In the days after we signed the papers, Carter was like a ghost. He didn't contact me once.

The old me would have gone insane. I would have locked myself in my room, numbing the pain with alcohol and antidepressants like an addict.

But now, the very air I breathed felt sweeter.

Less than three weeks remained until my "death."

I no longer shut myself away in that gilded cage of a mansion. Instead, Ava and I partied every night.

Raising her champagne flute, Ava teased that I was having a late-blooming rebellion, "If you'd shown this 'fuck it all' attitude sooner, that arrogant bastard would have been on his knees at your feet long ago."

Then came the night of the gala at a top private gallery in Manhattan.

I was lost in thought, staring at a portrait of the Madonna, a favorite of my father's from the Renaissance, when a commotion erupted behind me.

No matter where he went, Carter Throne carried an oppressive weight that clung to him like a second skin.

He was dressed in a perfectly tailored black Italian suit, and on his arm was Tessa, draped in a couture white dress.

They looked perfect together.

Carter saw me almost immediately.

Even from several feet away, I could feel the muscles in his body tense.

Tessa followed his gaze, then broke into her signature smile. "Oh my god, Maeve, what a coincidence!"

She leaned her head intimately on Carter's shoulder, as if staking her claim.

Seeing me, Carter instinctively shielded Tessa behind him, a clear gesture of protection.

He was probably afraid I would fly into a rage like I did at the shooting range, that this "lunatic" would rush over and tear his precious little princess to shreds.

Ava scoffed beside me and started to move forward.

But I placed a hand on her wrist. Meeting Carter's wary gaze, I simply raised my champagne glass in a cool, subtle gesture.

"It is a coincidence."

Seeing how calm I was, the triumphant look in Tessa's eyes faltered for a second.

She peeked out from behind Carter and pointed to the painting I had been looking at, her voice a sugary coo.

"Oh, Maeve. It's a shame about the painting. Carter just had someone buy it for three times the asking price."

She paused deliberately. "He said my bedroom is too plain, that it needs a little art to liven it up."

The barb hit its mark.

I had pleaded with Carter for that painting for a long time.

I told him I missed my father and wanted to buy back his favorite work.

What had Carter said then?

He'd said, "It's just some gloomy old painting. That style isn't suitable for our home. It's bad luck."

And now, this "bad luck" painting had become a trophy to win a smile from his pretty companion.

Carter's throat bobbed.

He was watching me, seemingly waiting for my explosion, waiting for me to question him like a madwoman.

But I didn't even twitch an eyebrow.

"Congratulations, then, Tessa. I hope you sleep soundly with it hanging over your bed."

With that, I took Ava's arm and turned to leave, treating them like complete strangers.

Ava was reluctant, muttering a curse under her breath.

"We're just leaving? That's not like you, Maeve."

"I don't waste my time on fools," I replied softly, my pace never faltering.

Behind me, Tessa was showing off her new gift to the people around them.

And I could feel his gaze burning into my back like a brand.

He just stood there, clutching the glass of whiskey he hadn't had a chance to drink.

He didn't seem to snap out of it until Tessa shook his arm, whining his name in a petulant pout.

The feared Capo finally broke his gaze, a flicker of something I had never seen in his eyes before: confusion.

I thought that encounter at the gallery would be my last with Carter before I "died."

But just as I was encrypting the final asset transfer document to the Swiss bank, the burner phone, the one I only ever used for his divorce notices, started vibrating wildly on the table.

Carter's name flashed on the screen. A rare sight.

I used to wait for his calls so desperately I'd take my phone into the shower in a waterproof bag.

And I'd wait for nothing.

Now, this was the first time he had called me since we'd signed the papers.

But the phone's insistent ringing filled me with a strange anxiety, like I was staring at a ticking time bomb.

I stared at the screen for three seconds before finally answering.

I said nothing, listening to the sound of Carter exhaling smoke on the other end. "Maeve, did you empty our joint account at Credit Suisse?"

"Twenty million dollars. What do you think you're doing?"

His voice was laced with anger, the irritation of a man in power whose authority has been challenged.

I swiped a layer of bright red lipstick across my lips and answered nonchalantly, "For all my years as Mrs. Throne, I'd say it's a fair price for my pain and suffering, don't you think?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

Carter clearly hadn't expected me to admit it so readily.

His tone softened. "The money isn't the issue. You can have as much as you want. But you shouldn't be throwing a tantrum like this."

"Emptying an account like that gets the Feds' attention. You're making problems for me, Maeve."

I let out a short, bitter laugh. "Problems? Isn't your biggest problem Tessa, who's probably crying in your arms right now?"

His breath hitched on the other end. I'd hit a nerve.

"It's not what you think with Tessa." His tone softened further, laced with a rare, pleading quality. "Stop this, Maeve. Come back. That apartment isn't safe."

"I'm worried about you. That friend of yours, Ava, has been taking you to too many shady places."

"The 19th is the anniversary of the day we first met. I'll be waiting for you at the villa on Lake George."

"Just the two of us, like before. I'll make you that Sicilian stew you like. How about it?"

A memory I thought I had buried began to stir. On the 19th, all those years ago, he'd taken a bullet for me by the lake. It was the beginning of our cursed fate.

But now, it all meant nothing to me.

I was about to refuse when a soft cry of pain came from his end of the line.

"Ngh... Carter, it hurts! I think the wound opened up..."

Tessa's voice was so close, it was as if she were pressed against his chest.

Carter's breathing immediately grew ragged.

"Dammit."

He cursed under his breath, then, remembering I was still on the phone, his tone became dismissive. "Maeve, don't hang up. Give me a minute."

He tossed the phone carelessly onto what sounded like a sofa, not even bothering to mute the call.

And so, I was forced to listen to a nauseating private performance.

"The tape is stuck so tight... can you be gentle..."

Her suggestive gasps drilled clearly into my ear.

The rustle of fabric, the sharp rip of medical tape.

And then Tessa's tearful, coquettish plea:

"It hurts here, too... Can you kiss it better for me?"

"Alright, just bear with it. It'll be over in a second," Carter's voice was so gentle, laced with a patience he had never once shown me.

I looked at my own expressionless face in the mirror and suddenly found the situation hilarious.

This blatant humiliation was louder than a slap across the face.

So this was his "not what you think."

This was his "just the two of us."

He was inviting me on an anniversary date while kneeling at another woman's feet, personally tending to her feigned injuries.

My finger tapped the screen, and the red button put an end to the farce.

"Goodbye, Carter."

I laughed at the dial tone. "Enjoy your little performance."

The door opened and Ava strode in, dressed in a daring leather outfit and dangling two VIP passes for an underground bar.

"Handled that asshole?" Ava asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you still moping about for? It's the opening night of a new club. They say all the wildest men in New York will be there."

She was right. There were so many wonderful things in this world, why was I wasting my energy on that one man?

I tossed the phone into the trash can, grabbed my jacket, and strode toward the door.

"Let's go."

"Tonight, we're breaking out the hard stuff."

A toast to my new life, in advance.

Free from Carter's interference, the days flew by, swift and silent as a bullet from a silenced gun.

Ava brought me the latest underground news.

She sat on my suitcase, swinging her long legs. "I heard Carter publicly flipped a table at the Costello family dinner. Ignored the glares from both Godfathers and stormed out."

"The rumor is he got into a huge fight with Tessa, supposedly to defend your honor."

I tossed our last photograph together into the fireplace, watching the flames consume Carter's young, handsome face.

"He's not trying to win me back, Ava. He just can't stand that his little pet dared to chew through her leash."

The old me was like a lunatic with Stockholm syndrome.

I would have bribed his driver and bugged his phone, ready to pounce the second a crack appeared between him and Tessa, wagging my tail to prove that I was the only loyal one.

Now? I couldn't care less.

Even if he turned all of New York upside down for me, it would just be another move in their toxic little game.

Strangely, though, the calls to my burner phone from Carter became more frequent after that.

Too bad for him, I either hung up immediately or made up excuses to avoid seeing him.

Until the day before I was scheduled to leave.

Carter's voice sounded so humble, so unlike the ruthless Capo I knew.

"Maeve, please, wait for me at the lake house. Okay?"

"Today is our special day. Don't say no to me."

My fingers tightened around the phone. He had never begged me for anything like this before.

Usually, he would only have to take a single step in my direction, and I would sprint the other ninety-nine to meet him.

Only to find that, for Tessa, Carter would always take that one step back.

After all our breakups and makeups, I was the only one who bothered to remember every single detail related to him.

How ironic. Now that he finally remembered this day, I didn't care at all.

All I knew was that in less than twenty-four hours, I would be free for good.

But I still agreed.

The lake house was where we first met. It was also the perfect stage for my "death."

At ten o'clock at night, the wind off Lake George was bone-chilling.

I sat alone on the dock's long bench, surrounded by a dead silence.

The minutes ticked by. I waited and waited, but the promised headlights never appeared.

At eleven-thirty, my phone vibrated.

It was a voice message from Carter. The background was noisy, with the faint sound of Tessa's spoiled laughter and the crisp clatter of casino chips.

"I'm sorry, Maeve. I'm going to be late."

"There's an emergency with the Costello family. Someone's targeting Tessa, and I have to handle it personally."

"This is the last time, I swear. Believe me. As soon as I get Tessa on a plane tomorrow, I'll go anywhere you want. Okay?"

Another "last time." I'd heard that lie countless times in our marriage.

A moment later, an encrypted link arrived from Ava.

"Looks like the Costello's 'emergency' is a ribbon-cutting for the new casino in Atlantic City."

The link opened to a live stream replay of an incredibly lavish underground casino opening.

In the center of the frame, Carter's arm was wrapped around Tessa's waist as he stood behind a mountain of chips.

He casually tossed a hundred-thousand-dollar chip into the low-cut front of Tessa's gown, drawing a chorus of cheers from the crowd.

Tessa giggled, falling into his arms.

"Mr. Throne is so generous! Three million dollars just to make his lady smile!"

In that moment, the last ember of hope I held for him was finally extinguished.

Even for the seventh time, even at the very last moment.

Between me and Tessa, he still chose her.

How pathetic. A part of me, from the moment I agreed to his request to the entire drive here, had still held onto one last shred of hope for him.

I should have known better, shouldn't I?

No matter. The game was over.

I stood up and hurled the phone, the one with the number only he knew, into the black heart of the lake.

Plunk.

It sank to the bottom, taking the last scrap of my feelings for Carter Throne with it.

I turned and boarded the speedboat that was already waiting by the dock.

With a roar of the engine, the boat shot into the darkness like an arrow released from a bow.

The moment I was a safe distance away, the lake house behind me, a building that had held countless lies, erupted in a deafening explosion.

A pillar of fire shot into the sky, instantly illuminating the entire lake, turning night into day.

I looked back.

On the shore, a black armored car screeched to a halt, and Carter stumbled out, his face a mask of horror as he stared at the all-consuming inferno.

Even from this distance, I could almost imagine his raw, desperate scream:

"MAEVE!"