Hatred.

The next day, Ava and Adrian arrived at the sprawling Cole mansion. The estate was massive, with multiple residences within the compound, guarded heavily, and their car’s journey from the gate to the main house alone felt like a mile-long walk.

Adrian noticed that Ava seemed off but every time he asked, she brushed it aside, claiming she was “under the weather.”

His brows furrowed slightly as his mind drifted back to that morning. He had personally clasped the sapphire pendant around her neck, watching closely for her reaction.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” His eyes sparkled with pride as his fingers traced her neck while he fastened the clasp. The cold metal pressed against her skin, the pendant felt heavy, suffocating.

“Perfect” Adrian stepped back to admire his handiwork. His satisfaction was obvious. “Tonight, the whole Cole family will be present and with this necklace, you would definitely be the most beautiful woman in the room.”

“Do I need to go?” Ava asked, sounding tired of everything related to his family.

“Of course, you're my wife”Adrian replied immediately wondering where her enthusiasm went to.

For a moment, he had expected at least a flicker of excitement… but there had been nothing. No smile. No warmth. Just that same distant look in her eyes.

Now, seeing her like this again, Adrian couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Beside him, Ava forced herself to sit still, her fingers subconsciously brushing against the pendant resting on her chest. It felt heavy… suffocating even.

Her stomach churned at the memory of the message she had received earlier from the anonymous number, it was a picture.

Her breath hitched faintly as the image flashed in her mind clear as day. Not only had she been wearing the exact same pendant… but her neck had been marked with hickeys and faint scratches.

[I specifically chose these for us, hope you like it? Last night was amazing… I can’t wait for more.]

The text had been followed by a laughing emoji.

Ava swallowed hard, bile rising in her throat. The memory alone made her want to hurl. Every instinct in her screamed to rip the pendant off her neck and throw it away, but instead, she forced her lips into a small, practiced smile.

She wouldn’t break. Not here. Not now.

As Ava stepped out of the car, her heels betrayed her, wobbling precariously. Before she could stumble, a pair of strong arms caught her mid-fall.

“Easy there,” a deep, smooth voice said.

She looked up into the eyes of Damien, Adrian’s uncle, a man whose presence made the air itself feel heavier. He was impossibly tall, broad-shouldered, with sharp features softened only by a dangerous kind of charm. His dark hair was swept back perfectly, his jaw strong and defined. But it was the intensity in his piercing hazel eyes that made Ava’s breath hitch.

It was the kind of look that seemed to see everything, even the parts you tried to hide. His tailored suit clung to his frame just enough to hint at the strength beneath, and his aura was both protective and utterly intoxicating. Damien was the last child of the Cole’s with Adrian's mom being his elder sister. The age gap between him and Adrian was six long years.

He refused to join the family business, the Cole Group and grew his own business, Phoenix Code Solutions, a tech empire that had outgrown the Cole Group fivefold making him the most richest in the family and the country.

Adrian’s eyes turned dark at the scene before him and he frowned as Damien held Ava firmly. Masking it with a polite smile, he stepped forward. “Thank you… for not letting her fall,” he said, tightening his grip on Ava’s hand as though to reclaim what had just been ‘lost.’

Damien’s lips curled into a faint, knowing smile, a smile that concealed as much as it revealed. “Of course,” he replied, his tone smooth and measured. Without another word, he turned, his presence commanding every step as he strode inside, leaving Adrian’s forced smile faltering into a frown, he turned to Ava.

“You know I hate seeing you with other men, let alone them touching you”he frowned deeply.

Ava wished her hands could meet his cheeks, the same man cheating on her was jealous. “I'm so sorry” she apologized, “I should have fallen face flat at the front of the Cole's mansion, in the presence of everyone instead of letting your family member save me” she added, her frown clearly plastered on her face.

“That’s not what I mean,” Adrian mumbled quietly, his voice low, “but… let’s leave it.”

Inside, the couple was greeted warmly by Adrian’s grandparents. Grandfather Jonathan and Grandmother Maria beamed as the couple entered. Adrian’s mother, Amber, did not hide her disdain for Ava, but the daughter in-law was already used to it. Adrian’s father, Albert Cole, wasn’t present, as he was attending to matters related to the family business. Due to the affluence of the Cole family, he had married into the family and taken his wife’s surname.

Everyone exchanged pleasantries while Damien entered the room moments later, Marie immediately pointed at Adrian showering him with praises for being able to have a family and still handle the family business, her expression hardened at Damien, “you're clocking thirty soon, if you haven't brought a wife to me, Damien…I will cut you off entirely.”

Damien didn't blink, he rolled his eyes as he decided to greet other family members.

Amber seized the moment making cutting remarks about Ava and Adrian’s two-year marriage and the absence of grandchildren. Adrian defended Ava silently, shushing his mother with a glare that promised consequences.

Ava wasn't even grateful that he defended her, she didn't want to be there at all but it didn't matter.

After the brief introductions and the usual small talk, Adrian received a call. “I have to go,” he said quietly to Ava. He also mentioned that his grandmother’s driver would take her home.

“Okay,” she replied, packing her things quietly. Grandfather Jonathan requested to be taken to his room as he was already exhausted, Damien immediately went to help him up, leading him upstairs.

Once the three men left, Maria and Amber exchanged looks and coldly turned to Ava, “I’m sure you know your way home.” Marie spat coldly, “You are not welcome here.”Amber reminded her.

That was her cue…Ava was already expecting that so she left without uttering a word.

Stepping into the night, heavy rain lashed the estate. No taxis were inside, and the roads outside the compound were slick and treacherous.

Ava stepped forward, anger bubbling beneath her skin as the rain soaked through her clothes almost instantly.

Of course.

Of course this was how it would end.

Her teeth clenched as she trudged forward, her heels sinking into the mud with every step. She could already imagine it, Adrian, somewhere warm and dry, probably with his precious personal assistant… while she was out here, drenched and shivering like she meant nothing. Her fingers shot to her neck, and without thinking, she yanked the sapphire pendant off and hurled it to the ground.

It shattered on impact.

Ava didn’t even look back. She didn’t care.

A sharp shiver ran through her body, her breath hitching as the cold seeped deep into her bones. She had always been intolerant to cold, and now, soaked to the skin, it was unbearable.

From a distance, the gleam of a Rolls-Royce caught her eye. Damien, driving his own car with his secretary at the front, had seen her struggle in the downpour. He knew what his mother and sister were capable of, his reason for leaving early too when he noticed she wasn't around anymore. He instructed his secretary to bring her an umbrella and usher her into the car.

“I said it’s fine,” Ava insisted, her voice trembling slightly, aside from Adrian's displeasure about her hanging out with Damien. She has heard stories about him being a dangerous man and she was better off in the rain than inside with him.

“Tell your boss that I'm fine” Ava stuttered, her teeth chattering due to the excessive cold.

Damien could hear them and he wasn't having it, his commanding voice cut through the storm, smooth yet terrifyingly intimate. “Get in the car.” It wasn’t a request. It was a command but strangely, Ava felt her body responded to that.

By the time she got in, her hands were already shaking uncontrollably. The warmth of the car barely registered as her vision blurred. She vaguely felt Damien remove his suit jacket, draping it around her shoulders, the warmth and his scent enveloping her completely.

That was the last thing she remembered.

Darkness followed.