The moment our honeymoon cruise set sail from Florida, my husband locked the cabin door, cornered me with an aluminum baseball bat. "This is how my dad kept my mom in line," he grinned. I didn't scream. I just cracked my knuckles. He forgot to read the part of my resume where I served as a Marine Corps hand-to-hand combat instructor. In one fluid motion, the bat was mine, and his face was...

The agonizing pain radiating from my lower back threatened to completely shut down my nervous system.

I fell forward onto the cold steel deck, my blood quickly pooling around the massive, defused bomb.

Gregory laughed triumphantly, kicking my dropped weapon far out of reach into the dark shadows of the cargo hold.

"You always were too sentimental to put down a rabid dog, Ashlynn," he sneered, aiming his silver revolver at my head.

Chloe stood frozen behind him, her hands completely covered in my blood, finally horrified by the monster she had become.

I refused to die on the filthy floor of a sinking ship at the hands of a pathetic, arrogant coward.

I channeled every ounce of pain and fury into one final, explosive surge of pure adrenaline.

I swept my leg out violently, shattering Gregory’s ankle with a sickening, audible crunch of breaking bone.

He screamed, firing a wild, reactionary shot into the ceiling as he collapsed heavily onto the metal grates.

I immediately pounced on him like a feral animal, ignoring the agonizing, tearing sensation in my wounded back.

I wrapped my hands firmly around his throat, squeezing with the unstoppable force of absolute, righteous vengeance.

His face turned a deep, violent shade of purple as his eyes bulged in genuine, unadulterated terror.

I didn't stop squeezing until his eyes finally rolled back and his body went completely limp beneath me.

I collapsed heavily beside his unconscious form, gasping desperately for air as the ship's alarms finally fell silent.

The heavy cargo doors burst open, and heavily armed Coast Guard tactical teams flooded into the massive room.

They quickly secured Gregory in heavy iron chains and dragged a sobbing, utterly broken Chloe away into custody.

Paramedics rushed to my side, applying intense pressure to my wound and loading me onto a rigid medical backboard.

As the medical helicopter lifted me away from the ruined cruise ship, I watched the morning sun rise beautifully over the ocean.

The terrifying nightmare was finally over, and the dark ghosts of my hidden past had been completely laid to rest.

I had survived the ultimate betrayal and officially earned the quiet, peaceful life I had always desperately wanted.

Three weeks later, I was sitting comfortably in a private, sunlit hospital room, finally healing from my severe injuries.

A cheerful nurse walked in, handing me a massive, beautiful bouquet of expensive black roses.

I smiled, reaching out to open the small, unmarked white card tucked carefully amongst the dark petals.

“Which daughter is yours?” should have been a harmless question

The first wineglass shattered at 8:07 p.m

The moment the mafia boss’s wife called me “an illiterate servant,”

The smile instantly vanished from my face as I read the single, terrifying sentence printed in bold red ink.

"Gregory was just a pawn; the real board is set, so get well soon, Viper."

Chapter 10 - The Calm After