Chapter 4

I didn't waste another second. I just turned on my heel and walked toward the exit.

I barely made it three steps before Kai's hand clamped down on my wrist.

"What the hell is your problem, Renna?"

His grip was brutal, fingers digging bruises into my flesh.

"I am handing you an out on a silver platter, and you're throwing a tantrum?"

I didn't struggle. I lifted my gaze to meet his.

"You're married to Liora now," I said, my voice void of any emotion. "There is absolutely no reason for us to ever speak again."

It wasn't just a boundary; it was a matter of survival.

Draven was a notoriously, violently possessive man. A lingering glance from another man was enough to put him in a lethal mood.

If he walked into the lounge right now and saw Kai manhandling me, the Rainer underboss wouldn't leave this airport breathing.

Kai glanced back at Liora, then let out a harsh, patronizing scoff.

"Please. You think I don't see exactly what you're doing?"

He towered over me, staring down with that superiority complex I used to mistake for confidence.

"There's a massive syndicate banquet in three days. Don Hale is hosting it himself. It's an invite-only event for the East Coast elite."

He paused, leaning in as if offering me the world.

"I'll take you. You can shadow Liora, watch how things work, and learn some basic high-society etiquette. You might actually figure out how to maintain yourself in our world instead of rotting on the streets."

I wrenched my arm out of his grip with a jerk. Finally, I spared him a look dripping with pure disgust.

"I don't need your charity, Kai. And I couldn't care less about your little party."

Kai's face darkened, his inflated ego bruising in real time.

"You've gotten real bold these past three years, haven't you? Fine. If you're going to act like an ungrateful bitch, I'll just bring Liora. When reality hits and you're starving out there, do not come crawling back to me."

At the mention of her name, Liora's eyes lit up. She hurried over, immediately weaving her arms around Kai's neck and pressing herself against his chest.

"Don't waste your breath on her, Kai," she purred.

"I know how to appreciate everything you do for me. I'll be the perfect wife on your arm. I'll even help you secure that new territory contract with the Hale family."

Sick to my stomach from looking at their smug, delusional faces, I turned away and pushed straight through the doors of the terminal.

The second I stepped outside, a brutal blast of cold wind whipped down my collar, biting into my skin.

The chill instantly dragged my memory back to that unforgiving whiteout in the mountains.

In my previous life, Kai had made his choice.

He pulled me onto the chopper and left Liora to get swallowed by the avalanche. Liora died out there in the ice, never knowing he had come back for her.

He played the part of the dutiful husband afterward, legally binding us together.

But behind closed doors, he starved me. For twenty years, he gave me nothing but absolute emotional neglect, blaming me for her death until the depression eventually stopped my heart.

But this life was my rewrite.

That was why I had peeled Kai's fingers off me, shoved Liora into that chopper, and stayed behind to face the frostbite.

As I dragged my dying body through the snow, screaming until my lungs gave out, Draven Hale heard my fading cries.

A year later, I stood at an altar and bound myself to his syndicate. A year after that, I gave him a son.

My reality was a world away from the pathetic tragedy I was destined for.

If I hadn't flown in early today to prep the estate for Draven's arrival, I wouldn't have even crossed paths with these ghosts.

And Kai Rainer never would have had the privilege to look at me again.