
“You’re not related to her, though,” he said, watching her closely again.
“I just… I’m worried about her.”
The paramedic hesitated for a second, weighing her, then nodded.
“All right. Get in. The police will be looking for you anyway to take a statement—it’ll be easier to do it at the hospital.”
She climbed into the ambulance, her gaze fixed on Lynn. She wasn’t moving—but she was still breathing.
Only now did Nina finally allow herself to truly look at her face. To study every feature.
She just wished it were happening under any other circumstances.