Joy walked into the lobby of their apartment building. Her entire body felt heavy, like she was walking underwater.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

A limited-edition Aston Martin was parked right outside the glass doors.

Angel stepped out of the driver's side. He walked around the hood and opened the passenger door.

A woman stepped out.

She was wearing a blood-red designer dress that clung to her perfect curves. Her blonde hair was blown out flawlessly. Hillary Warner. Time hadn't touched her; it had only made her more expensive.

Angel grabbed a leather weekender bag from the trunk. Hillary slipped her arm through his. She leaned into him, laughing at something he said. They looked like a king and queen returning to their castle.

Joy's stomach twisted into a violent knot. Bile rose in her throat.

The three of them met in the center of the marble lobby.

The air turned to ice.

Hillary stopped laughing. She looked Joy up and down. Her eyes lingered on Joy's cheap sweater. A slow, mocking smile spread across Hillary's red lips.

"So this is the surrogate wife," Hillary said. Her voice was like honey poured over glass. "She's... plain. I suppose that was the point."

Joy's hands balled into fists at her sides. Her fingernails dug into her palms. She wanted to slap the smug smile off Hillary's face.

Angel didn't even acknowledge the insult. He pulled a thick manila envelope from his jacket pocket and shoved it against Joy's chest.

"The divorce papers," Angel said. His voice echoed in the cavernous lobby. "Sign them. Now."

He held out a heavy gold fountain pen.

Joy looked at the pen. It gleamed under the chandelier light. It looked like a weapon.

She slowly raised her eyes to meet Angel's.

"No," Joy said. Her voice was quiet, but it carried.

Angel's face hardened. He dropped his arm. He stepped closer to her, invading her space. The scent of his cologne mixed with Hillary's heavy perfume made Joy nauseous.

"Don't play games with me," Angel hissed. He grabbed her shoulder. His fingers clamped down hard, digging into her collarbone. "I told you not to make this ugly."

Joy winced, but she didn't step back. She jerked her shoulder, trying to break his grip.

"A legal wife has the right to stay in her husband's home," Joy said, glaring at Hillary.

Hillary rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Have some dignity. He doesn't want you."

"Sign the damn papers!" Angel roared. He grabbed her right wrist, trying to force the pen into her hand.

Joy fought back. She planted her feet and yanked her arm away.

The sudden movement sent them both off balance. Angel lost his temper completely. He didn't just push her; he shoved her away with all his frustrated force.

Joy stumbled backward. Her heels slipped on the polished marble floor. She lost her balance completely and flew backward.

Her right shoulder and the right side of her head slammed violently into the massive marble pillar behind her.

A dull, heavy thud echoed in the lobby.

Pain exploded in Joy's skull. White spots danced in her vision.

She slid down the pillar and collapsed onto the floor. She curled into a tight ball, a sharp, breathless cry escaping her lips as her hands flew up to cradle the throbbing point of impact on her head.

Angel froze.

The anger vanished from his face, replaced instantly by absolute horror. His eyes locked onto the side of her head pressed against the cold marble. He saw the faint, pale line of a scar disappearing into her hairline—a scar he knew intimately. A scar he had put there.

Three years ago. The car crash. The shattered windshield. The glass slicing through the side of her head. The blood soaking his hands.

*Nerve damage,* the doctor had said. *She may never hear out of that ear again.*

Angel's hand, still outstretched from the push, began to tremble. He took a half-step toward her.

"Angel?" Hillary tugged on his sleeve. She looked annoyed. "Come on, she's faking it. Let's go upstairs."

Angel didn't move. He stared at Joy, watching her shoulders shake as she gasped for air on the floor. His Adam's apple bobbed violently.

He looked at his own hand. He looked sick.

Without a word, Angel turned around. He didn't look at Hillary. He walked straight to the elevator and hit the button.

Hillary huffed in frustration and followed him.

The elevator doors closed.

Joy stayed on the floor. The cold marble seeped through her clothes. Her head throbbed from the impact. The sharp pain was real, but through it, a cold, clear thought began to form. She watched him flee not in anger, but in sheer terror.

She could hear the quiet hum of the elevator carrying him away. She could hear the gentle patter of the rain hitting the glass doors outside. Her hearing was perfectly fine.

She slowly lowered her hands. She touched the faint, barely visible scar behind her right ear.

It wasn't just a mark of the past. It was a map of his guilt. And it was her only weapon.

Joy sat on the cold marble floor for ten minutes. Her heart rate slowly returned to normal. The throbbing in her head dulled to an ache.

She pushed herself up, her vision swimming for a moment. She blinked rapidly, forcing the world to stop spinning. She didn't go to the main elevator. She walked straight to the private executive lift, the one that descended directly to the secure underground parking garage.

She needed to corner Angel without Hillary whispering poison in his ear.

The garage was dimly lit and smelled of exhaust and damp concrete. Joy walked down the rows of luxury cars until she saw the taillights of Angel's Aston Martin flash red. He was backing out of his spot.

Joy broke into a run.

She stepped directly into the path of the reversing car.

Tires screeched against the concrete. The heavy car jerked to a violent halt, the bumper stopping mere inches from her knees.

The driver's side door flew open.

Angel stormed out. The garage lights cast harsh shadows across his face. He looked murderous.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Angel roared. The sound bounced off the concrete walls. "Do you want to die?"

Joy stood her ground. The headlights blinded her, but she didn't flinch. She looked like a cornered animal, terrified but ready to bite.

"I am not signing the divorce papers," Joy said. Her voice cut through the heavy air.

Angel marched right up to her. He grabbed her jaw again, his thumb pressing hard into her cheek.

"I will destroy you," Angel said. His voice was a low, dangerous vibration. "That million dollars is the last cent you'll ever see. I will make sure you and your pathetic brother are blacklisted in every city in this country. You will leave with nothing but the clothes on your back."

Joy's jaw ached. Her heart pounded against her ribs.

She didn't beg. She didn't cry.

Instead, she abruptly turned her head to the left.

She presented her right profile to him. She angled her right ear directly toward his face. It was a defensive posture, but it was also a calculated strike.

"You'll have to speak louder," Joy said, her voice eerily calm, her eyes staring blankly at the concrete wall. "The ringing in my right ear is particularly bad today. A permanent reminder."

Angel's fingers went rigid against her jaw.

It was like someone had flipped a switch and cut his power. All the rage drained out of his body in a single second, replaced by a sick, cold dread.

His eyes locked onto her right ear. The harsh garage lighting illuminated the thin, pale scar curving behind the cartilage.

The memory hit him again, sharp and brutal. The crunch of metal. The spray of glass. The blood matting her hair. His fault. All his fault.

Joy felt his grip loosen. She felt the slight tremor in his fingers before he snatched his hand away like her skin burned him. He took a sudden step back.

Joy turned to face him. She pressed her advantage.

"If you force me out," Joy said, her voice trembling just enough to sound broken, "I will take you to court. I will reopen the medical files from three years ago. I will tell the press exactly how the great Angel Wilcox treats the wife he crippled."

Angel stared at her. His chest heaved.

"The Wilcox family reputation can't survive a domestic abuse scandal," Joy whispered.

Guilt and fury warred in Angel's eyes. He looked at her like he hated her, but he looked at himself like he hated himself more. He searched her face, looking for a crack, looking for a lie.

Joy kept her face perfectly blank. Her stomach was tied in knots. If he called her bluff, she was dead.

Suddenly, the silence in the garage was shattered by a loud, obnoxious ringtone.

It was Angel's phone. Hillary.

Angel looked down at his pocket. He looked back at Joy, at the pale scar behind her ear. The muscles in his neck strained.

He didn't answer the phone.

He spun around and kicked the heavy steel door of his car. The metal dented with a sickening crunch.

He threw himself into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut. He threw the car into drive and slammed his foot on the gas.

The tires squealed, leaving black marks on the concrete. The car swerved around Joy, the side mirror brushing against her sleeve, and sped toward the exit.

Joy stood alone in the dark garage.

She watched the red taillights disappear. Her knees finally gave out. She leaned back against a concrete pillar and slid down to the floor.

She reached up and touched her right ear, the one with the scar. A bitter, hollow laugh escaped her lips. She had won the battle, but she felt sick to her stomach. The ringing was a lie. The deafness was a lie. Her ear had healed almost perfectly years ago.

The VIP lounge at JFK Airport was deathly quiet.

Hillary Warner slammed a glossy fashion magazine down on the glass coffee table. The sound made the attendant in the corner jump.

"Why are we leaving?" Hillary demanded. Her red lips were pulled into a tight sneer. "Why haven't you thrown that parasite out on the street yet? Are you attached to her?"

Angel sat in the leather armchair opposite her. He rested his elbows on his knees and dug his fingers into his hair. He pulled hard, letting the physical pain distract him from the pounding in his skull.

"It's not that simple, Hillary," Angel said. His voice was exhausted.

"It is simple!" Hillary snapped. She leaned forward, her eyes flashing. "She's faking it, Angel. She's using that ear to manipulate you. She's playing the victim to keep your money."

Angel's head snapped up.

His eyes were lethal. The exhaustion vanished, replaced by a cold, terrifying anger.

"Shut up," Angel snarled.

Hillary recoiled. She blinked, her mouth falling open in shock. "Excuse me?"

"I said shut up," Angel repeated, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "You weren't in that car. You didn't see the glass. You don't get to talk about her ear."

Hillary's eyes filled with tears. Her perfectly powdered face crumpled. "You've changed," she choked out. She grabbed her designer handbag and her first-class ticket. She stood up, her heels clicking aggressively. "Call me when you remember who you are."

She turned and stormed out of the lounge, not looking back.

Angel didn't go after her.

He sat alone in the massive room. He stared at the empty chair across from him.

Flashes of Joy curled on the floor, clutching her head, burned behind his eyes. The guilt was a physical weight on his chest, crushing his lungs. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think.

He pulled his phone out and dialed a number.

"Calvin," Angel said the second the line connected. His voice was ice.

"Yes, Mr. Wilcox?"

"Find the best otolaryngologist in the world. I don't care where they are. Fly them to New York."

There was a pause on the line. "Is this for... Mrs. Wilcox, sir?"

Angel closed his eyes. "Yes. I want a private clinic. Top-tier equipment. Book it for tomorrow morning. Whatever it costs."

He hung up.

He stared out the window at the planes taking off. He wasn't doing this because he cared. He was doing this to sever the chain. If he fixed her ear, he fixed his guilt. And then he could finally throw her away.

Three hours later, Angel walked into the penthouse apartment.

He bypassed the living room and walked straight to the guest bedroom. He pushed the door open without knocking.

Joy was sitting on the edge of the bed, reading a book. She jumped when the door hit the wall.

Angel walked over and tossed a thick, embossed business card onto her lap.

"Dr. Aris. From Zurich," Angel said. His tone was strictly business. "He's the best in the world. We have an appointment at ten tomorrow morning."

Joy stared at the card. The gold lettering seemed to mock her.

Her heart slammed against her ribs. Zurich. The best in the world. Her palms instantly started to sweat.

She forced herself to look up at him. She kept her face blank.

"If he fixes it," Joy said, her voice tight, "does that mean I have to sign the papers?"

Angel leaned against the doorframe. A cruel smile touched the corner of his mouth.

"They are two separate issues," Angel said. "I just want to clear my ledger. I don't like owing debts."

Joy closed her book. She nodded slowly. "Fine. I'll go."

Angel pushed off the doorframe. He turned to leave. He stopped in the hallway and looked back over his shoulder.

"Don't let me find out you're playing games, Joy," Angel said softly.

He walked away.

Joy sat frozen on the bed. Her breathing turned shallow and rapid. She picked up the business card. Her fingers were trembling so badly she almost dropped it.

A top-tier specialist with advanced equipment would see right through her. They would see the healed eardrum. They would know she was lying.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand. She opened a secure, encrypted messaging app. She stared at the single contact listed there.

The only person in the world who knew the truth about her ear.

Her thumb hovered over the keyboard. A drop of cold sweat rolled down her spine.