ing Ivy felt

eeth chatter violently before she even opened her eyes. Then came

her eyes f

in. The roar

. Ropes bit into her wrists and ankles, coarse and tight

uminating the world in

ned black and angry around them,

ve her were

o her, staring out at the storm. He held a

her stood

der. She was shaking, seemingly sobbing. But as the lightning flashed aga

y's stepmother stepped forward, her high

y duct tape sealed her mouth shut. She c

looking down at Ivy with pure

asked, his voice bored

, a flicker of cruel satisfaction in her eyes as she concocted the perfect story to sever Braeden's last tie to Ivy. She had paid the do

and blinding, mixing with the rain on her face. She shook her head frantical

it over with. I have a bo

k raincoats stepped out from the shadows. They gr

onds. She locked eyes with Calla. Help me, sh

r Ivy," she whispered, loud enough for Braeden to he

ward the railing. Her face was inches from Iv

whispered, her voice barely audible over the w

. Her eyes wid

her red lips. "It took weeks. Watching her heart fail, bit by b

the only thing warmer than the freezing rain. She scre

ughed. "Go

n swun

y took

in the black void between the yacht and the

er with a bone-

ng the air from her lungs. She sank like a stone, the wei

faded above her, growi

d. Her vision b

she though

ice echoed in her mind

her. Mu

aby.

ife.

o

had soaked the ropes, making them slick. The knot around her wrists, tied hastily by careless th

t would snap. Fueled by a hatred that burned hotter than the icy

d slipp

ream of bubbles escaping her lips. She clawed a

ming for air. The da

rumming sound vibrated through the

, bobbing light

cean, fought the pain in her abdome

sping, heaving in mouthfu

distant blur of lights on the h

fishing trawler was cu

ed, her voice br

fire through her injured womb. But she swam with t

oat, grabbing onto a dangling net, she

he thought clear and cold in