Chapter 2

By the time the rescue team arrived, my lips had turned purple from oxygen deprivation.

I was curled up in the corner of the cabin, every breath like swallowing broken glass.

Only then did Damian notice me.

He rushed over and scooped me into his arms. The lingering scent of Lillian's perfume invaded my nostrils.

"Natalia? God, what happened to—"

I pushed him away instinctively, using every last ounce of strength I had. That sickening smell was more than I could bear.

Damian's expression froze, then twisted into fury.

"Natalia Rossi! What kind of attitude is this? Lillian already offered to give you the respirator—you're the one who refused! You have no right to be angry with me!"

My heart felt like it was being wrung in someone's fist. A broken laugh escaped my throat.

"You're right." The words had barely left my mouth when I felt something warm trickle from my nose. "I deserve this."

"I already explained—I only did it to help Lillian. You... Natalia? Natalia!"

Damian's panicked shouts faded into a blur. The world began to spin, and my vision went black.

...

Searing pain dragged me back from unconsciousness.

When I opened my eyes, Damian was hurling his phone at my face, seething with rage.

"Natalia, is this your idea of revenge?"

The phone struck my cheekbone hard, sending a jolt of pain through me.

I forced myself to sit up and raised my head.

Damian was screaming at me: "Did you leak this to the press? Do you know Lillian lost her job because of you?"

My gaze fell to the phone lying on the bed. The screen was still lit, showing several push notifications.

"Alps Scandal: Fiancée Witnesses Fiancé's Affair—True Love or Betrayal?"

"Tech CEO Damian Vance Caught Cheating in the Mountains—Fiancée Passed Out from Oxygen Deprivation While He Made Love to His Ex."

Damian grabbed my arm roughly and yanked me out of the hospital bed. The IV needle tore free, and blood seeped down the back of my hand.

"Now. Record a video. Right now. Post a statement on Instagram clarifying that those reports are fake!"

I wrenched my arm free, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

"Clarify? Why would I clarify? I wasn't the one who leaked it. Besides—" I paused, meeting his eyes. "Isn't it all true?"

Damian spun around and slapped me across the face.

Harder this time. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

He shook out his hand with a cold sneer. ""Enough! So what if I slept with Lillian? We're not married yet—I can sleep with whoever I want! Don't talk to me about promises—how many of yours have you actually kept?"

I said nothing, only stared at him for a long moment.

All these years, I'd kept every single promise I made to him. From helping him secure his first round of startup funding to quietly handling every crisis his company faced. How could he say this?

Seeing the pain on my face, Damian seemed to realize he'd gone too far. He took a deep breath and tried to pull me into his arms.

"Listen, Natalia. I didn't mean it like that..." His voice softened. "Help Lillian out, just this once—help me. You don't really want to watch me get mocked by the whole world, do you? Just record a quick video. That's all."

He held my hand, his eyes pleading. But all I could smell was the scent Lillian had left on him.

I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and said flatly: "Fine. I'll do it."

Damian clearly hadn't expected me to agree so easily. He blinked, then broke into a relieved smile.

He held up his phone camera, pointing it at me. "Say that what happened on the mountain was a misunderstanding. That Damian and Lillian are just friends. Hurry up."

I looked into the lens and repeated his words, delivering his so-called "clarification" exactly as instructed.

"Good." Damian nodded, satisfied, and began editing the video. "I'll post it to your account right now."

After uploading the video from my account, he left the room with his phone in hand, clearly pleased with himself.

He was already calling Lillian before he even reached the doorway, assuring her that everything had been taken care of, telling her not to worry.

But in all the time since I'd woken up, he hadn't once asked how I was.

All I got were those two slaps.

Once, he would have given his life for me.

Now, his coldness and cruelty were tearing my heart to shreds.

I wiped the tears from my eyes.

If this was what he wanted, I'd give it to him.

After this, I owed him one last favor.

Once it was done, we'd be even.

Just then, my phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number flashed across the screen.

I tapped it open—and froze.

It was a video.

On the screen, Damian and Lillian were tangled together. Her moans were crystal clear; the sight of him kissing her neck made my stomach turn.

I zoomed in on the image and noticed a Christmas tree in the background.

Christmas Eve. Two months ago.

That night, my mother's heart had stopped.

I remembered calling Damian through my tears. He claimed he was on a business trip in New York and apologized for not being able to make it back to be with me.

I'd been considerate enough to tell him not to worry. I handled my mother's funeral alone.

Now I knew the truth. The "business trip" had been nothing but an excuse to be with Lillian.

He knew perfectly well that after my parents' divorce, my mother and I were all each other had. He couldn't possibly not understand what losing her meant to me—but he didn't care. All he cared about was Lillian.

I thought of all those times my mother had tried to warn me. More than once, she'd hinted: "Natalia, something's not right between Damian and that Hayes girl..."

I'd brushed it off as paranoia, even reassured her that Lillian was just an old friend of Damian's.

Now I understood—my mother had seen through everything.

My phone buzzed again. Another video. Then a third. A fourth...

Each one captured another intimate moment between Damian and Lillian. The timestamps stretched back over a year.

My fingers went cold. From the very beginning, I'd been nothing but a fool.

I knew exactly who had sent these videos. Lillian. She was gloating—showing me that Damian had been hers all along.

Tears blurred my vision. With trembling hands, I opened my photo album and began deleting every picture of Damian and me together.

One by one, they disappeared—the restaurant from our first date, every anniversary we'd celebrated, the beach where he proposed...

Ten years of memories dissolved beneath my fingertips.

When the screen finally went blank, I saw my own face reflected in the black glass. Tear-streaked. Eyes cold as ice.

Ninety-eight.

One more to go.