Chapter 5

Ava Miller POV

I moved faster than I ever had in my life. I dove past him, scrambling across the silk duvet, my heart hammering against my ribs.

My fingers closed around the cool surface of the passport just as his hand clamped down on my ankle.

"Kelsey!" he shouted, dragging me back toward him.

I kicked. I lashed out blindly, my heel connecting solid and hard with his shin.

He grunted in pain and let go.

I rolled off the bed and stood up, clutching the passport to my chest like a shield. My breath came in ragged gasps.

Bennett stared at me, rubbing his leg. He looked genuinely shocked. "Did you just... kick me?"

"I am done," I said. The words tasted like copper and ash. "I am done being your puppet. I am done being your 'little sister.' I am done."

"You're hysterical," he sneered, straightening up and stepping forward again. "You're making a mess."

"No," I said, backing toward the door. "I'm cleaning one up."

I pulled my phone from my pocket. I dialed my lawyer, hitting the speaker button with a trembling thumb.

"Mrs. Randolph?" the voice answered.

"It's Kelsey," I said, my eyes locked on Bennett's. "I am invoking the termination clause. I want Bennett removed from all my accounts, all my legal representation, and all medical proxy forms. Immediately. Revoke his power of attorney."

The color drained from Bennett's face. "You can't do that. I manage everything. You don't know how to handle the estate."

"Do it," I told the lawyer. "Draft the papers now."

"Understood," the lawyer said, his tone shifting to professional urgency. "It's done."

I hung up.

Bennett stood there, his mouth slightly open. I could see the gears grinding to a halt behind his eyes. The blueprint was crumbling. His "Recall Plan" had just evaporated.

"You're making a mistake," he whispered. "You'll come crawling back. You can't survive without me."

His phone rang.

He glanced at it. His expression shifted from anger to pure panic.

"Aria?" he answered.

"Bennett!" Her voice was shrill, echoing in the quiet room. "My stomach hurts! It hurts so bad! I think something is wrong with the baby!"

Bennett's face went white. He forgot me instantly.

"I'm coming," he said into the phone. "Hold on, I'm coming right now."

He turned and ran out the door. He didn't look back. He didn't ask about the passport. He didn't care that I was standing there, shaking, with my life in a suitcase.

He chose. Again.

I stood in the silence for a long moment. Then, I exhaled.

It was over.

I finished packing. I moved mechanically, disconnecting from the room, from the memories. I called a specialized service-Blackwood Privacy Solutions.

"I want to disappear," I told them. "New number. Untraceable location. Tonight."

"Extraction authorized," the agent said smoothly. "We can have a car there in twenty minutes."

Two days later.

I was in a temporary safe house, waiting for my flight.

I checked social media one last time.

Bennett had posted a photo. It was him and Aria in a hospital bed. She looked perfectly fine, glowing even. He was kissing her forehead.

The caption read: *My love and our future. A scare, but we are strong.*

He was mimicking a photo we had taken years ago, after I had undergone emergency surgery. The same angle. The same protective pose. Just a different woman.

The comments were flooding in.

*So happy for you both!*

*True love wins!*

*Glad you moved on from the past.*

I stared at the screen. I waited for the pain. I waited for the anger to tear me apart.

But there was nothing.

Just a flat, gray numbness.

It was like looking at a photo of strangers.

I felt my heart harden. It wasn't turning to stone; it was turning to steel.

I blocked the account. I popped the SIM card out and dropped it into the trash can.

I picked up my bag. The car was waiting.

New York was behind me. Bennett was behind me.

I walked out the door and didn't look back.