Chapter 4
Astrid's POV
They're wrapped up in each other.
The excavator's roaring, drowning out everything else.
I'm staring at Dominic.
"This is Lily's grave!" My voice comes out as a scream. "Are you even human? She's your daughter!"
He doesn't even look at me.
"A dead person taking up prime real estate? That's a waste." His tone is casual. "Evelyn likes swimming. The living matter more than the dead."
The living matter more than the dead.
What a convenient excuse.
I thought all these years of holding back meant something.
Thought if I was good enough, God would give my daughter back to me.
Now I get it.
Being good was a fucking joke.
I pull the knife from my waist and point it at him.
"Touch that grave and see what happens."
His face goes cold.
He waves his hand. A few of his guys rush me.
A few years ago, these guys couldn't have touched me.
But I've spent years wrecking my body trying to get pregnant.
And right now, with rage eating me alive, I'm fighting on empty.
They pin me to the ground fast.
The smell of dirt fills my nose. I'm struggling as hard as I can but I can't move.
He looks down at me and says one word.
"Dig."
The shovel swings up.
Then slams down.
The sound of the headstone shattering hits like a sledgehammer to the chest.
I watch Lily's photo—the one where she's missing a tooth—get ground to dust.
Watch the box holding her ashes get scooped up and dumped in the mud.
"No—"
Something animal comes out of my throat.
I'm fighting, clawing at the dirt, blood running from my fingertips.
It doesn't matter.
I can't do anything.
Evelyn walks over.
In her heels, looking disgusted. She kicks the box with the tip of her shoe.
"Oh wow, that's the ashes? Gross."
She kicks it harder.
The box rolls into the ditch nearby.
That's when I hear something snap inside me.
I taste blood and spit it out.
Everything goes black.
When I wake up, I'm in a hospital. The fluorescent lights make me blink for a few seconds.
Marcus is standing by the bed.
He's been with Dominic and me from the beginning. He saw our worst days. Saw when we were actually in love.
"Astrid... the baby... you lost it." His voice is quiet.
I don't say anything. Just close my eyes.
"But I got Lily's ashes back."
He pulls out a small box from behind him. It's been cleaned.
I take the box. My fingers trace over it.
Another child.
Another one gone.
"How did he turn into this..." Marcus mutters to himself. "You two used to be so good together..."
Used to be.
That was a long time ago.
So long ago I almost forgot Dominic once held me on rooftops looking at stars, that he used to fight for me.
Marcus keeps talking but I'm not really hearing him.
There's only one thought in my head.
After he leaves, I find my phone.
Scroll to a number I haven't called in years.
"Dad." My voice is soft. "I changed my mind."
"Can you come get me?"
The day I leave the hospital, I go straight home.
Before I reach the door, I hear noise inside.
I push it open. The place is packed with people drinking.
Dominic's crew is gathered like they're celebrating something big.
Evelyn's sitting on the couch, all smugness and satisfaction.
When she sees me, she stands up. Her concern is so fake it hurts. "Oh, Mrs. Brooks is back? Dominic said I was traumatized, so I'm staying here to recover for a few days."
Dominic's leaning against the bar with a drink, his voice bored.
"I messed up too. I'll have someone move Lily's ashes to a better cemetery."
He looks at me with that generous, forgiving expression.
"Let her stay. Don't start anything."
Move the ashes to a better cemetery?
How fake can you get?
He's the one who ordered them to dig up that grave.
I don't say anything.
Just go upstairs to my room and pack Lily's ashes and a few clothes into a suitcase.
Leave through the back door.
No one notices.
At the airport tarmac, a private jet is waiting.
A few bodyguards see me and walk over immediately.
"Miss Hayes, your father is waiting for you."
I nod.
Before I walk up the stairs, I pull out a remote from my pocket.
Press the button.
Since you chose to betray me.
Then go to hell.
Inside the villa.
Dominic's got his arms around Evelyn, kissing her while everyone cheers.
His phone rings.
It's Marcus.
He frowns and walks to the balcony to answer.
"Mrs. Brooks had a miscarriage." Marcus sounds heavy. "You went too far this time, Boss. If Mrs. Brooks finds out what really happened back then, she'll never forgive you."
He freezes. His mind goes blank.
Pregnant?
She was pregnant?
Why... why didn't she tell me anything?
His mind flashes back to that day at the cemetery, Astrid's face white as paper.
Before he can think any further—
An explosion.
The deafening blast tears through everything.
