The lipstick on Colin’s collar is not mine.

Neither is the woman pressed against him inside the hotel library.

For three frozen seconds, I stand outside the half-open door wearing the ivory dress his mother chose for our rehearsal dinner. Colin murmurs something against the maid of honour’s neck, and she laughs with the same mouth that toasted our future an hour ago.

I do not scream. I do not cry.

I take the first set of keys I see in the foyer and run.

Snow needles my face as I reach a black four-wheel drive parked near the service entrance. I barely have the engine running when the passenger door opens and Daniel Mercer climbs inside.

Colin’s older brother. The family black sheep. The man who attended exactly one wedding event and spent it watching everyone as if he expected the walls to collapse.

“That is my car,” he says.

“Then get out.”

Daniel studies my shaking hands, the mascara burning my eyes, and the hotel doors opening behind us.

Instead of stopping me, he fastens his seat belt.

“Drive.”

We make it six miles before the storm erases the road. The tyres slide. Daniel grabs the wheel, guiding us away from the ravine, but the car sinks into a bank of snow.

“There is an old ranger cabin nearby,” he says.

Inside, the cabin is dark, abandoned, and brutally cold. I finally turn on him.

“Go ahead. Tell me Colin made a mistake. Tell me your family will fix it.”

Daniel removes his jacket and drapes it around my shoulders.

“I warned them this engagement would end badly.”

The words hurt more than the betrayal.

“You knew he would cheat?”

“I knew he would keep choosing himself.” His gaze locks onto mine. “And I knew they would expect you to forgive him.”

Outside, the storm seals us in.

Inside, Daniel strikes a match, and for the first time all night, I see something clearly.

He is not here to defend his brother.

He may be the only person who understands why I ran.

 “Drive.” One word, and Daniel chooses Natalie over the entire Mercer family. Did you expect him to help her escape? Drop your theory below, tap ❤️ for Natalie refusing to stay silent, and share this chapter with someone who loves a dangerous forced-proximity romance! ❄️🚙