Chapter 1 - And Now Everyone Else Will Too
Tony’s hand was still tangled in Cassie’s hair when she stopped begging.
The bedroom was warm, expensive, and suffocating.
Gold lamp light poured over black walls, satin cream bedding, a shattered compact mirror, scattered makeup brushes, and perfume bottles tipped across the bed like someone had knocked over a woman’s life and called it decoration.
Cassie was half-kneeling against the edge of the bed in a cream satin robe, one hand gripping the sheet so tightly her knuckles had gone white.
Her cheek was swollen.
A dark purple bruise sat beneath one eye.
Finger marks darkened her neck, shoulder, and forearm.
Tears slid down her face, but she had learned not to sob too loudly.
Tony hated noise unless he made it.
He stood over her in a white dress shirt, sleeves rolled up, black vest tight across his chest, expensive watch flashing as his fingers held her hair near the scalp.
His jaw was locked.
His eyes were cold.
“You embarrassed me in my own house,” he said.
In the open walk-in closet doorway, Meera smiled over the rim of a champagne flute.
Cassie’s stepsister.
Tony’s mistress.
The woman Cassie had once defended at family dinners when people called her spoiled, selfish, dangerous.
Meera stood beneath the closet glow in a black evening dress with a high slit and a diamond necklace that Cassie recognized instantly.
It had been Cassie’s anniversary gift.
Tony had told her it was missing from the safe.
Meera took one small step closer, glass still in hand.
“You should’ve kept quiet, sister.”
Cassie winced as Tony released her hair just enough for her head to dip toward the bed.
Her left hand clutched the sheet.
Her right hand moved under the loose satin robe beside the perfume tray.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Her fingers touched the edge of the hidden phone.
The screen faced down between a bottle of jasmine perfume and the broken compact mirror, lens angled toward Tony and Meera.
A tiny red glow blinked at the corner.
Recording.
Tony turned toward Meera with the confidence of a man who believed the room belonged to him.
“She understands now who matters here.”
Meera lifted her champagne flute like a toast.
Cassie’s breathing changed.
The tears stayed on her face.
The bruises stayed.
The fear did not vanish.
But something inside her stood up before her body could.
She slowly raised her eyes to Tony.
No pleading.
No apology.
No more trying to convince him she was worth choosing.
Tony noticed.
His brow tightened.
Meera’s smile faltered.
Cassie looked straight at her husband.
“No,” she whispered. “I understand exactly what you are.”
Tony leaned closer.
Confused.
Angry.
Still certain he could scare the truth back into her throat.
Cassie’s thumb pressed the phone again, securing the recording.
Her voice became calm.
May you like
Deadly.
“And now everyone else will too.”
