Chapter 2

Grace grabbed my collar and yanked me up from the floor.

“Get up. Take us on a grand tour of your ‘apartment.’”

She shoved me down the hallway, her sharp nails digging deep into the flesh of my neck.

“You can’t even rent an apartment in this building. You have to buy them outright, and they cost five million dollars per unit. How could a broke college student like you ever afford this?”

“That’s none of your damn business! When my brother finds out, he’s never going to–”

Lucy kicked me right in the back of my knee. My legs gave out, and I stumbled straight into the bedroom.

“That’s Grace’s boyfriend you’re talking about, you pathetic slut. You’ve really got some nerve.”

Grace pinned me to the bed, her hands wrapping tightly around my throat. My head slammed against the headboard, and my vision went white.

“Let me tell you something. You’d best lock up whatever disgusting thoughts you have, or I’ll make sure you don't live to see tomorrow.”

I instinctively tried to pry her fingers apart, crying out, “Let go of me! This is going to haunt you in your nightmares!”

Lucy grabbed a handful of my hair from behind and gave it a yank again. I rolled right off the bed and hit my head against the floor with a sickening thud.

“Oh, really?” Lucy crouched down to poke the tip of her designer shoe against my cheek as she asked, “You think he’s going to break up with Grace over a dirty piece of trash like you? Dream on.”

Grace looked down at me and chimed in, “Damien is just being fooled by you. Once he sees what kind of garbage you really are, he’ll be the first one to kick you to the curb.”

I pushed against the floor with my arms, trying to scramble back to my feet, but before I could straighten my knees, Lucy stomped her foot down to pin me back to the ground.

“Let’s keep looking,” Grace said, turning toward the next room. “If I don’t expose every single one of your lies today, I’m not a Collins.”

Lucy grabbed me by the hair again and dragged me along behind her. The back of my head scraped against the hallway wallpaper the entire way.

When Grace pushed open the next door, her footsteps halted abruptly. Taking up an entire wall was a glass display cabinet, beautifully lit by warm LED strips. Neatly arranged across three tiers of shelves were my ball-jointed dolls. Every single one of them was dressed in high-end, hand-stitched clothing. Their hair was perfectly styled, and their eyes were made of various brilliant gemstones. They were exquisitely beautiful.

Standing in front of the cabinet, Grace’s face turned dark with rage.

Oh no!

I forced myself up from the floor and said, “Don’t you dare go into that room!”

Grace whipped around and slapped me across the face yet again. The force of her hand cut through the air, and half of my face instantly went numb.

“I’ve really underestimated you, you bitch!”

My ears were ringing as my head slumped to the side.

“Why are you so nervous? It looks like these toys are incredibly important to you.”

Grace reached into the cabinet and grabbed one of the dolls out.

“How much did this cost? Did Damien buy it for you? Huh?”

She flipped the doll over. Engraved on the base was a line of small text that read, “Pia, always remember that I love you forever.”

It was Damien’s handwriting, a handwriting she knew all too well. Her fingers tightened around the doll so hard that her knuckles turned white.

“Do you have any idea how important Damien is to me? Since you love being a homewrecker, why don’t you just go to hell?”

With a brutal twist of her hands, she snapped the doll’s limbs.

“Stop it!” I screamed, lunging forward to grab it. “Put them down!”

Every single one of those dolls represented the love my family showered upon me. My parents never looked down on me for not being the perfect society daughter. Instead, they always kept an eye out for anything I might like.

There were antique glass eyes bought at high-society auctions and hand-stitched outfits that took master tailors half a year to complete. There were even limited-edition doll bodies that had long been out of production.

My parents knew nothing about the ball-jointed doll culture, but they knew exactly how to spoil me. Every single doll in that cabinet was one of a kind. Any one of them was worth well over a hundred thousand dollars!

Lucy wrapped her arms around my waist from behind, dragging me backward.

“These aren’t cheap, are they? How many men did you have to sleep with just to get these toys?”

I clawed frantically at her hands, screaming, “I didn’t! I didn’t! Get the hell out of here! I’m calling him! Yes! I’m calling him right now! Damien is my brother, and he doesn’t tolerate anyone bullying me! You’re both done for!”

I managed to grab my phone and desperately tried to dial Damien’s number. However, Grace snatched the phone right out of my hands and threw it across the room. The phone hit the floor with a loud crack.

“Why on earth should I believe you?”

Grace laughed, bending down to pinch my chin and force my face up to meet her eyes.

“You’ve got Damien spinning in circles with your lies, and now you want him to come bail you out? Do you honestly think I’m that stupid?”