Chapter 4

The next day, Chloe called, her voice sickly sweet. "Liam said you'd help me? That's so generous of you, Olivia."

I met her at a cafe. She fluttered a binder full of wedding magazines at me, chattering about color schemes and floral arrangements. I just nodded, a polite smile frozen on my face.

While she was distracted by a call from the caterer, I saw my chance. "I'm going to the restroom," I said.

Instead, I walked outside and called my brother.

"Ethan. I need you to do something for me."

"Liv, anything. Are you okay? I heard what happened at the jewelry store."

"I'm fine," I lied. I pulled the broken pieces of the Eternal Star from my purse. I had gone back and collected them after they left. "I'm sending you a picture of this. It's the necklace Liam gave Chloe. She broke it. I want you to take the pieces to a private investigator. The one Dad uses. Tell him I want to know everything about Chloe Miller. Everything. Where she came from, who her family is, where she was for the last five years. I want to know what she had for breakfast every day if he can find it."

"Liv... what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that my husband didn't just forget me, Ethan. I think someone made him forget."

There was a heavy silence. "I'm on it," he finally said. "Be careful."

I went back inside, my smile still in place.

Two days later, I was forced to accompany Liam and Chloe to look at a potential wedding venue, a sprawling estate by the ocean. It was the same place Liam and I had always dreamed of getting married. The irony was a bitter pill.

I sat in the back of Liam's car, a silent observer in my own nightmare. Chloe chattered nonstop, her hand resting on Liam's arm. In the rearview mirror, I could see him smiling at her, his eyes full of adoration. They were their own little world, and I was just a ghost haunting the backseat.

Chloe sprayed a perfume in the car, a heavy, cloying scent. "A new fragrance," she announced. "It's supposed to be calming. For the baby."

My head started to feel fuzzy. The world seemed to tilt, the sound of her voice fading into a dull drone. My eyelids grew heavy. I tried to fight it, but a deep, unnatural sleep pulled me under.

I woke up with a gasp.

I wasn't in the car anymore. I was in a dark, damp room. It smelled of mildew and decay. My hands were tied behind my back with a rough rope, and my head throbbed. Panic seized me.

I scooted backward until my back hit a cold, concrete wall. Where was I? A basement? An abandoned warehouse?

The door creaked open, and two large, menacing men walked in. I didn't recognize them.

"She's awake," one of them grunted.

"Good. Boss said to rough her up a bit. Make it look like a robbery gone wrong."

My blood ran cold. Boss?

One of the men grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. "You should've just taken the money, bitch. Would've been easier for everyone."

His face was inches from mine. I could smell the stale cigarettes on his breath.

"Who sent you?" I choked out.

He laughed, a cruel, ugly sound. "Guess you're not as dumb as you look." He pulled a phone from his pocket and hit a number on speed dial. He put it on speaker.

"She's awake," he said into the phone.

A familiar, sweet voice answered. "Is she? Perfect. Did she ask who sent you?"

It was Chloe.

"Yeah, she did," the man said.

"Well, tell her," Chloe's voice dripped with satisfaction, "that I send my regards."

The man grinned, showing a row of yellowed teeth. He hung up the phone and looked at his partner.

"You heard the lady," he said. "Let's get to work."

He drew back his fist, and the last thing I saw before the world exploded in pain was the cruel smile on his face.