Her words only fueled his anger. "I don’t care if you can take care of yourself. I care that you didn’t tell me about this. Why can’t you see reason for once?"

"You know what? This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. I don’t need drama like this, drama like you in my life."

"I’m only trying to help you, Hayley."

She was angry now. She hated how many times she heard those same words coming from his lips. Hishelpwas only making things worse for her. "I don’t need your help. Okay? I’m not your damsel in distress. We had a deal to pretend to be mates only so that I could claim my inheritance. After that, we part ways. You promised."

"Yes, but I think I made my intentions perfectly clear," he said.

Her anger was now taking over her. "You say you have changed, but you’re still the same! The inheritance case will be closed tomorrow, so we don’t have to pretend or be together anymore. I want you to leave—"

"Hayley, I’m not leaving."

"You will leave my house, Zach, or do I have to make you?"

"You know what? Monroe might be an asshole, but he was right to think you are a spoiled brat. If you want to be left alone, fine. I’m leaving."

"Good and never come back!"

"I wasn’t planning on coming back." He walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Hayley ran to the door, pulling it open. " I hate you!" she shouted and slammed it shut again. Her knees went weak the second she turned her back to the door. She walked over to the kitchen and sat down, afraid she was going to fall. There was the sound of soft steps approaching. Greta stood by the door, looking down at her feet with a guilty expression on her face.

"Leave me alone."

"Hayley, I’m sorry. I told him because I was worried about you. There were too many letters. It’s disturbing. I knowyou want to believe everything is fine, but it’s not, not until we find out whoever is doing this." She waited, but after she got no reply, she tried to walk into the kitchen. That’s when Hayley’s voice stopped her.

"I don’t want you here, Greta. Please, let me be."

"Darling, I—"

"Go."

"Okay. I’ll go. If you need me, I’ll be upstairs." But she waited Then Hayley took action, flicking her hand in the air and using her powers to shut the door.

She leaned back in the chair, her mind replaying everything that had just happened. Hayley sighed and rolled to her side. She was considering what Zach said earlier, considering accepting him as her mate again.

Hot tears blurred her vision. "Oh, I hate you, Zach," she cried.

Hayley woke up in the middle of the night, struggling to breathe. Her throat felt choked, and her nostrils were blocked. She opened her mouth slightly so she could breathe properly. "I probably shouldn’t have cried so hard," she muttered.

Hayley was startled by a loud crash from somewhere in the house. Her eyes moved to her alarm clock. It was an hour past midnight. Greta usually went to bed long before midnight. The only time she stayed late was when Hayley wasn’t back home yet, so she knew it couldn’t be Greta who caused the noise. She sighed and decided to go back to sleep, but before she could rest her head back on her pillow, she jumped up again at the sound of a scream.

"Hayley, run! They are—" Greta’s voice was disrupted before she could finish speaking.

"Greta!" Hayley shouted, running out of her room. As she stepped out, she bumped into a man who was already heading to her room.

He jumped on her. "You are coming with me, Hayley Green," he said harshly against her ear.

"Fuck off!" She got hold of his shoulder and pushed him away. "Who are you? Unveil yourself!" She thought he was going to come after her, but instead, he remained in his position. "Answer me," Hayley demanded. She wanted to attack him, but she also wanted to check on Greta. Despite having just attacked someone, the man appeared surprisingly calm and collected. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed him staring at something behind her. Before she could turn to see what had caught his attention, a heavy hand clamped over her mouth.

The other rushed forward and got hold of her leg as she kicked. Hayley reached out, using her nails to scratch and dig into his flesh.

"Fuck, you bitch," she heard one of them say. "Why isn’t she unconscious already?"

"Give it time. The medicine is in her system..." Hayley couldn’t hear the rest of his words. She knew something was terribly wrong when her whole body went stiff. She tried to scratch the men as they carried her away, but her arms were weighed down by an inexplicable heaviness.

"There, there, baby. Go to sleep," a soothing voice whispered in her ear. In the background, she could hear someone laughing wildly. The voice continued to play in her head, drawing her closer to sleep. Hayley finally gave in and closed her eyes.