Chapter 5

Kianna stared at him, her mind reeling. "You knew?"

"Yes." His grip on her hand tightened. He looked at her, his eyes filled with a pained, desperate sincerity. "Kianna, you have to understand. Jesse... she's not like you. She's been spoiled her whole life. She needs to be handled with care. She needs to win."

The words hung in the air, cold and sharp.

"So I need you to be the bigger person," he continued, his voice pleading. "Be the mature one. Just... let her have this. For me."

He was asking her to swallow the poison so he wouldn't have to. He knew Jesse had attacked her, had lied, and he was asking her to protect her attacker. To be "understanding."

She bit her lip, hard, until she tasted blood. Was there no end to what he would ask of her? Did she have to bleed, to break, to die a little more each day just to prove her love?

"Would you ask her to do the same for me?" Kianna asked, her voice dangerously quiet.

Brayden looked away. "That's different. She wouldn't..." He trailed off, but she heard the unspoken words. She wouldn't understand. She's too important to be asked to sacrifice anything.

A pot of hot soup sat on the bedside table. Kianna reached for it, her fingers brushing against the hot ceramic. She didn't even feel the burn.

He took the lid off the soup and picked up the spoon. "Here, let me feed you. You're weak."

Just as he lifted the spoon, the door swung open again. Jesse stood there, her own hand bandaged, her face a picture of remorse.

"Kianna, I am so, so sorry," she said, rushing to the bedside. "I was just so stressed about the case. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

She pulled a small, velvet box from her purse. "Please, let me make it up to you." She opened it to reveal a pair of stunning diamond earrings. "I wanted to give you these."

Before Kianna could react, Jesse took one of the earrings. "Let me help you put them on."

"Brayden, tell her to accept them," Jesse said, looking at him with wide, pleading eyes. "Please."

"Just let her, Kianna," Brayden said, his voice tired.

Kianna sat frozen as Jesse took her earlobe. Then, a sharp, searing pain. Jesse had shoved the post of the earring straight through her un-pierced lobe.

"Oh my god!" Jesse gasped, pulling back. "You don't have your ears pierced! I had no idea! I'm so sorry!"

Blood dripped from Kianna's ear.

Kianna felt nothing. She reached up and touched her ear, her fingers coming away bloody. She looked at Jesse's carefully feigned shock, at Brayden's frustrated sigh.

"It's okay," she said, her voice flat. "It doesn't matter."

Brayden started to move toward her, a flicker of concern in his eyes.

"Brayden, look," Kianna said, pointing a trembling finger at Jesse. "Your girlfriend's bandage is coming loose."

His attention snapped to Jesse immediately. "Let me see." He fussed over Jesse's minor scratch, his back completely turned to Kianna and the blood running down her neck. He scooped Jesse up. "I'll take you to get that re-dressed."

They left. Kianna was alone again.

She looked at the angry red burn on her fingertips from the soup container. Without a flicker of emotion, she pressed down on the blister until it popped.

Brayden picked her up from the hospital the next day. On the drive home, Jesse called.

"Kianna! I'm so glad you're out! A few of my friends are having a get-together tonight, you have to come! It will be my apology party for you."

Before Kianna could refuse, Brayden had already answered for her. "We'll be there."

The party was at a lavish penthouse overlooking the city. Everyone was beautiful, rich, and dripping with contempt.

"So, who is she?" a woman with sharp cheekbones whispered loudly to her friend, eyeing Kianna's simple dress.

Jesse, ever the gracious hostess, glided over. "Everyone, this is Kianna. She's... a distant cousin of Brayden's, from out of town."

A distant cousin. That's what she was now.

The group looked her up and down, their gazes dismissive. "A line cook? How quaint," one of them sneered.

Brayden frowned slightly, but Jesse just laughed it off, guiding the conversation toward a more suitable topic: their recent trip to Monaco.

Kianna faded into the background, finding a seat in a dark corner. She watched them, a pack of glittering, beautiful wolves. This was his life now. She had no place in it.

Brayden started to walk toward her, but his phone rang. "It's my father-in-law," he mouthed to Jesse, meaning Daniel David. He gave Jesse a look. Watch her. Then he stepped out onto the balcony.

The moment he was gone, Jesse's demeanor changed. She and her friends huddled together, ignoring Kianna completely, their conversation a waterfall of brand names and luxury resorts.

Kianna felt small and shabby, a weed in a garden of perfect roses.

"Is that dress from a thrift store?" one of Jesse's friends, a blonde named Tiffany, asked loudly, pointing at Kianna.

Kianna froze. The dress was a gift from Brayden, from a time when he still saw her.

"Oh, Tiffany, be nice," Jesse chided, though her eyes danced with malice. "She can't afford designer. It's probably a knock-off."

The circle of women laughed. The sound was like breaking glass. Kianna clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. She looked down at her hands, calloused and scarred from years of hard work. She looked at their hands, perfectly manicured, soft, and useless.

Brayden came back inside, his face grim. The women immediately fell silent.

Someone suggested a game. "Let's play Truth or Dare!"