"My God, you're still the same pathetic little thing, aren't you?" Avery drawled, crossing her impossibly long legs. Her blonde hair caught the cabin lights like spun gold, her ice-blue eyes glittering with malice. Everything about her screamed ethereal beauty, but Lily knew better - darkness lurked beneath that perfect exterior.
"You were always such an easy target," Avery continued, her blood-red lips curving into a cruel smile. "It was almost boring how simple it was to torment you."
Lily's throat tightened, years of insecurities rushing back. But Avery wasn't done.
"You know what the real joke is?" She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "My parents told me about Nyrosia when I was twelve. About the gold, about my birthright... and about you. My competition." She threw back her head and laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "While you were crying over not being invited to sleepovers, I was preparing to crush you."
The realization hit Lily like a physical blow. All those years of torment, of being the 'ugly duckling,' of wondering why Avery Sterling had singled her out for such relentless cruelty - it had never been about her looks or her awkwardness or any of the thousand insecurities that had kept her awake at night.
It had been about this. About gold and inheritance and a secret kingdom.
Lily felt something shift inside her - not just her heart breaking all over again, but something harder taking its place. All this time, she'd thought she was just an unfortunate target of a mean girl's whims. But she'd been a player in a game she didn't even know existed.
Then Avery's expression shifted, a dangerous edge creeping into her voice. "And you should have seen my face when I heard Chris Eaton had married you. And that heart transplant?" Her perfectly manicured nails dug into the armrest. "That wasn't part of the plan."
Lily's breath caught in her throat as Avery leaned closer, her words dripping with venom. "Your heart failure during that plastic surgery? That was me, darling. A little... intervention in your procedure. You were supposed to die, nice and quiet. But then Chris swooped in, playing hero."
The world seemed to tilt on its axis. Lily's hand flew to her chest, to the heart beating steadily beneath - the heart that was never meant to be hers. "You... you tried to kill me?" Her voice cracked. "Over gold?!"
Memories flooded back - her parents' tear-stained faces as they held vigil by her hospital bed, their prayers for a miracle donor.
And Chris... Chris who had saved her life.
God, what a fool she'd been. Running from the one person who had actually protected her.
Hot tears spilled down Lily's cheeks as she finally met Avery's ice-blue stare with her own anger-filled brown eyes. "You heartless witch," she spat, her voice trembling. "Do you have any idea what you put my family through? What you put me through? All for what - more zero in your bank account?"
Avery threw back her head and laughed, the sound sending chills down Lily's spine. "Oh, save your righteous anger for your last moments, Lily dear. We're landing near Kiruna soon." Her smile turned predatory. "The Swedish wilderness is beautiful this time of year. Perfect for burying bodies in the ice."
As terror gripped her heart - her borrowed heart - Lily realized her mistake with crystal clarity. She'd fled from Chris, thinking him the villain, only to find herself in the clutches of a true monster.
And now, gazing into Avery's cold eyes, Lily wondered if she'd live long enough to tell Chris how wrong she'd been.
Lily's mind raced frantically. She couldn't die like this - it was too pathetic, too easy. But looking at Avery's cold smirk, she knew begging wouldn't help. This woman had already tried to kill her once.
"How greedy can you be?" Lily's voice cracked. "You're already a billionaire's daughter. What more do you want?"
Avery's laugh was sharp as glass. "Oh, sweetheart. There's no business without greed. Not everyone is as pathetically ambitionless as you." She leaned forward, her words dripping poison. "I mean, look at you. You had the great Chris Eaton at your side, and what did you do? Ran straight into my hands like a scared little rabbit."
Her blue eyes glittered cruelly. "Maybe after I kill you, your hero Chris will finally realize what useless trash you were. Not even worth saving, despite him going above and beyond to get you a heart."
The words cut deep because they rang true. Lily had been foolish, so caught up in her fears that she'd run from the one person trying to protect her.
Suddenly, Avery's phone rang. A predatory smile spread across her face as she checked the screen. "Speaking of your hero..." She hit the speaker, and Chris's voice filled the cabin.
"Avery."
Just that one word, deep and controlled, sent shivers down Lily's spine. At that moment, hearing his voice, she realized just how monumentally she had screwed up.
"Avery, please listen to me." Chris's voice, usually so commanding, held an edge of desperation that made Lily's heart clench.
Avery's red lips curved into a cruel smile. "Well, well. The great Chris Eaton, reduced to begging. What do you want?"
"Let Lily go." His voice hardened with determination. "I'll do anything you demand in return. Business partnership, marriage - whatever you want. Just don't hurt her."
Tears spilled down Lily's cheeks, each word from Chris tearing her apart inside. How could she have doubted him? How could she have run from this man who was now offering everything to save her?
Avery's laugh was cold as ice. "Oh, Chris. That ship has sailed. I don't want you anymore." Her blue eyes glittered with triumph. "I have a more powerful ally now. Znakomstvo sends his regards."
The name hit like a physical blow. Lily gasped, and even through the phone, she could hear Chris's sharp intake of breath.
Znakomstvo - the notorious drug lord who was Chris's father - Liam Eaton's biggest rival.
But wasn't he supposedly locked away in a maximum security prison somewhere near Russia?!
After a long moment, Chris spoke, his voice tight with controlled fury. "I don't know how you managed to contact Znakomstvo, Avery. But Lily has nothing to do with this. I brought her to Nyrosia - she never wanted any part of it. Let her go. I'll do anything in return."
"You'll do anything in return to save Lily, huh?!" Avery's perfectly sculpted features twisted with rage as she glared at Lily's tear-stained face. "You little bitch!" she snarled. "What kind of black magic did you use to make him love you this much?!"
Lily flinched at the venom in Avery's voice, but somewhere beneath her terror, a tiny spark of hope flickered to life. Chris loved her. Despite everything - her doubts, her running away - he loved her enough to offer Avery the world in exchange for her safety.
If only she lived long enough to tell him she loved him too.