Chapter 52

Her knees slammed against the hardwood floor. Susan trembled violently as she knelt. The sound of fabric tearing pierced the silent room like her soul being shredded to pieces.

Each fragment carried barbs that embedded deep into her heart.

At dawn's first light, Andrew Lucas finally released her.

He stood by the bed adjusting his cufflinks, the black suit accentuating his broad shoulders and long legs like an untouchable deity. Meanwhile, she curled up in the disheveled sheets, resembling a crushed butterfly.

"Reconstructive surgery?" Andrew suddenly sneered, his slender fingers gripping her chin. "Susan, your act of playing innocent has reached perfection."

She kept her eyes closed, lashes casting shadows across her pale face.

No explanations would come.

Last night's procedure had indeed been for the auction. To save Daniel, she'd do anything.

"Speak!" Andrew's hand closed around her throat.

"What would Mr. Lucas like to hear?" Susan opened eyes that once sparkled but now held only emptiness. "That I'd stoop to anything for money? You're right. That's exactly who I am."

His knuckles cracked ominously.

Dark fury swirled in Andrew's gaze. "That night when you were eighteen - was that faked too?"

The words stabbed like a blade twisting in her chest.

Her entire body shook as blood welled from her bitten lip.

The night she'd joyfully given everything now reduced to a calculated deception in his eyes.

"Susan," Andrew released her, voice colder than ice. "The greatest regret of my life was touching you."

The door slammed shut with enough force to rattle the walls.

Clutching herself, Susan dug nails into her arms. Just endure a little longer. The ransom money would save Daniel, she repeated silently.

The bank notification chimed as she struggled into ill-fitting borrowed clothes. Ten million - enough for the ransom.

At South Mountain's cliff edge, the kidnapper leader yanked her forward. "Where's the card?"

"I need to see Daniel first!"

The man grinned cruelly, pulling out his phone. "Should I have them execute him now?"

Hands trembling, Susan surrendered the bank card.

The minivan jolted up the mountain road. When the cliffside scene came into view, she froze in horror—

Andrew Lucas and Nicole Capra stood waiting.