---- Chapter 8 Haylie Camacho POV: | turned my face to the wall, the conversation over. Jeremy' s blind devotion to Joselin was a fortress | could never penetrate. It was pointless to even try. He helped a sobbing Joselin from the room, murmuring comforting words to her. A few minutes later, he returned, sitting heavily on the edge of my bed. "Haylie," he began, his voice low and pained. "I don' t understand what' s happened to us. We used to be so happy. | know | made a mistake. A terrible, unforgivable mistake. But | was lonely. And | was scared. | thought | was going to lose you." He was trying to rewrite history, to paint his calculated betrayal as a moment of weakness. | wanted to scream at him, to list every lie, every cruelty, every moment he chose her over me. But what was the point? He wouldn' t believe me. | closed my eyes, feigning sleep. Eventually, he sighed and left the room. The next day, | felt stronger. The rage was a fire in my belly, burning away the pain and the weakness. | picked up my phone, my fingers flying across the screen as | sent a text to ---- one of Edmund Glass' s most trusted lieutenants, a man who owed my family a debt. An hour later, a man was dragged into my room. He was bound and gagged, his eyes wide with terror. It was him. The man with the gold tooth. Joselin must have heard the commotion. She burst into the room, her face paling when she saw the man. "What is this? Who is he?" "He's the man you hired to kill me," | said, my voice as cold as the grave. | picked up the small, decorative whip that had been left on the dresser-a cruel souvenir from Edmund' s collection. "This is insane!" Joselin shrieked. lignored her. | walked over to the man and ripped the gag from his mouth. | pointed to a bucket of salt water my contact had brought. "You know what to do." The man whimpered as he was forced to his knees, his face plunged into the stinging water. His screams were muffled, but the sound was sweet music to my ears. "Stop it!" Joselin screamed, lunging for me. | spun around, the whip in my hand whistling through the air, cracking just inches from her face. She froze, her eyes wide with shock. ---- "You' re next," | promised her. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my wrist, twisting it until | cried out in pain and dropped the whip. Jeremy stood behind me, his face a thunderous mask of rage. He shoved me, hard. | stumbled backward, my head hitting the sharp corner of the bedside table. Pain exploded behind my eyes, and the world tilted. | felt a warm trickle of blood run down my neck. Jeremy stared at his hand, then at me, horror dawning on his face. "Haylie, |... | didn' t mean to..." Joselin rushed to his side, weeping. "It' s not your fault, Jeremy! She was acting crazy! She was going to hurt me!" Jeremy looked from her tear-streaked face to my bleeding head, his expression hardening. "You' ve gone too far, Haylie. You' re tearing this family apart." The words were a physical blow. Me. | was the problem. Not his affair. Not his annulment. Not his new marriage. Not their attempt on my life. Me. Blood dripped from my scalp onto my shoulder. The room swam before my eyes. | looked at the man | had once loved more than life itself, the man who was now my tormentor, my judge, and my jury. "Jeremy," | whispered, the last ounce of hope dying in my voice. "Do you even love me anymore?" ---- He stared at me, his jaw tight, his eyes cold and distant. He didn't answer. And in his silence, | finally had mine.