Chapter 9%
“It’s not pity,” I said softly, leaning into Terrence’s shoulder. “I just don’t want to become like them.“2
Two months later, the peaceful afternoon air at the D’Angelo family’s summer estate was shattered by the sudden thunder of helicopter blades.
The sound tore across the sky like a warning. Moments later, the chopper dipped low over the garden.2
Desmond jumped out, coat flaring in the wind like a storm had taken human form.
Before I could react, he lunged, grabbed my arm, and yanked me off my feet.
“This time,” he whispered in my ear as the cabin door slammed shut behind us, “you’re not slipping away.“Z
I caught one last glimpse of Terrence, getting smaller and smaller as the chopper lifted off the lawn.2
….
Inside the helicopter, the roar of the engine swallowed everything. Wind whipped through the open doors, and I gripped the armrests with white knuckled fists.
Desmond sat across from me, looking unhinged. His breathing was ragged, his hands twitching like they couldn’t decide whether to hold on or let go.
“Desmond!” I shouted over the engine. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
His hands shook as he pulled a small velvet box from his coat.}
The lid popped open, revealing a diamond ring that flashed like a blade in the sunlight.
“Cassie,” he said, voice hoarse, cracked with desperation. “I’ve thought about this for so long. You love me. You’ve always loved me…” The ring trembled in his grasp.
“It was Gwen,” he went on, almost pleading. “She twisted everything and made me believe all the wrong things. But I get it now. I was wrong.”
“I don’t want to,” I said, steady and sure. “I didn’t then, and I sure as hell don’t now.”
His face twisted. His pupils blew wide. His whole body tensed like a spring about to snap.
“Why?!” Desmond shouted.
Then, in a terrifying blur, he lunged for the controls.
“I have nothing left!” he screamed. “The Caldwell family cut me off, and now you’re leaving me too?!”
The helicopter jolted. I felt my stomach flip as the nose of the helicopter dipped.
He shoved the pilot aside, scrambling to get at the controls.
“Marry me! Or we die together!“?
I dove forward, grabbing for the stick.
Qutside the window, the lake stretched below us–blue and still, shimmering in the afternoon light.
In a split second, I reached down and yanked the emergency brake with everything I had.
The icy water of the lake instantly swallowed all sound.
Silence.!
Then darkness.}
And in those last flickers before it all went black, it felt just like before, like being locked inside that dog cage again.. Cold steel all around, breath stolen from my lungs, his voice echoing like a curse.
“Lock her up.“A
When I woke up. I was tad-
10:20 AM
“Lock her up.
…M
When I woke up, I was staring at a snow–white ceiling.
Then Terrence’s face was drawn, pale, his eyes red–rimmed and bloodshot.
But the moment he saw me stir, they lit up like sunrise.
“Cassie,” he said, voice rough, full of everything he couldn’t say. “You’re pregnant.“>
Suddenly, there was a muffled thud at the door.
Desmond stood there.
Or what was left of him.
He was wrapped in gauze like a stitched–up ghost, eyes sunken and dull. He dropped to his knees and stayed there, motionless.”
His lips trembled as his eyes drifted to my stomach, flat beneath the blanket.
His eyes flicked toward my stomach–still flat beneath the blanket–and he flinched, as though the mere sight burned him.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have… I never should’ve put you in that cage.”
Before ! could speak, Terrence stepped in front of me.
Bodyguards swarmed from behind and brought Desmond down to the floor. He didn’t resist. He just lay there, staring up at me like he didn’t deserve to exist anymore.”
His face was swollen. Blood crusted in the cracks of bandages. And those eyes, full of regret and madness and loss.
“Get out,” I said quietly, turning my head away.
…
It wasn’t long before every news channel picked it up.
On screen, Desmond Caldwell knelt before the iron cage he once locked me in.
Again and again, he slammed his head against the ground. Blood streamed down his face, pooling at his knees, streaking the cold steel bars with red.
He remembered.}
All of it.S
And the weight of those memories, of every monstrous thing he’d done, had finally snapped something in him. Whatever humanity he had left unraveled right there on camera.
As my eyes stayed glued to the screen, Terrence quietly reached over and slid his hand in front of my face, shielding me from the scene.§ “Don’t,” he murmured, voice soft. “You don’t have to see that anymore.“>
I leaned into him, resting my ear against his chest, letting the steady rhythm of his heartbeat calm the last of the storm inside me.}
In this life, I’d broken the cycle. I wasn’t caged anymore. I wasn’t his.
The hospital door creaked open.
My father stepped in first. Then, one by one, the D’Angelo family followed, gathering around my bedside. Their faces were soft with relief, and their eyes were shining with quiet joy.
Outside, spring sunlight poured through the windows, golden and gentle. It draped across the room like a promise.
And at that moment, I finally understood.
Every bruise. Every scar.
Every time I thought I wouldn’t make it.
It had all led me here.
What waited for me now was a love that was steady, lasting, and unshakable.}
