Meadow’s POV:


    I wondered what kind of rtionship ric had with his family. I mean, he hadn’t seemed ted to see his brother in his house, and he didn’t hesitate to punch him for reasons I didn’t even understand, so obviously, their rtionship wasn’t good.


    But there was something else Nn had said that piqued my curiosity.


    ‘Mother is going to fucking love this.‘


    Maybe I was overthinking things, but Nn’s tone seemed a bit… sarcastic.


    As in, trantion: mother is not going to fucking love this.


    If ric hadn’t told his family that he’d gotten married over the weekend, then they must’ve heard it elsewhere. ric was a popr businessman. Albeit, private, but the news had to be out there that ric


    Ashford, billionaire bachelor, had gotten married.


    And apparently, he’d kept it from his family. Which meant that they didn’t know that our marriage was


    one of convenience.


    Which I suspected was the reason he wanted me to sleep in his room.


    Not that I had a problem with that.


    <b>But </b>finding a t–shirt to wear amongst all the button–up shirts in his closet wasn’t as hard as summoning


    the courage to pull it on.


    The ck shirt smelled like him, and it felt so weirdly intimate to wear it. Like I wasn’t supposed to be doing that. But after I pulled it on, it felt just right, stopping halfway down to my knees.


    Running a hand through my disheveled hair, I turned to look at the bed. Fucking huge and…


    A shiver ran down my spine. Something in my delusional mind was holding out hope that he would touch me, but <b>I </b>tried to dampen it. He hadn’t even made a move to touch me intimately in days, there was absolutely no way that he-


    The loud sound of my phone ringing on ric’s desk interrupted my thoughts. I had no idea he’d even


    brought my phone up for me.


    I limped slightly as I made my way to his desk, my stomach twisting in disgust and anger when I saw the name shing on the screen.


    Tyler.


    <b>My </b>nostrils red. He had the audacity to call me after everything that he did to me? After he…


    After he nearly raped me.


    The backs of my eyes burned as I mmed the phone face down on the table.


    It stopped ringing for a while, but then he called again.


    This time, I picked up.


    “You have some fucking nerve, Tyler,” I seethed, trying not to let my voice shake–and failing. “What the hell do you-<b>” </b>


    “It’s Juni.” His voice filtered through the speaker. He sounded agitated, scared. “She’s gone and I–I–I can’t find her anywhere.”


    I pursed my lips, swallowing.


    Tyler continued to rant. “I’ve tried everything. Her phone, her old apartment–Fuck, I’m losing my fucking mind, Meadow!<b>” </b>


    I flinched, taking the phone away from my ear to stare at the screen as my eyes watered.


    Up until this moment, I didn’t know just how deep their rtionship went. I’d refused to let myself believe that Tyler really was sent by Juniper to make me fall in love and break my heart.


    It seemed ridiculous.


    But… hearing the way Tyler sounded right now… made bile rise up my throat. He really meant to deceive <ol><li>me. </li></ol>


    <b>I </b>took a deep breath, bringing the phone up to my ear again.


    “Hello?” Tyler called out. “Hello? Meadow, are you there? Can you hear me?”


    My voice was hoarse when I replied. “Yeah, I heard you,” I muttered. “Loud and clear.”


    Why hadn’t I even thought about it before? I knew that ric had taken Juniper, but I never really thought about how it must’ve looked to Tyler–waking up from a drug induced sleep with a hangover only to find his girlfriend missing.


    “Then why aren’t you saying anything?” he asked casually.


    His voice used to give me butterflies before, but now, the sound of it made me want to chew ss if it meant I’d escape.


    “Because I have nothing to say,” I kept my voice firm. “That’s not my problem, Tyler, it’s yours.”


    “But she’s your sister.” I could literally hear the sneer and disgust in his voice. “She’s missing and you don’t care about her-”


    “She beat me up, Tyler!” I couldn’t help but raise my voice. “She beat me up and you watched! You… <b>you</b>…” I swallowed a sob, leaning against the table before my knees could buckle. “Tyler, you tried to rape me. And now, you want me to care about her? About the fact that she’s missing?”


    A tear dropped onto the table and then I realized that I was already crying.


    “What did I ever do to her to deserve that? What did I do to you?”


    Tyler let out a strangeugh, even though I knew he could hear the agony in my voice. I didn’t think <b>I </b>would ever be able to exin how heartbreak felt, but it hurt.


    <b>It </b>hurt so fucking much.


    “You see, that’s the problem, Meadow,” he said with an annoyed sigh, and I knew he was running his hand through his hair. “All three of us were in the apartment, and then all of a sudden, some guy broke in and knocked me out. Whoever that was took Juni, and that meant he took you too. So, how the fuck am I


    able to reach you and not her<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    When I said nothing in response, he continued. “The police came looking for her. Someone reported her as a missing person, and if there’s anyone who’d know anything about that…it’s you.”


    The police report sounded like something ric would do. On any other day, that would be something to


    Anger boiled from the bottom of my stomach, and it began to spread upward, making its way to my chest


    as I wiped the tears from my eyes.


    Tyler wasn’t worth it. Yet, it still hurt.


    “So what did you do to her, Meadow? Where’s my fiance?” He sounded angry now.


    Fiance. Huh.


    “I <b>don’t </b>know, Tyler.”


    “Where are you, anyway? I want toe see you. We need to talk, right after you tell me what the hell happened to <b>your </b>sister.”


    “Well, you won’t find me. And I don’t know where the fuck she is!”


    Ibed a frustrated hand through my hair, resisting the urge to just crash out and throw my phone


    against the wall. I was done with this conversation, yet I didn’t want to end it.


    Maybe because deep down, I also wanted to find her.


    I needed to find her. But that wasn’t something I would ever admit to scum like Tyler.


    A long pause dragged out on the line, and when Tyler spoke again, all the emotion was gone from his


    voice, and he sounded like a fucking robot.


    <b>“</b>I know you’re lying, Meadow. You know where she is.” He scoffed. “You must think you’re so smart, huh? What’s that supposed to be? A form of revenge? You know, Juni always said you were fucking weak and <b>a </b>coward for running away from her. Said you were always trying to act like you were better.”


    My throat tightened and no matter how hard I tried to swallow, I couldn’t.


    Tyler let out a bitterugh. “But you’re not. If anything, you’re even worse than her. Cold and fucking selfish, delusional… I should’ve fucked you when I had the chance. You don’t deserve to keep that virgin puss-<b>” </b>


    I didn’t get to hear the rest of what Tyler had to say, because the phone had been yanked clean out of my


    hand.


    I turned to find ric standing right behind me, and my breath caught.


    His ink–blue eyes were locked on mine.


    And they looked absolutely murderous.


    t