Chapter 5

Ethan Foster POV

The master bedroom on the second floor of the villa reeked of blood and antiseptic.

The family doctor had just finished treating Claire Bennett's wound, sweat covering his forehead. It had taken seven stitches. Throughout the procedure, Claire Bennett had received no anesthetic and hadn't made a single sound of pain. She lay on the bed like a rag doll, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, without so much as a flutter of her lashes.

Now I stood outside the door, oblivious to the cigarette between my fingers burning all the way down to the filter.

Dr. Morgan, a renowned authority in psychiatry, stepped out of the room with an exceptionally grave expression. He glanced at me and sighed. “Mr. Foster, your wife is in very poor condition. Judging by her self-harming behavior just now and her current mental state, she is showing signs of severe depression, accompanied by a profound stupor. In plain terms, her will to live has completely collapsed. She could hurt herself again—or even attempt suicide—at any moment.”

The hand holding my cigarette jerked violently. The butt fell onto the carpet, burning a black hole in it. I stared hard at Dr. Morgan, my voice frighteningly hoarse. “Make her better. I’ll pay whatever it takes. You have to get her back to normal.”

Dr. Morgan shook his head. “Mr. Foster, her current environment is full of triggers. Unless you can provide a place where she feels completely safe, loved, and accepted, medication will accomplish nothing. If this continues, it won’t just be her body that gives out. Her mind will die, too.”

After Dr. Morgan left, the hallway fell deathly silent.

At some point, Mia Collins had changed back into her own clothes. She approached cautiously. Perhaps sensing that I was on the verge of breaking down, she tried to soothe me with tenderness. “Ethan Foster, don’t be so upset. Claire Bennett might just be using these extreme measures to get your attention. Doctors always like to make things sound worse than they are…”

“Get out.” I didn’t turn around. I forced the words out of my throat.

Mia Collins froze. She bit her lip, unwilling to give up, and continued in a falsely gentle voice. “Ethan Foster, I know you’re upset right now. But she was really terrifying with that knife today. Do you think there’s actually something wrong with her mentally? What if she hurts someone with a knife next time…”

I whipped my head around, my bloodshot eyes fixing on Mia Collins as though she were already dead. She sucked in a frightened breath, the rest of her words dying in her throat.

“I told you to get out. Didn’t you hear me?” My voice was as cold as an ice-hardened blade. “The only reason I’ve kept you around this long is that you’re still of some use to me. In a month, you’ll take your money and get out of my sight. If you dare provoke her again before then, I’ll make sure you really do end up dead.”

Mia Collins’s legs gave way, and she slumped against the wall, her eyes filled with terror.

In my world, even if Claire Bennett was broken, even if she was insane, her life still had to remain in my hands. Mia Collins, on the other hand, was nothing but trash I could throw away whenever I pleased.