She Took The House The Car And My Heart

K will swoop in and rescue me."

"You've got a death wish, don't you?" Brendan murmured, idly lifting her chin between his fingers.

Ashley's heart thudded in her chest. "It's you who wantsdead!"

"If you don't know, just admit it. Why get all worked up?" He let go of her chin and casually drew her into his lap,

"How could | ever not trust you?"

Ashley didn't flinch.

She knew his moods too well. One second he was cold and cruel, the next he was playing the tender lover. He

was completely unhinged.

"If you listen to me, your brother stays alive." Brendan gently tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

Ashley's body quivered ever so slightly, a chill running down her spine as sweat soaked the back of her blouse.

Freya, watching it all unfold, wasn't fooled for a second. That so-called tender touch? It wasn't affection-it was a

calculated check for any hidden earpiece.

His mind worked in twisted, meticulous ways.

"Ashley," Brendan said sweetly, his voice coated with charm, like he was in unusually high spirits.

The sound sent ice straight through her veins. Any warmth she had left was gone.

Brendan grabbed her chin again, forcing her to look at him. "Are you mad at me?"

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"I dare not."

"How about | let you biteto vent your anger?" He coaxed her, his tone as patient and gentle as a lover's.

To someone watching, he might've passed for a doting boyfriend.

But Ashley only felt dread.

She'd seen firsthand just how fast he could flip.

"I'm only trying to protect you," Brendan said, his long fingers pinching her waist with a smile that looked more

like a threat. "K is bad news. If you tangle with her, you'll end up in a world of pain."

"More like the pain will cfrom you!" Ashley didn't say it out loud, but she thought it anyway.

Brendan started counting her fingers. "Your grandma's in pain, old and frail. I'm doing this for her sake. Can't you

see | mean well?"

Her heart gave a sharp twist, and that awful scene she'd just seen sprang back into her mind.

Someday, she'd make him pay-every last drop of blood he owed-for what he did to her grandmother.

"Do you understand?" he asked again, noticing the flicker in her eyes. He pinched her harder this time.

A wave of dread surged through her. Forcing the words out, she muttered the thing she most didn't want to say,

"I understand."

"Good girl," Brendan purred, clearly pleased.

Natasha, having watched enough, shot Brendan a glare. "What's wrong with you, scaring a woman like that?"

"| enjoy it. What's it to you?" Brendan replied lazily. "You just focus on finding K."

"I can't find her," Natasha snapped, one of the few who dared talk back to him. Then she turned to Ashley.

"Your grandma's fine. He was lying."

"What..." Ashley froze.

"That photo? It was edited. He paid someone to make it look real,” Natasha explained, and Brendan didn't bother

stopping her. "Your grandma's alive and perfectly safe."

Panic gripped Ashley.

Brendan was beyond terrifying.

The picture had looked so real, not a single flaw. If she had turned on Freya back there, she would've betrayed

her all over again.

She glanced at Natasha, though her eyes briefly flicked toward Freya. Freya had kept her promise after all.

"Is it true?" Ashley asked, eyes darting back to Brendan. "She's not dead?"

"In your heart, do you really think I'm the type to kill for no reason?" Brendan poured himself a glass of wine with

that infuriating air of sophistication that never quite matched the madness in his eyes.

She did think that.

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But she'd never say it aloud. So she just muttered, "No."

Brendan smiled, but it was empty. His gentleness never warmed the air around him-he was a gentleman in

appearance, a lunatic underneath. She knew better than to provoke him.

The memories were carved into her bones, and she was afraid.

He didn't call her bluff, sipping his wine slowly.

Fear kept her compliant.

Fear would keep her from trying to escape and ensure she stayed leashed at his

side.

A while later, Brendan pulled out an iPad.

When he saw Kristian sitting alone on the beach in nothing but a shirt, something strange stirred in his chest.

Kristian owed him. And he would pay for it-every bit.

“Ms. Briggs,” Brendan said, handing the iPad to Freya. “Take a look at your ex- husband. Doesn't he look

pathetic?"

Freya looked.

In that bleak setting, Kristian sat on the sand, the sea wind cutting into him like knives. Even from a screen,

cold seeped through.

He was stubborn to the end, refusing to believe in her. He didn't have to be suffering like this.

"What exactly do you have against him?" Freya asked for the second time.

"He stole you, the person | loved most. And then he treated you like nothing," Brendan said smoothly.

Freya didn't buy a word of it. "If you hadn't sent Ashley to him, would this even have happened?"

the

"| only told her to test him. How was | supposed to know he'd actually divorce you

for her?" Brendan spoke as though narrating a fairytale. "A man like that-should he be dumped in the ocean, or

should I cut out his heart?"

"Whatever happens to him isn't my concern," Freya said, her voice steady. "I just want to know when you'll let