Chapter 4

After hanging up with Rosalie, Katherine lay in bed tossing and turning, her mind too wired for sleep. Finally giving up on rest, she climbed out of bed and began sorting through the room and packing her luggage. After three years together, everything around her was a minefield of memories tied to Liam. She walked to the desk, tore their photos from the frames, and fed them one by one into the shredder. The designer clothes, the luxury handbags, the exquisite jewelry—everything Liam had ever given her, things she had once cherished as her most prized possessions—she wanted none of it anymore. By the time she was done, her entire life had been narrowed down to a single suitcase. Inside were only a few changes of practical clothes, some sheet music, and the instruments Natasha had given her years ago. Exhaustion finally caught up with her after four in the morning. She latched her suitcase and climbed back into bed. In the haze of sleep, she suddenly felt someone yank her off the bed and shove her into something like a bag. Unfamiliar, malicious laughter echoed nearby, but her mind was too clouded to make out the words. She tried to force her eyes open, but her eyelids felt like lead. She didn't know how much time had passed before the sensation of suffocation hit her. Her eyes snapped open to pitch-black darkness. Stagnant, metallic-smelling water rushed into her ears, nose, and mouth. She thrashed instinctively, only to realize she had been stuffed into a burlap sack and dumped into the water. The familiar sensation of drowning brought back waves of visceral terror. Three years ago, when Ava had bullied her and Natasha, she had used this exact same tactic. Katherine had spent an entire night floating in the school's artificial lake. When the campus janitor finally fished her out the next day, she had been inches from death. Now, history was repeating itself. Katherine gritted her teeth, forcing down the rising panic as she desperately searched for a way out. She hadn't made it to Rosalie yet. She hadn't made Ava or the Sawyer siblings pay for what they had done. She hadn't found Natasha. She couldn't die here. In the end, it was a group of elderly men doing their morning exercises in the park who fished her out of the water. They were kind enough to call the police for her. After finishing her statement at the station, she headed home, her clothes still heavy with water. The moment she pushed the front door open, she heard Liam's amused voice drifting from the living room. "Didn't she frame Ava three years ago, claiming Ava had people toss her into a lake and leave her soaking all night? Well, today I gave her a real taste of what that's actually like. That's what she gets for losing her mind and smashing Ava's record." Katherine froze, feeling as though she had been plunged into a bottomless ice pit. She had assumed it was Lucas—that his sexual frustration and her rejection had driven him to lash out. She never imagined the true mastermind behind it was Liam. For three years, Liam had stayed by her side through countless rehabilitation sessions. He had also watched her suffer as memories of the bullying tormented her again and again. Yet now, simply because she had broken one of Ava's records, he was heartless enough to throw her into that artificial lake. "It won't kill her," Liam said with total indifference. "She should be back any minute now." As the words left his mouth, he turned and caught sight of Katherine standing in the doorway. She was drenched, water still dripping from the ends of her hair. Her face was deathly pale, but the eyes fixed on him were eerily calm and cold. Beneath that stillness flickered unmistakable hatred. The look in her eyes made Liam feel a sudden, inexplicable prickle of unease. "She's back. I have to go," he muttered into the phone. He ended the call and strode toward her. "Kathy! Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" He looked her up and down, feigning frantic concern at her dripping state. "What happened to you? Did you fall into the lake?" Katherine's voice dripped with mockery. "I have no idea. One minute I was sleeping soundly in my own bed, and the next, I was kidnapped and dumped into a lake in the middle of a park." "Kidnapped? That doesn't sound right." Liam's eyes widened in feigned shock. "Are you sure you weren't sleepwalking? Your therapist mentioned before that your trauma was so severe that you might unconsciously reenact those past events in your sleep," he said, his brow furrowed with faux concern. Katherine met his gaze, her expression calm and unreadable. She waited for him to finish his performance before letting a meaningful smile curl across her lips. "Someone called the police for me. Whether it was sleepwalking or kidnapping, I'm sure they'll figure it out." Liam stiffened. After a brief pause, he forced an awkward laugh. "It was just a small incident. Don't you think involving the police is a bit much?" "Being hurt is never a small incident to me," Katherine shot back, watching with amusement as the color drained from his face. "I'll make sure every single person who hurt me pays." Without another word, she brushed past him and headed upstairs. Liam stood rooted to the spot, an unfamiliar flutter of panic tightening his chest. Had Katherine figured something out? Just then, his phone rang. He immediately buried his unease and answered with a smile. "Ava, what's wrong?" A syrupy-sweet voice came through the line. "Liam, my manager just asked about the progress on my new song. I didn't know how to tell her. Is it ready yet?"