Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Rain soaked through Olivia's clothes as she walked away from the only home she'd ever known. Each step put more distance between her and her past life, but couldn't wash away the hurt. Betrayed by her sister. Betrayed by her fiancé. Betrayed by her parents. In twenty-four hours, she had lost everything.

Six blocks later, her feet ached and her teeth chattered from the cold. She spotted the flickering neon sign of the Sunrise Motel ahead. Not the kind of place Olivia Parker would ever stay. But she wasn't that girl anymore.

The lobby smelled of cigarettes and cheap air freshener. A bored clerk looked up from his phone when she approached the desk, water dripping from her hair onto the stained carpet.

"Need a room," she said, her voice hoarse.

He looked her up and down, taking in her expensive jeans now soaked through, the designer blouse clinging to her skin. "Seventy-five a night. Cash only."

She counted out most of her money and pushed it across the counter. Almost three hundred dollars gone, just like that. The reality of her situation hit her again: how quickly wealth could disappear when you were cut off.

"Room 114," he said, sliding a key across the counter. "Check-out is at eleven."

The room was small and dingy. Yellow wallpaper peeled at the corners. The bedspread had cigarette burns. A cockroach scurried across the bathroom floor when she flipped on the light.

Olivia sank onto the edge of the bed and stared at the wall. In another life, her old life, she would be on her honeymoon right now. Sipping champagne in a five-star hotel. Pretending to be happy while her new husband thought about her sister.

Her phone buzzed with another message. Fifty-seven missed calls. Eighty-three text messages. Most from her mother, begging her to come home. Some from friends who'd been at the wedding, hungry for gossip. Three from Nathan, threatening legal action for defamation.

She turned the phone off and threw it into her bag.

Her wet clothes stuck to her skin, but she couldn't bring herself to move. The emptiness inside her grew larger, a black hole swallowing everything. No tears came. Just a numbness spreading through her body like poison.

She didn't know how long she sat there. Minutes? Hours? The room grew dark as night fell. When she finally stood up, her muscles ached from sitting so still.

Olivia peeled off her wet clothes and stood under the shower until the hot water ran out. The thin motel towel scratched against her skin as she dried off. In the foggy mirror, a stranger stared back at her. Eyes empty. Face pale. A ghost of the perfect daughter she'd been trained to be.

She pulled on dry jeans and a simple black top from her backpack. One of the few items of clothing her mother hadn't chosen for her.

The walls of the small room closed in around her. She couldn't stay here. Couldn't be alone with her thoughts anymore. She needed noise. People. Something to drown out the voices in her head replaying every betrayal.

Outside, the rain had stopped. The night air felt heavy with moisture as she walked past shuttered storefronts and dimly lit bars. Ten blocks from the motel, the scenery changed. Sleek buildings. Expensive cars. The kind of area where she used to belong.

Music pulsed from a club across the street. Sapphire, the sign read in glowing blue letters. A line of beautiful people waited to enter, watched over by bouncers with earpieces. In her simple clothes, she didn't belong here anymore. But she still had one thing left from her old life: her face.

She crossed the street and walked straight to the front of the line. The bouncer looked her over, his expression changing from annoyance to recognition.

"Aren't you..."

"Yes," she cut him off. "I am. And I'd really like to come in."

He unhooked the velvet rope without another word. Behind her, people in the line whispered. The girl who exposed her cheating fiancé and twin sister at her own wedding. The society scandal of the year. Her shame had become her ticket in.

Inside, the club throbbed with music so loud it rattled her bones. Strobe lights flashed across sweating bodies packed onto the dance floor. At the bar, she ordered a vodka shot and downed it in one gulp, the burn spreading through her chest.

"Another," she told the bartender, pushing her last twenty across the counter.

Three shots later, the edges of her pain blurred. Four shots, and the music began to feel good, vibrating through her body. Five shots, and she found herself on the dance floor, letting the crowd push against her, anonymous hands brushing her waist, her back, her hips.

In the flashing lights, no one knew who she was. No one cared. She was just another body moving to the beat. The numbness gave way to a floating sensation. For moments at a time, she forgot about Nathan. Forgot about Sophia. Forgot about her parents selling her like a prize cow.

"You're too beautiful to look so sad."

A man appeared beside her at the bar where she'd returned for another drink. Tall. Dark hair. Expensive watch glinting on his wrist.

"I'm not sad," she lied. "I'm celebrating."

"What are we celebrating?" he asked, signaling the bartender.

"Freedom," she said, the word bitter on her tongue.

He ordered two more shots. "I'm Dylan."

"Olivia."

Recognition flickered in his eyes. "The wedding girl. I thought you looked familiar."

She downed the shot he offered. "That's me. The joke of high society."

"Their loss," he said, moving closer. "You're stunning."

Olivia knew she should walk away. In her old life, she would never talk to a stranger in a bar. But her old life was gone, and the alcohol made everything softer, easier.

"Another round," Dylan told the bartender, his hand now resting on her lower back.

The room spun slightly. How many shots had she had? Six? Seven? She'd lost count.

"You should slow down," a small voice in her head warned. But slowing down meant feeling again, and she couldn't bear that.

Dylan leaned in, his breath hot against her ear. "Want to get out of here? My place is nearby."

Warning bells cut through the alcohol haze. "I don't think so."

His hand tightened on her back. "Come on. You've been leading me on all night."

"No, I haven't," she said, trying to pull away. "I'm just here to dance."

The smile fell from his face. "Stuck-up bitch. You think you're too good for me?"

"I need to go." She pushed past him toward the exit.

The cool night air hit her like a slap, clearing her head slightly. Behind her, the club door opened again.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Dylan grabbed her arm, spinning her around.

"Let go of me." She tried to pull free, but his grip tightened.

"Don't act like you're not interested." His voice turned ugly. "Everyone knows you're damaged goods now. No one wants a bride who got dumped at her own wedding."

Pain shot through her, sharper than any physical hurt. "I didn't get dumped. I left him. Now let go!"

She struggled harder, but the alcohol made her clumsy. Her heel caught in a crack in the sidewalk, and she stumbled. Dylan's other hand grabbed her waist, his fingers digging into her skin.

"Stop fighting it," he growled, trying to pull her toward a dark parking lot.

Fear cut through the vodka fog. She opened her mouth to scream, but before she could, another voice cut through the night.

"The lady asked you to let go."

A tall figure stepped out of the shadows, his face hidden in darkness.

Dylan sneered. "Mind your own business, man. This is between me and her."

"I'm making it my business." The stranger moved closer, streetlight revealing a man with an expensive suit and commanding presence.

Dylan's grip loosened slightly. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

The stranger smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Someone you don't want to mess with."

For a moment, no one moved. Then Dylan released Olivia's arm, shoving her away from him. She stumbled again, the world spinning around her, the vodka and fear making her knees weak.

"Your loss," Dylan spat, backing away. "Crazy bitch isn't worth the trouble anyway."

The stranger took a step toward him, something dangerous flashing in his eyes. Dylan must have seen it too, because he turned and hurried back toward the club entrance.

Olivia stood there swaying, trying to stay upright as the sidewalk seemed to tilt beneath her. The stranger turned toward her, his face now fully visible in the streetlight.

The world tilted suddenly, the ground rushing up to meet her. The last thing she saw was the stranger moving quickly toward her as darkness claimed her vision.