The black Lincoln tore through the empty streets of New York, the engine a low, menacing hum. Inside the cabin, the air pressure was so heavy it felt like a physical weight pressing down on Audra's chest.

She pressed herself deeply into the corner of the leather seat. Her entire body trembled. She stared at the man sitting across from her, desperately searching the harsh lines of his face for any trace of the warmth she used to know.

Eben snapped the silver lighter shut. The sharp click echoed like a gunshot in the quiet car. He leaned forward suddenly, his large hand shooting out to grip her chin.

His fingers dug painfully into her jawbone. "What's the matter?" he sneered, his voice dripping with venom. "Is Anderson Hopper not satisfying you enough? Is that why you're running around the city acting like a lunatic?"

Audra winced, a sharp pain shooting through her face. Tears welled up, spilling over his knuckles. "Kendall, please. You have to listen to me. Back then, I was-"

The moment she said his name, a flash of pure, unadulterated violence crossed Eben's eyes. His grip on her jaw tightened until she felt her bones grinding together.

"Shut your mouth!" he roared, his voice vibrating with rage. "That idiot died three years ago, and you were the one who put him in the grave!"

The limousine slammed on its brakes.

The massive force of the sudden stop threw Audra forward. She crashed hard against the wooden partition separating them from the driver, her shoulder taking the brunt of the impact.

The automatic door slid open. The freezing night wind, thick with the smell of the Hudson River, ripped into the cabin.

Eben grabbed the collar of her black trench coat in a white-knuckled fist. He dragged her out of the car, his movements rough and completely devoid of mercy.

Audra stumbled over her own feet as her shoes hit the wet pavement. She forced her head up, looking around. Her pupils shrank to tiny pinpricks.

They were standing on the edge of an abandoned industrial iron bridge spanning the dark waters of the Hudson River. Right in front of them, a massive section of the rusted iron railing was missing, leaving a gaping hole that looked like the open mouth of a monster.

Below them, the black, churning waters of the river smashed against the concrete pillars with a deafening roar.

It was the exact spot. The exact place the transport van had gone over.

A wave of pure, paralyzing terror swallowed Audra whole. Her PTSD triggered instantly. Her chest tightened so severely she couldn't pull in a single breath. She began to hyperventilate, her mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish.

Eben didn't care. He kept his iron grip on her wrist and dragged her relentlessly toward the jagged edge of the broken concrete.

Audra's toes slipped over the edge. Half of her foot was suspended over the deadly drop. One wrong move, and she would fall.

She let out a blood-curdling scream. She twisted her body, throwing her arms around Eben's solid bicep. Her broken, bleeding fingernails dug frantically into the expensive fabric of his suit jacket, clinging to him for dear life.

"Scared?" Eben's voice was colder than the wind whipping around them. "Were you scared when you sent me over this edge three years ago?"

He stepped up right behind her. His chest pressed hard against her back. He wrapped one thick arm tightly around her waist, locking her in place. With his other hand, he grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her head down to look at the black water swirling far below.

"Do you know what it feels like when the water fills your lungs?" he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear. Every word was a razor blade slicing into her sanity. "Do you know what it feels like to wait to die in the freezing dark?"

Audra's legs gave out completely. If he wasn't holding her, she would have collapsed. She shook her head wildly, sobbing so hard she choked on her own saliva. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Eben let out a dark, cruel laugh.

He suddenly released the arm holding her waist.

Audra's center of gravity shifted forward. The sickening sensation of weightlessness hit her stomach. She was falling. She screamed, a raw, primal sound of absolute despair.

In the fraction of a second before she tipped over the edge, Eben's large hand clamped down on her upper arm. He yanked her backward with brutal force, throwing her away from the ledge.

Audra collapsed onto the damp concrete. She curled onto her side, clutching her chest, and began to dry heave violently. Her stomach cramped, trying to expel the sheer terror that had consumed her.

Eben stood tall, looking down at her pathetic, trembling form. There was no pity in his amber eyes. Only the dark satisfaction of revenge.

"This is just a fraction of the interest you owe me, Audra Hill," he said coldly. He pulled a crisp silk handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the fingers that had touched her coat, and dropped the fabric onto her face in disgust.

"I am going to make you feel a hundred times the despair I felt. This is only the beginning."

Eben turned his back on her. He walked toward the waiting Lincoln, pulling the door open, leaving Audra alone in the dark, shivering on the edge of the abyss.

Audra crouched on the wet concrete, her body shaking violently in the freezing wind. It took several long minutes before she could gather enough strength to push herself up. She grabbed the rusted iron railing, her knuckles white, and forced herself to stand.

Before she could take a single step, a blinding beam of high-beam headlights hit her directly in the face. She threw her arm up to shield her eyes.

The black Lincoln hadn't left. It had reversed aggressively, the tires screeching as it slammed to a halt just two meters away from her.

Eben threw his door open. His handmade leather shoes splashed into a puddle of dirty water. He marched toward her, his body radiating a dark, volatile energy.

Audra instinctively shrank back against the railing.

Eben reached her in three strides. He grabbed her thin wrists, yanking her forward. Her chest slammed hard against his solid torso.

He ducked his head and crushed his mouth against hers.

It wasn't a kiss. It was an act of violence, a brutal punishment. His teeth clashed against hers, biting down on her lower lip until the sharp, metallic taste of fresh blood flooded both their mouths.

Audra whimpered in pain. She pushed her hands frantically against his broad chest, trying to wedge some space between them.

Eben ignored her struggles. His large, rough hand slid down the curve of her waist. In his aggressive haste, his fingers caught the fabric belt of her trench coat and ripped it open.

The wind instantly caught the edges of the coat, blowing it back. The thin silk dress she wore underneath plastered itself tightly against her stomach.

Eben's hand moved lower. His fingertips brushed against her lower abdomen.

He felt a thick, raised line of scarred flesh through the thin silk.

His hand froze instantly.

He shoved her away so hard she stumbled back against the railing. The impact caused the hem of her silk dress to ride up sharply, catching in the wind. His eyes dropped to her lower abdomen, locking onto the ugly, horizontal C-section scar suddenly laid bare beneath the harsh lights.

The air in the alley seemed to solidify. Eben's chest heaved. His breathing turned ragged. The edges of his eyes turned a furious, bloodshot red as extreme jealousy and rage consumed him.

"You actually..." he gritted his teeth, his voice sounding like it was being dragged over broken glass. "You had a child for him?"

Audra clutched her stomach, her face draining of all color until she looked like a corpse. A phantom pain ripped through her womb. She opened her mouth to explain, but the terrifying weight of Anderson's non-disclosure agreement and the threat to her mother's life clamped her throat shut.

"That was..." she rasped, her voice dry and broken.

Eben didn't give her a chance to finish. He lunged forward, his large hand wrapping tightly around her throat. He slammed her back against the freezing iron railing.

"You disgust me! Your body is filthy!" he roared, his fingers automatically tightening around her windpipe.

A severe lack of oxygen hit Audra's brain. Dark spots danced in her vision. She couldn't breathe. Tears of pure agony leaked from the corners of her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and dropping onto the back of Eben's hand.

The moment the scalding hot tears hit his skin, Eben flinched as if he had been burned by fire. He released her neck instantly, taking a sharp step back.

Audra slid down the railing, collapsing onto the ground. She clutched her bruised throat, coughing violently as she sucked in greedy mouthfuls of cold air.

Eben stared down at her. The pain of betrayal in his eyes hardened into absolute, impenetrable ice.

"Anderson Hopper's bastard," he sneered, every word a calculated strike to her heart. "Was that the price you demanded to sell me out?"

Audra's heart was ripped to shreds. That baby was his. It was their flesh and blood, and he was standing here cursing it with the most vicious words imaginable.

While Eben was blinded by his own rage, Audra pushed herself off the ground. Driven by pure survival instinct, she turned and sprinted toward the dark, empty road leading away from the bridge.

She ran like a hunted animal. One of her heels snapped, the shoe falling off, but she didn't stop. She ran barefoot on the freezing asphalt, desperate to escape the monster he had become.

Eben stood perfectly still. He didn't chase her. He watched her limping, pathetic figure disappear into the shadows, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles popped.

He pulled his phone from his pocket. He dialed his assistant's number. His voice was absolute zero.

"Initiate the full short-selling protocol against the Hopper Group. I want Anderson bankrupt in three days."

He paused, his eyes fixed on the empty darkness where Audra had vanished.

"And dig up everything on that woman. I want her ruined in this city. I want her begging for death."

At three in the morning, Audra dragged her feet toward the massive wrought-iron gates of the Hopper estate. She was missing a shoe. Her bare foot was cut and bleeding. Her trench coat was caked in mud, and her hair hung in wet, tangled clumps around her pale face.

The security guard in the booth saw her miserable state. He immediately grabbed his radio to report in, pressing the button to swing the heavy gates open. He escorted her quickly toward the main house.

The grand foyer was blazing with light. Anderson sat in the center of the room on a tufted leather sofa. A thick cigar burned between his fingers. His face was a mask of dark, brewing violence.

Hearing her heavy, dragging footsteps, Anderson snapped his head up. His eyes instantly zeroed in on the dark, purple bruises forming in the shape of a handprint on her pale neck, and her torn, disheveled clothing.

He threw the cigar onto the marble floor and closed the distance between them in three long strides. His hands clamped down on her frail shoulders like vices.

"Where the hell did you go? Who put these marks on your neck?" he demanded, his voice sharp with panic and the furious jealousy of a man who thought his property had been touched.

Audra didn't flinch. She slowly raised her hands and pushed his arms away. Her eyes were as empty as a dried-up well. "I went to see if a dead man was still breathing."

Anderson's face hardened. A flicker of guilt and anxiety crossed his eyes before he masked it with rage. "You... you saw Eben Gill."

He spun around, grabbed a heavy crystal ashtray off the coffee table, and hurled it violently at the wall. The crystal shattered into a thousand glittering pieces, raining down on the floor.

"Go find out!" Anderson roared over his shoulder to a trembling assistant by the door. "I want to know exactly whose mysterious funds are aggressively shorting my company on Wall Street! What? Preliminary reports are pointing to that new tech billionaire, Eben Gill? !" He turned back to Audra, his chest heaving.

Hearing this, a tiny, almost imperceptible ripple crossed Audra's dead eyes. Eben's revenge was already moving with terrifying speed.

"He doesn't just have his face. He is Kendall," Audra said. She stared directly into Anderson's bloodshot eyes, her voice flat and absolute.

Anderson froze for a second. Then, a cruel, mocking laugh erupted from his chest. He reached out and pinched her dirty, tear-stained cheek.

"Even if he is, so what? Do you really think he wants a woman who lied to him and crawled into my bed?" he sneered, twisting the knife into her deepest wound.

The words hit their mark. Audra's body trembled slightly, the rims of her eyes turning a raw, painful red.

Anderson stepped closer. His voice dropped to a soft, lethal whisper. "You are mine. You are going to die in this house."

Something inside Audra snapped. A sudden, violent burst of energy flooded her exhausted muscles. She shoved both her hands hard against Anderson's chest.

"I am done!" she screamed, her voice echoing hysterically off the high ceilings. "I am leaving this place! I cannot look at your disgusting, hypocritical face for one more second!"

Anderson stumbled back a step. His eyes darkened, turning incredibly dangerous. He looked like a predator that had just been challenged by its prey.

He lunged forward. He threw his arms around her waist, hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of flour, and ignored her frantic kicking and punching. He marched over to the sofa and threw her down hard against the leather cushions.

His massive body pinned her down. His hands locked around her wrists, pressing them deeply into the upholstery.

"Leave?" he laughed, a dark, ugly sound. "You signed the NDA. I hold the evidence of your father's crimes in my safe. Where exactly do you think you can go?" He laid out his trump cards, expecting her to cower.

Audra stopped fighting. The fight drained out of her completely. Hot tears slid from the corners of her eyes, disappearing into her hairline. "Is threatening me the only thing you know how to do?"

Anderson stared at the tears tracking down her pale skin. A sudden, inexplicable irritation tightened his chest. Without realizing it, his grip on her wrists loosened slightly.

"Just stay here and be good," he tried to coax her, his tone shifting to a sick kind of reasoning. "I will handle Eben Gill. We can go back to the way things were..."

"The way things were?" Audra interrupted, a cold, bitter smile forming on her lips. "You mean watching you destroy my entire life with your lies?"

She took a deep breath. She turned her head, fixing her dead, empty gaze on the intricate molding of the ceiling.

"Anderson, let me go. Or kill me right now." Her voice held absolutely no desire to live.

Anderson looked at her lifeless face as if he had been struck by lightning. His hands slowly released her wrists, falling limply to his sides.

He stood up. He turned his back to her, his broad shoulders tense. His voice was hoarse as he barked an order to the guards standing by the door.

"Lock her in her room. No one goes in without my explicit permission." He then turned his lethal glare to the head of security. "Weld every single ventilation grate in this house shut. Install three-tier biometric locks and laser grids on every exterior door. If she manages to slip out again, I will personally see to it that you all end up at the bottom of the river."