Chapter 2

The world was a blur of neon and noise. I don't remember how I got from the rooftop bar to the street below. My legs just moved, carrying me away from the sound of their laughter.

A hand clamped down on my arm, hard. I flinched, spinning around to see Case. His charming smile was gone, replaced by a tight, annoyed mask.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

Behind him, Blair and his friends were spilling out of the elevator, their faces a mixture of amusement and contempt.

"Case, don't waste your time," one of them slurred, draping an arm over Blair's shoulder. "Let's go. You still have to give her the 'real' welcome-home present."

Blair smirked. "Yes, Case. You promised. A proposal she'll never forget."

The group erupted in laughter. My stomach churned.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Case ignored me. He tightened his grip on my arm, his fingers digging into my skin. "Get in the car."

It wasn't a request. It was an order. I was too weak, too stunned to fight. He shoved me into the back of his car, and his friends piled into another. The city lights streaked past as we drove. I felt like I was watching my life from outside my own body.

We pulled up in front of City Hall. A crowd of reporters was already there, cameras flashing like a swarm of angry fireflies. They had been tipped off. This was another part of the show.

"What is this?" I breathed, shrinking back into the seat.

"Our future, baby," Case said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He dragged me out of the car and into the center of the media circus.

"Case! Is it true you're proposing to Aaliyah Wolfe tonight?" a reporter shouted.

Case beamed at the cameras, pulling me closer. "She sacrificed everything for me. It's the least I can do."

His friend, the one who had been with Blair, stepped forward, holding a small, velvet box. But he didn't hand it to Case. Instead, he whistled.

A man led a scruffy-looking stray dog forward. It had a cheap, plastic ring tied around its collar with a grimy ribbon.

The crowd gasped, then roared with laughter. Humiliation, hot and suffocating, washed over me. They weren't proposing to me. They were proposing I marry a dog.

"Go on, Aaliyah," Blair cooed, her eyes dancing with wicked delight. "He's all yours. A perfect match for a jailbird bitch like you."

The world started to spin. The flashing lights, the jeering faces, the barking dog-it was too much. My legs gave out, and I crumpled to the pavement.

The cold, hard concrete against my cheek was a brutal reality check. The pain in my head exploded, a blinding white light behind my eyes. I remembered the beatings in prison, the loneliness, the fear. But none of it, none of it, compared to this.

"Please," I begged, looking up at Case, my vision swimming with tears. "Please, stop."

Blair sneered. "Stop? But the fun is just getting started. Get up. The cameras are waiting."

Case looked down at me, his expression as cold and unforgiving as a block of ice. "Don't be a spoilsport, Aaliyah."

Two of his friends grabbed my arms, hauling me to my feet. I struggled, a pathetic, weak attempt at resistance.

"Let me go!"

"Not until you say yes to the mutt," one of them grunted, his grip like iron.

I tried to wrench free, to run, to escape this waking nightmare. My foot slipped, and I went down again, this time hitting my head on the curb. A wave of nausea and dizziness washed over me.

Suddenly, Case was there, crouching in front of me. He grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes, once so full of what I thought was love, were now filled with a chilling emptiness.

"You know," he said, his voice a low, dangerous murmur that only I could hear. "I almost felt sorry for you for a second there."

He paused, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "Almost. Now, are you going to behave, or do we have to make this even more unpleasant?"