Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The smell of antiseptics and stale hospital air filled my senses as I slowly drifted back to consciousness. My head throbbed, a dull ache behind my eyes, and my legs felt like lead. I blinked, the bright overhead lights burning my retinas. This wasn't the lavish suite Collin would have insisted on. It was a standard hospital room, bland and impersonal. A shiver traced its way down my spine. The last thing I remembered was collapsing after reading that email. Had YC Corp already made their move? Or was this just another layer of Collin's cruelty?

A nurse entered, her movements brisk, almost jarring. She roughly adjusted my IV drip, causing a jolt of pain in my arm. "Stay still, Ms. Blair," she grunted, not meeting my eyes. Her tone was flat, devoid of any warmth. This wasn't the gentle care I usually received, even in a regular hospital stay. Something was off.

"Could you be a little more gentle?" I asked, my voice hoarse. A bitter laugh escaped her lips.

"Gentle?" she scoffed, turning to face me, her eyes hardened. "Honey, Mr. Brewer said you were 'dramatic.' He told us to just get the job done. Said you're strong enough to handle it."

Collin. His words, his exact words. They echoed the chilling pronouncement he' d made at the DMV. You're strong, Kira. You understand. My stomach clenched. He was still orchestrating my suffering, even in my supposed recovery. My heart, or what was left of it, ached with a familiar, searing pain. He truly believed he was doing me a favor, building my resilience. He was just proving how little he ever knew me.

Just then, the door swung open, and in walked Collin, a bouquet of gaudy pink roses in his hand. Beside him, Haylee Acosta skipped in, wearing a ridiculously bright yellow sundress, her face a mask of saccharine sweetness. Her presence made the room feel even smaller, suffocating.

"Oh, Kira! You're awake!" Haylee chirped, her voice grating on my nerves. She looked like a child playing dress-up, completely out of place in a hospital.

My blood ran cold. The sight of her, the woman who had stolen my future, killed my child, and indirectly caused my mother' s death, snapped something inside me. All the suppressed grief, the rage, the unimaginable pain, erupted. I lunged forward, my bandaged legs protesting with a scream of agony, my hands reaching for her. "You!" I roared, a raw, primal sound tearing from my throat. "You monster!"

Haylee shrieked, stumbling backwards into Collin, who quickly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. "Collin, she's trying to attack me!" she wailed, burying her face in his chest.

Collin' s gaze hardened, fixing on me with an icy disapproval. "Kira! What is wrong with you? Look at her, she's terrified!" He spoke to me as if I were a wild animal, not the woman he was supposed to marry. "Haylee is here to help you. She feels so bad about... everything. She wants to make amends."

My body trembled, not from pain, but from a terrifying mixture of fury and despair. Help me? The irony was a bitter taste in my mouth. He wants her to help me? The woman who plunged me into this hell? I couldn't even speak, my throat seizing up with emotion. But Collin wasn't done. He looked at me, a flicker of something in his eyes-not fear, but perhaps a momentary unease at the raw hatred blazing from mine. It was quickly replaced by his usual condescension.

"Haylee is going to stay with you," he announced, as if decreeing a great honor. "She's worried about you, and she insists on nursing you back to health. It's her way of apologizing."

My mind reeled. This was not an act of kindness. This was a twisted form of punishment, a way to keep me under his thumb, to ensure I dropped the charges and remained silent. He wanted me to watch her play house, while I festered in my own misery. He wanted to rub her "innocence" in my face, a constant reminder of everything I had lost. I wanted to scream, to lash out, but the words caught in my throat. My body was too weak, my spirit too crushed. All I could do was stare, my eyes burning holes through their smug facade.

And so, my torture began. Haylee became my "caregiver." It was an elaborate charade of incompetence and passive aggression. She would "accidentally" leave my pain medication out of reach, claiming she thought it was "just candy." She'd "forget" to give me my physical therapy exercises, citing her own "dizzy spells." My injuries, instead of healing, grew worse. A persistent infection set in, my legs a constant throb of pain. Every day was a fresh bruise, a new ache, both physical and emotional. I tried to protest, to explain her deliberate cruelty to Collin, but he always dismissed me with a wave of his hand. "Haylee's just a little clumsy, Kira," he' d say, "She means well. Don't be so hard on her." Once, when I pushed her hand away as she was trying to force a spoonful of watery broth down my throat, she burst into tears. Collin, arriving at that very moment, immediately sided with her, his face a mask of disappointment. "Kira, you're scaring her! She's trying so hard."

My spirit dwindled. The fight drained out of me, replaced by a hollow despair. I stopped trying to explain, stopped trying to resist. I just lay there, a prisoner in my own recovery, watching Haylee flit around the room, her childish antics a constant, jarring reminder of my torment. My heart had hardened, my mind numb.

One afternoon, Haylee entered my room with a triumphant smile, carrying a protein shake. "Kira-boo, look! Collin said you need to get strong! I found this special powder. It says 'ashes' on the container, so it must be super nutritious!"

My blood froze. "Ashes?" My voice was barely a whisper. My mother's urn. It had been labeled "Ashes."

A cold dread gripped me. I pushed myself up, a surge of adrenaline momentarily overriding the pain. "What did you do?" I demanded, my eyes wide with terror.

Haylee pouted. "I just added it to your shake! It was in the container labeled 'Ashes' in Collin's study. I thought it was some kind of special supplement, like for strong bones!"

My mother. My beautiful, kind mother. Her remains. Mixed into a protein shake by this vapid, malicious creature. A guttural scream tore from my throat. I launched myself out of bed, grabbing the glass from her hand and throwing it against the wall. The shake splattered, a dark, viscous liquid against the pristine white. "You disgusting monster!" I shrieked, my hand flying, connecting with her cheek with a resounding smack.

Haylee' s childish facade shattered. Her eyes, usually wide and innocent, narrowed with a venomous hatred. A deep, red mark bloomed on her cheek. She staggered back, clutching her face, a high-pitched wail erupting from her. "Collin! Collin! She hit me! She tried to kill me!"

The door burst open. Collin stood there, his face contorted with fury as he took in the scene: the broken glass, my disheveled state, Haylee's tear-streaked face. Without a word, he lunged at me, pushing me back with a force that sent a fresh wave of agony through my injured legs. I crashed against the wall, my head hitting the plaster with a dull thud. Stars exploded behind my eyes.

"Kira, what the hell is wrong with you?" he roared, his voice laced with a cold disgust. He turned to Haylee, cradling her face in his hands. "Baby, are you okay? Did she hurt you badly?"

Haylee sobbed, pointing at the splattered wall. "She... she threw my special shake! She said I was a monster! I just wanted to help her get strong, like you said! I thought the 'Ashes' powder was good for her!" She looked up at Collin, her eyes wide with feigned innocence. "Honey, she needs to apologize. She needs to apologize to me for hurting me."

Collin's gaze returned to me, sharp and unforgiving. "Kira, apologize to Haylee. Now."

My head swam, the pain a dull roar in my ears. Apologize? For what? For her desecrating my mother's memory? For her cruelty? "No," I breathed, the word a defiance. "Never."

His jaw clenched. "Don't make me bring your mother into this again, Kira. I know a lot more about her past than that video showed. And if you don't apologize, I will make sure every single secret is exposed."

My mother. Again. My poor, departed mother. He was still using her, even in death, to control me. The bitterness was a physical sensation, thick and suffocating. My body shook with suppressed sobs, but no tears came. I was a dried-up well of grief. What was the point? What was the use? He had already destroyed everything. My voice was a raw whisper.

"I'm sorry," I choked out, the words tasting like ash. "I'm sorry, Haylee."

Haylee' s sobs instantly subsided, replaced by a smug smile. "It's okay, Kira-boo," she simpered, patting my arm, a gesture that felt like a snake coiling around me. "I know you're just confused. Collin, let's go. She needs her rest."

Collin nodded, oblivious to the venom in her touch. He kissed Haylee's forehead, then turned to me, his eyes cold and distant. "See, Kira? Just apologize. It's not that hard." He took Haylee by the hand, leading her out of the room. As they left, his parting words hung in the air, a final, cruel warning. "You need to calm down, Kira. For your own good."

I watched them go, my body aching, my soul screaming. The smell of my mother's ashes, mixed with protein powder, clung to the air. My hands trembled as I slowly, meticulously, cleaned up the mess on the wall, each smear a fresh wound to my heart. My life was a wasteland, burned to the ground. But from the ashes, something new was stirring. A cold, calculating rage. And a promise. A promise to my mother, to my lost child, and to myself. Collin. Haylee. They would pay. And I would make sure it was a price they could never imagine.