Shift Gears: Into the Heir's Arms

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Get a Plan B. His voice was colder than the freezing bathroom tiles under my bare feet, instantly shattering my ten-year illusion of him.

Chase methodically buttoned his tailored shirt, his face an impenetrable mask wiped entirely clean of his out-of-control frenzy from last night.

I gripped the edge of the sink, staring at my pale face in the mirror. The white shirt in the basin, stained with the absurd marks of last night, looked like a glaring joke.

"Throw it out." He casually smoothed the knot of his silk tie.

Last night, wasted and spiraling over his breakup, he had dragged me into his room to use my body to numb his pain.

Yet today, he coldly warned me to stop bringing just any random guy home.

A sharp buzz shattered the silence. His phone.

Click. The heavy door shut, and he was gone.

My brain flatlined into pure static.

I had seen the glaring screen before he snatched it off the counterthe caller ID was his ex-girlfriend.

Chapter 1

I stared at that shirt for a few seconds, grabbed the scissors nearby, sliced it clean in half, and chucked it into the trash can. There was no point in washing it. Just like this pathetic ten-year crush, it was filthy, and throwing it away was the only option.

His name was Chase. He was two years older than me, the boy next door Id grown up with. Wed gone to the same schools since kindergarten. He was the golden boy my mom never stopped raving aboutstraight As, effortlessly gorgeous, the undisputed favorite of every teacher, and the ultimate fantasy for half the girls on campus.

Standing in the shadow of someone that blinding, it was impossible not to fall for him. So, I joined the massive legion of girls pining for him. But unlike the others who shamelessly threw themselves at him, I buried my crush so deep it practically didn't exist.

My mom had always called me slow. What took other kids three tries to memorize took me ten. The valedictorian spot Chase snagged without breaking a sweat was a pipe dream I couldn't touch, even after countless all-nighters.

I knew exactly where I stood. I was out of his league.

I thought I had covered my tracks perfectly, until the day my mom deep-cleaned my room and found my journal.

She stood over me with a stone-cold face and ripped into me.

"Of all the stupid things to copy from other girls, you pick a high school crush," she said, rubbing her temples. "Veronica is my boss. I've been suffocating under that woman's thumb for years, and now youre letting her son walk all over you? Can you ever just do better?"

I shrank back, terrified to make a sound.

"Don't you dare tell a soul. It's humiliating." That was her final warning.

In her mind, Chases family was an untouchable elite we would never reach in this lifetime, and my pathetic little crush was nothing but a broke employee's delusional fantasy about billionaires. I carved those words into my brain for years.

Once, when he was completely wasted, he leaned in and asked, "So, what kind of guy is our Stella into?"

I took one look at him, my pulse instantly hammering against my ribs, and blurted out the first lie I could think of.

"Glasses. Total nerd vibes. Preferably a little ugly and never had a girlfriend. It's safe."

He froze for a second before bursting into laughtera laugh that made my stomach drop.

I convinced myself there was no way he could see through my painfully obvious cover-up.

After last night, my phone stayed dead silent.

I typed out a dozen texts to him and backspaced every single one. If he wasn't going to reach out after what happened, the message was crystal clear.

Instead, I tagged along with my mom to my grandfather's farm.

"Remember to be polite when you go in. Sweet-talk her," my mom instructed as we stood outside their massive front door. "Tell her you brought these exclusively for her to sample. Rich people like them are paranoid about accepting gifts nowadays."

I looked down at the premium, bright red fruit sitting in the canvas bag. "Grandpa told me to save a few for Dad," I muttered, unable to stop myself.

"Save them for him? Can he sign my early retirement papers?" she snapped, immediately launching into her usual tirade against my father. "If your dad wasn't such a deadbeat loser, do you think I'd be out here kissing up to these snobs?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line and shut up.

My mom was going through a rough patch with severe insomnia. She desperately wanted to take early retirement six months ahead of schedule, but Veronica flat-out refused to sign off on it.

I pressed the doorbell, watching from the corner of my eye as my mom frantically smoothed out her blouse.

The heavy mahogany door swung open. It was Veronica.

"Hi, Veronica" I forced the corners of my mouth up into a bright, plastic smile.

It must have looked a little too desperate, because she blinked in surprise.

"Stella. Chase isn't home today."

My fake smile shattered into pieces. Every rehearsed line evaporated from my brain.

I couldn't even blame her for assuming. For ten years, I had practically haunted their doorstep, inventing any excuse just to catch a glimpse of him.

At first, it was just dropping off extra groceries or pantry staples for our moms. Over time, I became their convenient little errand runner. The second their house ran out of anything, they just called me to fetch it.

Chapter 2

The pathetic part was, I used to be thrilled to do it.

Once, I was hauling a massive water jug for them. It was way too heavy, and I dropped it squarely on my foot. Stars exploded in my vision. I didn't cry at first.

But when I limped into their house and saw Chase effortlessly unscrewing a water bottle for his girlfriend, the tears just started spilling over, completely out of my control.

"Stella, if you can't lift it, don't play the hero. I won't call you next time," Veronica said, looking down her nose at my tear-streaked face. Her tone dripped with that same untouchable arrogance.

Only Chase didn't speak. He just grabbed the first-aid kit, guided me to the couch, and rubbed the ointment into my bruised skin.

Right before he left, he shot me a sharp look. "If it hurts, say it. Why are you so stupid?"

Why are you so stupid?

He really did despise how slow I was.

"Because it doesn't hurt." I forced a bright smile to swallow the sharp ache in my throat.

Click. He shut the door in my face.

"Veronica, these are fresh from Stella's grandfather's orchard. No pesticides, strictly for the family. We know Chase loves them, so we brought some over for him to try."

My mom's voice snapped me back to the present.

Veronica dragged her gaze over the canvas bags slumped on her porch. She pushed the door open a few more inches. "Come in."

So, my mom and I hauled the heavy bags inside.

"You two are always too generous. You bring things over so often, I'm almost embarrassed." Veronica settled into her plush custom sofa. There was zero embarrassment in her polished voice.

"Don't say that. Ever since Stella started working, Chase has been looking out for her so much."

The reality was, Chases office building was just one block away from my company. Occasionally, if I missed the morning subway, I'd hear him blaring the horn of his flashy black Porsche 911 right behind me.

"You know what you look like?" he would always ask, a smirk playing on his lips.

"What?"

"A rabbit." He'd tap his fingers against the steering wheel, keeping his eyes on the road. "Staring with those wide eyes, totally clueless. You want things but you never just open your mouth and ask."

I stared at him. Message received loud and clear. He thought I was a burden and he was sick of dealing with me. After that day, After that day, I never stayed on that street for a single second longer than I had to.

If he thought I was just a stupid rabbit, then I would disappear from his world immediately.

Back in the present, Veronica led us into the foyer. She stopped and pointedly stared down at my moms shoes.

They were caked with dried mud from the orchard.

"Oh, my. I'm completely out of shoe covers. I forgot to have the housekeeper buy more." Veronica sighed, staring at my mom's boots like they were toxic waste.

"It's fine! I'll just stay in my socks." My mom instantly kicked off her shoes, stepping onto the pristine hardwood floor in her cheap cotton socks.

It was sweltering outside, but a block of ice plummeted into my stomach.

Watching my mom strip away her own dignity just to stand in this woman's house made my throat burn. I finally understood exactly what she meant when she said Veronica had her under her thumb.

Veronica announced that there were too many lychees to eat fresh, so she wanted them prepped for the dehydrator. My mom and I sat in her pristine living room, peeling the rough shells off the fruit one by one.

Staring at the translucent, sticky flesh of the fruit, my mind violently snapped back to myself. Lying on his bed that night, totally exposed, waiting to be consumed.

Maybe the sun glaring through the floor-to-ceiling windows was too intense, or maybe the suffocating weight of my own secrets was finally crushing me. A wave of heavy dizziness hit me hard.

Bile rose in my throat.

"What's wrong with you?" my mom hissed, catching the sickly shade of my face.

"I need to throw up," I admitted.

Veronica stared at me, her perfectly drawn eyebrows pulling together in suspicion. My mom muttered a curse under her breath, glaring at me for embarrassing her.

I bolted to the guest bathroom and emptied my stomach into the toilet. Tears and snot mixed on my face as I dry-heaved. This entire day was a total nightmare.

By the time I rinsed my mouth and walked back out, the air in the living room had frozen over.

Both Veronica and my mom were staring dead at me. Their eyes practically drilled into my skull.

"Stella," Veronica started, her voice dangerously sweet. "Have you gotten yourself a boyfriend recently?"

My mom's face was ashen.

"No." I flicked a cautious glance at my mom.

Chapter 3

"Stella is just so low-maintenance. Not like my Chase," Veronica sighed, though a smug, unmistakable smile played on her lips. "CEO Zhang practically begged to set him up with his daughter, but Chase is too arrogant. He's always tangled up with some girl or another."

My mom sat dead silent. The tension radiating off her felt like a ticking time bomb, and I knew exactly who the target was. I clamped my mouth shut.

"Stella, where exactly did you go that night you didn't come home?" Veronica pressed, her eyes locking onto me. "Your mother was calling everywhere looking for you. She was worried sick."

My stomach plummeted to the floor.

That night. My phone had been completely dead. Chase and I were tangled up in my tiny studio apartmenta place my mom had never even bothered to visit. Of course she couldn't find me.

"A friend's place," I muttered, staring hard at the floorboards.

"Which one?" my mom snapped, her voice cracking like a whip.

My mind short-circuited.

A dozen names scrambled in my brain, but panic glued my tongue to the roof of my mouth.

"Oh, Gail, don't yell at the poor girl," Veronica cooed, playing the gracious peacemaker. Because we were on hostile territory, my mom swallowed the urge to lunge across the sofa and slap me.

"Stella, you really need to be careful with boys," Veronica added, her tone dripping with fake sympathy. "Girls always end up paying the price.

Unlike my Chase. If he stays out all night, it's no skin off my nose."

The thinly veiled insult hit its mark. My moms face drained of color, then flushed a humiliating beet red.

The sheer hypocrisy made my stomach churn all over again. Bile rose in the back of my throat. I bolted up, ready to run for the bathroom.

"Honestly, Gail, she's grown. You need to keep a tighter leash on her," Veronica clicked her tongue, shaking her head at me. "Or youll end up a grandmother before you know it."

"Who exactly were you sleeping with? Are you going to tell me or not?" My mom lunged forward, her hand raised.

"Stella, don't be stubborn. Just tell us who it is so we can handle the mess," Veronica pressed, her eyes gleaming with morbid curiosity.

Ten years of suffocating under their boots finally shattered my last nerve. A blinding surge of adrenaline hijacked my brain.

I wiped my mouth, leveled my gaze, and stared dead into Veronicas condescending eyes. "Veronica, didn't Chase stay out all night, too? Who else do you think it was?"

Veronicas jaw snapped shut. The smugness vanished from her face.

My mom, catching the sudden shift, spun around. "Veronica did Chase come home that night?"

The truth was hovering in the air like a loaded gun. My pulse hammered against my eardrums. A violent wave of regret hit me.

"No he didn't." Veronicas expression hardened into pure ice. "What does that have to do with my son?"

My mom exhaled a sharp breath. She shot me a venomous glare before suddenly puffing up her chest, her tone turning defiant.

"I knew my Stella would never do something so trashy on her own! If it was your son, then it makes perfect sense. Shes worshipped Chase since they were kids. If he forced himself on her, how could she possibly say no?"

"Are you out of your mind?!" Veronica shrieked, her flawless composure shattering. She whipped her head toward me, her eyes wide with panic.

"Stella. Tell me right now. You weren't with Chase that night, were you?"

I looked up. My mom was glaring at me like I was a ticking bomb, and Veronica was staring at me like I was a piece of trash threatening to stain her perfect life.

My fingernails bit sharply into my palms. Screw it. Let it all burn.

I lifted my head, staring directly into Veronica's high-and-mighty face, and said every single word deliberately.

"Yes. I was with him. Right in his bed. All night."

Smack!

The sound echoed in the massive living room. My moms palm cracked across my cheek before I could even take a breath. Stinging heat exploded across my skin.

Before my brain could even process the hit, she grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my flesh, and physically dragged me toward the front door.

The entire walk home, she screamed the same sentence over and over: "Stella, are you completely shameless?!"

"If you don't care about being a cheap whore, I actually care about my reputation!" she shrieked. She wailed about how she would never be able to hold her head up in front of Veronica again for the rest of her miserable life.

"Are you actually braindead? He has a girlfriend! He asks to use you, and you just spread your legs?! Do you have a functioning brain?!"

"You've chased him like a dog for ten years! What did it get you?!"

"How the hell did I raise such a pathetic loser?!"

Her screaming battered against my skull like physical blows. The dizziness from earlier came rushing back, violent and suffocating. The world violently tilted on its axis, and everything faded to pitch black.

Chapter 4

When I woke up, my mom and dad were hovering over my bed. I couldn't bear to look at their faces, so I rolled over, staring dead at the blank wall.

"Stella, are you still dizzy?" my dad asked, his voice tight with panic.

"No," I muttered into the pillow.

"You're a grown woman now. Your mom and I don't care if you date." Dad cleared his throat.

"Chase isn't a bad guy. If you're serious about him, then make it official."

I kept my mouth shut, digging my fingernails into the mattress. Date him? He hadn't even bothered to send a text.

He didn't want me; I was just the pathetic girl who threw herself into his bed. The words lodged in my throat like shattered glass.

"Make it official? Cut the crap, she's already knocked up," my mom snapped.

My dad shot her a lethal glare, and she clamped her mouth shut.

Pregnant? My mind flashed to the Plan B pill I choked down the morning after.

There was zero chance I was pregnant. They had completely misread the situation. I literally just passed out from the sweltering heat.

But the thought of Chase's perfect, arrogant family spiraling into total chaos over me sparked a dark, twisted thrill in my chest. Sure, it was mutual destruction, but the revenge tasted sweet.

"The baby she has plenty of time to have kids. They need to figure out their relationship first. If it doesn't work out, she isn't keeping it!" Dad laid down the law.

"What do you know? Do you have any idea what an abortion does to a woman's body?" my mom hissed, practically vibrating with rage.

I opened my mouth to set the record straight, but I was genuinely terrified she would leap across the mattress and strangle me. As I frantically scrambled for a way to explain I had taken the pill, she suddenly slammed her hand down.

"No! We hold the bargaining chips now. They should be the ones panicking! They want this baby?

Then they better cough up a massive settlement check!

If they don't negotiate, I'm taking you to the clinic tomorrow to terminate it, and Veronica can kiss her precious grandchild goodbye for the rest of her life! That's exactly how we're playing this!"

My mom's brilliant extortion scheme sent a violent chill down my spine.

"Mom" I started.

Before I could get another word out, heavy knocks hammered against the front door.

"Oh my, where is our Stella?" It was Veronica's polished voice.

I strained my ears, and then I heard his voice. My pulse instantly skyrocketed into overdrive.

"Gail, where's Stella? Can I go in and see her?"

It was Chase. My knuckles turned stark white as I gripped the blanket.

"Chase is here. Talk to him." My dad immediately backed out of the room, clearing the stage for him.

I hadn't seen him in days. The hyper-vivid flashes of his hands pinning me down that night flooded my brain, rushing hot blood to my cheeks.

"What? Don't want to see me?" The mattress dipped under his weight. He reached out, brushing the back of his cool hand against my forehead.

"Silent treatment? Guess I'll leave" he drawled, his tone laced with that familiar, maddening arrogance.

"No." My hand shot out on instinct, my fingers gripping the hem of his designer shirt.

His hand clamped over mine. He sighed, ruffling my hair like he was petting a stray dog.

"You really are a headache, aren't you? I told you to get a Plan B. Why didn't you?"

The pathetic flutter in my chest violently crash-landed.

He wanted nothing to do with me. He just used my body to get off, and now he wanted a clean getaway.

Why the hell was I letting him walk all over me? Ten years of suffocating under his shadow, and I was supposed to just swallow this humiliation for the rest of my life?

In that split second, a switch flipped. I was done being the good girl.

I was never a good girl anywayI just contorted myself into this pathetic shape because he once said he liked girls who were obedient. I was exhausted. If he wanted a mess, I would burn his entire world to the ground.

"I'm tired. I don't want to talk. Get out." I ripped my hand out of his grip.

I didn't owe him the truth. Let him panic. Let them all lose their damn minds.

"Stella" Chase exhaled a heavy sigh behind me. "Be a good girl."

I stared at the wall. Be a good girl? Did he really think I was still that brainless kid he could manipulate with a pat on the head?

"Fine. It's better that they know anyway," he said flatly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I snapped, turning back to glare at him.

Chapter 5

"What else could it mean?" He arched an eyebrow, shooting me a sideways glance. "I'll do you a favor and be your boyfriend."

Boyfriend? Hearing that word should have sent my heart hammering against my ribs. But strangely, my pulse flatlined into a totally dead, hollow calm.

I blacked out whatever he said next. Only one thought echoed in my skull: when you starve for something for ten years and finally get it handed to you, the fireworks don't go off. There's only the bitter taste of ash.

He only agreed to this because he thought I was carrying his kid. The sheer pity of it made my stomach turn.

Eventually, he and Veronica left.

My mom marched back into my room, her face practically glowing with vindication. She announced that Chase's dad had offered to write me a one-million-dollar check as compensation, and he was transferring the deed to a massive exclusive-neighborhood villa with a huge infinity pool right into my name as our wedding gift.

"Stella, you finally did something right for once!" she gloated. "You should have seen Veronica's face when his dad laid out those terms. She looked like she was going to choke on her own spit."

I just stared at the blanket.

"Whats with the long face?" She caught my expression, and the manic joy instantly dropped off her face.

"Marriage isn't a game. Stella hasn't even said a word, and you just agreed for her?" Dad sighed heavily from the doorway.

"How is this forcing her?" Mom shot him a lethal glare before turning back to me. "Haven't you been obsessed with that boy since middle school? Following him around like a lost puppy every single day.

I always called you slow, but you're not that stupid after all. You knew exactly how to trap him. You played the long game, didn't you?"

The words jammed in my throat.

I loved him, but I never plotted to trap him. I just gave everything and expected absolutely nothing in return. Now, because of a massive lie, I was being forced to the altar.

The guilt was clawing at the inside of my chest. Was this even what I wanted anymore? I couldn't find a single drop of joy in it. But I had made my selfish choice, and the lie was eating me alive.

Mom eventually stormed out, leaving Dad and me alone.

Dad sat on the edge of the bed, his voice heavy. "Stella, people make a lot of mistakes in life. The way to fix them isn't to keep driving down the wrong road. You have to know when to pull the emergency brake."

My shoulders went rigid. It felt like his eyes were cutting right through my mask, dragging the ugly truth out into the cold light of day.

"How do I know which road is the right one?" I forced the words out.

He looked at me steadily. "Follow your gut."

"Okay." I swallowed hard, too terrified to say another word, afraid the whole lie would spill out of my mouth.

That weekend, Veronica booked a private dining room at an exclusive farm-to-table estate up in the hills for both our families.

The lie had kept me awake for days. The heavy bags under my eyes made Veronica flinch when she saw me.

"Stella, your morning sickness is hitting you this hard? Look at your poor face, you look completely drained." She pulled me into the seat right next to her, dripping with fake warmth.

"Didn't sleep well?" Chase dropped into the chair on my other side. He reached out, brushing his thumb against my cheek in a startling show of affection.

"Yeah." I dropped my gaze to the tablecloth, unable to look him in the eye.

"My fault. The firm has been running me into the ground this week, so I haven't come to see you." He picked up a porcelain bowl and served me a portion of the truffle soup.

It was a level of care I had never experienced from him in my entire life.

Suddenly, I was the center of the universe. Everyone kept piling food onto my plate, urging me to eat. Even my mom was aggressively ordering every expensive dish she knew I liked.

"My girl takes after me," my mom announced to the table. "Her pregnancy cravings are very specific. The seafood has to be wild-caught and flown in fresh today. If it's even slightly off, she'll throw it right back up."

I watched Veronica stare at the astronomical prices on the menu. Her jaw tightened visibly.

"So delicate," Veronica forced a tight, polite smile. "When CEO Vance's daughter dined at our house last month, she wasn't nearly this high-maintenance."

Chapter 6

The moment the words left Veronica's mouth, the private dining room plunged into dead silence.

My heart dropped straight into my stomach. For once, my mom was actually choked out of words, her face turning an ugly shade of gray.

"Mom, when was she ever at our house? Why don't I know about this?" Chase asked, his voice deadpan.

"Just when you weren't home that one time" Veronica trailed off. Realizing she had backed herself into a corner, she suddenly took a very intense interest in her truffle soup.

My mom sat in heavy silence for a long time before suddenly snapping her head up. "Chase, when are you and Stella going to City Hall to get the marriage license?"

"What's the rush?" Veronica snapped her head up. Catching her own harsh tone, she forced another tight, plastic smile. "There's plenty of time to get married after the baby is born."

"Excuse me?" My mom slammed her fork down, instantly flaring up. "You expect my daughter to waddle around pregnant and pop out a kid for your family without even a ring on her finger?"

"Gail, calm down. We don't even know if it's a boy yet."

A violent shiver crawled up my spine. The sheer toxicity of it made my skin crawl. I couldn't stomach another second of this twisted negotiation.

I snapped my head up, fixing a cold stare on Veronica. "Veronica, so if I don't pop out a male heir, I'm not good enough to marry into your precious family?"

That shut both of them up instantly.

"Stella, don't be ridiculous. As long as the baby belongs to the Chase family, boy or girl, they'll be our little treasure." The fake sweetness in her voice made me want to gag.

"What the hell does that mean?" My mom slammed her hand on the table, the silverware clattering. "What do you mean 'as long as it belongs to your family'? Are you accusing my daughter of sleeping around?"

I caught the vile implication too. A heavy, freezing numbness spread through my chest. I took a slow, deep breath and pushed myself up, my hands gripping the edge of the table to steady my shaking legs.

"Veronica, you can stop fighting."

I looked at my mom. "Mom, drop it."

Then I turned to look dead into Chase's eyes. "Chase you don't have to pretend anymore."

The entire table went dead silent.

I stared coldly at their greedy, calculating faces, dropping the massive bomb word by word. "Stop dreaming. I'm not pregnant. This entire circus is over."

Without a single glance back, I grabbed my purse and marched straight toward the door.

Every pair of eyes in the room locked onto me in pure shock.

"Stella" Chase called out, the color draining from his perfect face.

I didn't even pause my stride as I stepped out of the private dining room.

I could hear my mom shrieking my name down the hall, but I tuned it out. Veronica's frantic voice drilling into Chase faded into the background. For the first time in ten years, the suffocating weight on my chest vanished.

Years ago, whenever Chase paraded a new girlfriend around, I would lock myself in my room and cry until I dry-heaved. And whenever he dumped them, a pathetic spark of hope would ignite in my chest like I had been brought back to life. I had watched him cycle through countless women, but now that I was finally the one in the crosshairs, my eyes were completely dry.

I walked down the winding asphalt road cutting through the hills, my feet pounding against the pavement. I had no destination. Just walking.

Suddenly, my legs gave out. I stopped dead in my tracks, standing frozen on the shoulder of the road for a few minutes, and then, the tears finally spilled over.

I realized I didn't love him anymore.

The feeling was like finally breaking the surface of the water after drowning in the deep end, my lungs burning as I gulped down massive lungfuls of fresh air. I burst into breathless laughter, aggressively wiping the tears off my face. The last ten years had been a completely pathetic joke.

I kept walking down the empty road, my chest feeling lighter with every step, until the aggressive blare of a car horn violently yanked me back to reality.

"Stella, get in the car. We need to talk." It was Chase.

I didn't even break my stride. "We have absolutely nothing to talk about," I shot back, my voice ice-cold.

"My mom didn't mean it like that. Stop twisting things in your head. Just get back in, everyone is waiting. We can sit down and talk like adults, okay?" He slammed the brakes, threw the Porsche into park, and marched over, gripping my arm.

I violently ripped my arm out of his grip. Just hearing him mention his mother made the bile rise in my throat.

"Chase, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not pregnant. You don't have to play the tragic hero and take responsibility for me. It's completely over." I stared him dead in the eye, cutting the final thread between us.

He froze. His arrogant facade shattered as he stared at me in pure disbelief. "Stella do you not like me anymore?"

Chapter 7

My chest tightened sharply.

He knew. He had known the entire time.

He knew exactly how pathetic I was for him, and he had weaponized that secret crush, draining every last drop of my dignity until I had absolutely nothing left to give.

"Maybe," I said, forcing a bitter half-smile.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed by how complicated his little toy was being. He let out a rough sigh. "Stop acting like a brat. Whatever is going on in your head, we can talk about it when we get back. You can't walk down this mountain by yourself. Be a good girl and listen to me, okay?"

I didn't want to talk. And I was completely done being his good girl.

I turned on my heel and kept walking. My fast walk broke into a frantic sprint.

Run. I had to get away from him, break out of this suffocating cage, and never look back. Absolutely never again.

I pushed my legs harder, my lungs burning as his voice echoed behind me.

"Stella"

"Stella!"

Years ago, hearing him call my name was enough to make my heart skip a beat. Now, it just made my throat close up in pure nausea.

I rounded a sharp bend, slamming straight into a wall of noise.

A massive crowd of guys and girls were practically throwing a street rave, waving neon flags and blasting heavy bass. Dead in the center of the chaos idled a pack of hardcore street racers on heavy-duty motorcycles.

I couldn't process a single drop of their adrenaline-fueled high. To me, it was just blinding, deafening static.

The aggressive roar of a Porsche engine ripped through the air behind me. Chase was catching up.

My stomach twisted. I couldn't understand it. He didn't even want mewhy the hell wouldn't he just let me go?

The heavy thud of a car door slamming shut echoed over the music. He was coming for me.

I couldn't stop moving. Not even for a split second.

I would rather die than crawl back into that pathetic, subservient hellhole of loving him.

I desperately shoved my way through the dense crowd, my eyes frantically scanning until they locked onto a massive, matte-black motorcycle idling at the edge of the road.

The rider gripped the throttle, the engine letting out a low, predatory growl. He was getting ready to race down the mountain