Chapter 3

A few days later, I was back in our apartment, moving like a ghost through rooms that no longer felt like mine. My bruises had faded to ugly shades of yellow and green.

I stood in my studio, my hand hovering over the ninety-seventh model, a sleek, modern skyscraper designed to be the future headquarters of Liam' s company. Our crowning achievement.

I picked it up, its familiar weight a mockery in my hands, and was about to head for the river when Liam appeared in the doorway.

"Don' t do that," he said, his voice softer than it had been in weeks. He looked tired, a flicker of the man I once loved in his eyes. "I had them all made for you."

I said nothing, just clutched the model tighter.

He walked toward me, stopping a few feet away. "I know I' ve been hard on you, Ava."

He gestured to the empty spaces on the shelves. "I know what you' ve been doing. It hurts me, you know. Every time you throw one away, you' re throwing away a piece of us."

For a fleeting moment, I remembered the early days. I remembered him presenting me with the very first model, his eyes shining with excitement. "For our future, Ava," he had said. "Everything I build, I build with you."

The memory was so clear it was painful, a phantom limb of a love that was now dead.

"I need you tonight," he said, breaking the silence. "There' s a big tech gala. A lot of important people will be there."

I just stared at him.

"Chloe needs to go," he continued, his tone becoming more business-like. "She needs to be seen on my arm. But she doesn' t know anyone. She needs your guidance. You know how to navigate those rooms."

I wanted to laugh. I wanted to scream. He wanted me to be a chaperone for my own replacement.

"No," I said, my voice flat.

His expression hardened instantly. The flicker of the old Liam was gone. "Don' t say no to me, Ava."

"I' m not going."

"Ethan has his mid-term exams next week, doesn' t he?" Liam said casually, inspecting another model on the shelf. "It would be a shame if he were distracted by, say, having to find a new school and a new place to live."

The familiar threat settled in my stomach like a stone. He would never stop using my brother against me. I was trapped.

"Fine," I spat out. "I' ll go."

The gala was a glittering nightmare. I stood in a corner, a silent shadow in a black dress, while Liam paraded Chloe around the room. I could hear the whispers, the snickers.

"Isn' t that Ava Green? I thought she and Liam were inseparable."

"Who' s the new girl? He seems to have traded up for a younger model."

Every comment was a fresh stab of humiliation. I had built this world with him. These were people whose respect I had earned, and now I was just an object of pity and speculation. I sipped my champagne and thought about how I had given five years of my life, my talent, my love, to a man who was now using it all to break me.

Later in the evening, I saw Liam talking to a man named Marcus Thorne, a notorious tech rival known for his predatory business practices. Thorne' s eyes kept flicking over to Chloe, who was looking at a large, glittering diamond necklace on display for a charity auction.

I saw Chloe whisper something in Liam' s ear, her eyes fixed on the necklace. Liam' s jaw tightened. He wanted to give it to her.

Thorne must have seen it too. He smirked and said something to Liam, gesturing toward me. Liam' s face went pale. He shook his head, but Thorne just laughed and said something else, his voice low and insistent.

Liam looked from Thorne, to the necklace, to Chloe' s pleading face, and then, finally, to me. His eyes were cold, calculating. He was weighing his options.

He walked over to me, his steps deliberate.

"Thorne has a patent I need," he said, his voice devoid of any emotion. "A crucial software patent. It could make my company untouchable."

I waited.

"He' ll give it to me," Liam continued, his gaze unwavering. "For a price."

"What price?" I asked, though a sense of dread was already coiling in my gut.

Liam looked over my shoulder toward the stage where a band was playing. "He wants you to perform a dance for him. On that stage."

I stared at him, my mind refusing to process the words.

"A degrading dance," Liam clarified, as if that would make it better.

I felt the air leave my lungs. "You can' t be serious."

"He thinks it would be amusing," Liam said, his voice flat. "To see my brilliant, proud Ava grovel."

"Never," I whispered, horrified. "Liam, you can' t ask me to do this."

I looked into his eyes, searching for any sign of the man who had once promised to protect me. There was nothing. Just ambition. Just a cold, ruthless desire to get what he wanted, no matter the cost to me.

"Do it, Ava," he ordered.

"No."

His face twisted into a snarl. "You will do as I say." He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my flesh. "Don' t make me remind you what' s at stake."

Ethan. It was always Ethan.

But this time, something inside me snapped. There was a line, and he had just crossed it.

"No," I said again, my voice stronger this time. I pulled my arm from his grasp. "I won' t."

For a second, he looked genuinely surprised by my defiance. Then, a terrible, cold fury settled in his eyes.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. "Security."

Two large men in black suits appeared at his side instantly.

"She' s refusing to cooperate," Liam said to them, his voice like ice. "Teach her a lesson."

---