Chapter 2

"Be more careful next time." Maybe I imagined it, but his smile seemed to radiate an obvious sense of triumph.

My heart jolted. I hadn't finished the juice like he wanted, yet he seemed completely unbothered.

Did he have a backup plan?

Hiding my fear, I just nodded in agreement.

Julian fondly ruffled Chloe's hair, excused himself to go buy some fruit, and left the apartment.

The moment the door clicked shut, I scooped Chloe up and rushed straight to the bathroom.

Locking both the bathroom and shower doors, I forced myself and Chloe to throw up.

The process was agonizing. Even as an adult, I struggled to make it happen.

Chloe's eyes filled with tears, and she opened her mouth to cry out.

I quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, terrified the noise would alert Martha out in the hallway.

Thankfully, Chloe sensed my urgency and cooperated quietly.

After we finished, I stood in front of the mirror and slapped my pale cheeks until some color returned. Then, I calmly stepped out of the bedroom.

Martha was pretending to mop the floor, keeping a close eye on us.

"Chloe's sleepy," I told her. "I'm going to take a nap with her. Make some bird's nest soup for when we wake up."

I faked a yawn for good measure. "And don't disturb us unless it's absolutely urgent."

Martha gave me a brief look before heading toward the kitchen.

Seizing the opportunity, I slammed the bedroom door shut, grabbed Chloe, and bolted out the front door of the apartment.

Terrified that waiting for the elevator would take too long, I made a break for the emergency stairwell.

But the moment I reached the stairs, the world started spinning, and my legs began to give way.

I looked down and realized Chloe had already closed her eyes in my arms.

Seeing her completely motionless, panic seized me as I frantically checked her breathing.

She had only fainted.

Remembering Julian's smug expression right before he left, it suddenly made sense why he hadn't cared that we didn't finish the juice.

The drug was so potent that a single sip was enough to knock us out.

My grip on Chloe was slipping.

A fierce wave of rage and determination welled up inside me. I had already died once—there was no way I was letting Julian kill me again.

Summoning every last ounce of strength, I bit down hard on my own arm.

The sharp pain and the taste of blood in my mouth cleared the fog in my head just enough.

Riding that brief wave of clarity, I raced down the stairs.

Thankfully, we only lived on the twelfth floor, so the descent wasn't impossible.

By the time I pushed through the doors to the ground floor, my legs completely gave out, and I collapsed onto the pavement.

The bright summer sun and the warm breeze washed over me, bringing a sudden, overwhelming realization that we had survived.

With Chloe still unconscious, I quickly hailed a taxi and told the driver to take us to the nearest hospital.

In the backseat, I pulled out my phone and loaded the home security feed.

When I switched to the bedroom camera, my blood ran cold.

Someone was crawling out from under the bed.