The engine purrs to life as the driver puts the car in drive and glides forward onto the freeway.
The Los Angeles skyline blurs past in a haze. Highrises, streetlights, and neon bleed into the windows. It all feels faded and empty, a glowing city that reflects the decaying core of my damn life.
I look around the interior of the car. The leather seats still shine as if they were new. Tiny pinprick lights adorn the ceiling like fake stars, trying too hard to make luxury feel cozy.
It’s beautiful, it used to be everything I wanted.
But now all I can think about is Carter’s pasture, running barefoot across his fields with the sun on my face and dirt on my skin.
I shift in my seat, and the leather groans beneath me as Ireadjust. My grip tightens on the hem of my skirt, wrinkling the expensive fabric. I focus on keeping my breathing even as I stare out the window, looking for any distraction to trick my brain. The window reflects a version of me I barely recognize—pale skin, smeared lipstick, eyes wide and glassy, as if I’ve already left my body.
The life has been sucked out of me, and right now, death doesn’t scare me, I welcome it with open arms.
“You fucking embarrassed me,” Vartan says, cutting through the silence.
His words make me tremble, but I don’t say anything.
Fucking say something, Catalina. Fight back.
I sit there, still and small, with silence rotting on my tongue. Vartan’s voice is calm, but it’s laced with a venomthat coils around my throat.
“Pulling away from Chase like that?” he says, “You looked fucking childish. You had no problem spreading your legs for Carter; you can do the same for him.”
My jaw tightens as I fight back tears that threaten to fall. I taste blood from biting the inside of my cheek too hard.
“My name is on the line here, Catalina,” he continues, his tone darkening. “I’m not going to let you fuck this up like you always do.”
I stare out the window, trying to breathe, trying to keep my composure. The city blurs into streaks of gold and gray as we speed through it, but I barely register anything beyond the noise inside my head.
“This is bigger than you,” he says, poking at his phone. “Bigger than whatever dramatic phase you’re trying to act out. That man is the heir to one of the most powerful private tech holdings in the country. He doesn’t have to fucking like you. He has to marry you. And you?” He pauses, sneering. “You just have to smile and be a good little wife. Stand beside him and keep your fucking mouth shut.”
I turn my head slowly, my voice scraping up from a place I haven’t dared speak from in years. “I’d rather stand next to a fucking corpse.”
He turns slightly, staring at me with eyes so cold they burn straight through my skull.
“You’ll do what you’re told,” he hisses, slamming his phone on the leather seat, making me flinch. “Or I’ll make sure the world remembers exactly what kind of disgrace you’ve always been.”
My head whips back toward the window. My stomach churns as bile rises in my throat. His words slice deep, but I’ve heard them before. I was raised on this brand of cruelty and fed shame with a silver spoon.
And I’m fucking done.
I’m done trying to earn his approval. I’m done pretending this is a family, and I’m sure as fuck done existing in the shell of a life that never felt like mine.
I’m done existing.
The car turns off Sunset as it winds toward the hilltop gates of the estate I used to call home. Each turn of the tires drags me deeper into the nightmare I thought I escaped.
I dig my nails into my palms until they leave half-moon indentations in my skin. It’s the only way to feel something through numbness.
“I hate you,” I whisper. It’s so soft, it barely leaves my lips.
Vartan scoffs softly, like my hatred means less than lint on his lapel. “I don’t need your love, Catalina. You’ve been nothing but a waste of space since the day you were born. You were a fucking mistake, if it weren’t for your mother, Iwould’ve made sure you never existed in this glorious life I built.”
A tear slips down my cheek.
“And now,” he adds, as the car rolls to a stop in front of the mansion, “I’m still stuck dealing with the headache of a daughter I never wanted. The least you could do is be obedient. Go through with this deal. Then, maybe, for once, you’ll have done something fucking useful with your life.”
He opens his door and steps out without sparing me a glance, slamming the door shut behind him.
