Chapter 4

The bodyguard shoved my head down, gripped my jaw, and forced the hard liquor into my mouth.

The fiery liquor scorched my throat, and I choked, coughing violently. The alcohol, mixed with the blood from the corner of my mouth, splattered onto the marble floor, blooming into a humiliating stain.

My heart ached, a raw and bloody pulp of pain.

But Dominic still wouldn't relent.

He made me drink the entire glass, down to the last drop.

By the time it was over, my legs were numb, and I no longer had the strength to stand.

He waved a hand, summoning a bodyguard to take the settlement agreement I was clutching.

After Kayla signed her name, the bodyguard pinned my hand down and forced my thumbprint onto the document.

He held it in his hands, looking it over, and his expression finally softened.

“If you’d just been this obedient sooner, you wouldn’t have had to suffer.”

“Does your waist still hurt? Let me take you to the hospital.”

He stepped forward to help me up, but I shoved him away, a cold sneer on my face.

“I don’t need your fake kindness.”

As I turned to leave, I staggered, nearly tumbling down the steps.

Dominic instinctively reached out, but his hand froze in mid-air before ultimately dropping to his side.

“Follow her. Make sure she gets to the hospital, and keep me updated.”

With that, he wrapped his arm around Kayla and walked into the hotel lobby, never looking back.

Cold sweat beaded on my forehead. By the time I made it down the stairs, a full ten minutes had passed.

The piercing pain became unbearable, and I suddenly collapsed.

In the haze of unconsciousness, it felt as if I had returned to eight years ago.

My mother and I were wandering the streets, with nowhere to go.

As we reached the school gates, a car careened out of control, heading straight for Dominic—it was retaliation from a rival family.

Without a second thought, I rushed forward and pushed him out of the way.

He was fine, just a few scrapes and bruises.

But I suffered a comminuted fracture of my tailbone, leaving me bedridden in the hospital for half a year and with a permanent back injury.

Back then, he would visit me every day with his textbooks, explaining problems and helping me review.

At night, thinking I was asleep, he would whisper softly in my ear:

“Karina, it seems I'm destined to be indebted to you for life.”

“But that's alright, I have a lifetime to repay you.”

In a corner the young man couldn't see, the corners of my lips slowly curled into a smile.

Ever since then, my back would ache unbearably on damp, rainy days.

And he would drop everything to come home to me, applying a warm compress and changing my dressings.

But now, everything has changed.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in the hospital.

On my phone was a message from Dominic, sent two hours ago.

“Papa wants me to bring you home for a visit. We're getting married soon, so it's about time you dropped that little attitude of yours.”

"The family gathering is tomorrow night. I'll come pick you up."

An entire day passed, and not another word from Dominic.

Until I saw Kayla's updated social media post.

The location was a private yacht on Lake Michigan.

The accompanying photo was of the two of them, shirtless, locked in a kiss. He had already taken off my engagement ring.

Only a faint tan line remained where it used to be.

"He said that no matter what happens in the future, he'll always stand in front of me and shield me from every hardship. Thank you, Dominic. Having you in this life is more than enough."

Dominic had liked her post and replied with a cute cat emoji, his tone full of doting affection.

"What am I going to do with you? A man's gotta spoil his own little sister. I just hope your future brother-in-law doesn't mind."

I remembered the day I turned eighteen, when Dominic asked me what gift I wanted.

I said I wanted to see the sunrise from the ocean, to feel that magnificence so I could better embrace my new beginning.

Back then, his eyes were full of disdain as the refusal tumbled from his lips.

"The ocean? The waves are too rough. What kind of person thinks that's fun?"

Seeing my disappointment, he then explained that he didn't like the feeling of being tossed about at sea.

So, all his principles could be broken. I just wasn't the one he was willing to break them for.

Closing the page, I bought myself a ticket to Paris for a flight leaving in three days.