Victoria pressed the charm bracelet to her heart, batting her eyelashes innocently at Alexander.
“You always know exactly what I need,” she cooed, leaning in to kiss him while her eyes remained fixed on me, savoring my reaction.
Alexander smiled playing along with her charade yet I caught the way his gaze kept darting to my face, searching for signs of jealousy or hurt.
But when he saw that I wasn’t upset at all–just absentmindedly sketching in the small journal | always carried, something darkened in his expression.
“Olivia,” he said sharply, “you’ve been drawing in that damn book since we left the hospital.”
“Is it for your art therapy? Or are you designing something for someone I should know about?”
I had just finished sketching a small cottage by the sea, the property I’d secretly purchased last month.
“Just doodling,” I replied without emotion.
My indifference only seemed to fuel his irritation.
Without warning, he lunged across the car and tore the journal from my hands.
“Let me see what’s so fascinating worth ignoring your husband for,” he demanded.
Nine years of marriage.
A passion I’d pursued since childhood yet he couldn’t recognize a single one of my recurring motifs before the pages began tearing in his rough grip.
Victoria watched with delight as Alexander demolished another piece of my identity.
The remainder of the journey passed in heavy silence.
When we arrived at the mansion, Alexander immediately rushed to Victoria’s side as she whimpered about feeling dizzy from the car ride.
He carried her up the grand staircase to our bedroom, barking orders at the staff to prepare her favorite ginger tea and dim the lights.
After settling Victoria, Alexander returned to the foyer where the housekeeper was informing me that my things had been moved to the basement.
He paused, watching me gather my few remaining possessions. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned to the chef.
“Make sure Lauren gets something to eat tonight.” Then he added coldly, “But serve it in the kitchen. Victoria doesn’t want her at the dining table.”
I said nothing, simply nodding as I made my way down the narrow stairs to the basement. When I opened my luggage, I discovered my clothes soaked in dark red liquid that smelled of blood.
Someone had spray–painted BARREN WASTE across my wedding photo.
The walls of my room were similarly painted with cruel messages: “DEFECTIVE WOMAN” and “CHILDLESS FAILURE.”
But worst of all was the fur scattered across my belongings. I recognized it immediately–it belonged to Cassie, the aging Persian cat my brother had entrusted to me before his death.
3:53 am DDDD.
My heart raced as I searched for the small urn containing my brother’s ashes. To my relief, it remained untouched in its velvet bag.
Just as I clutched the urn to my chest, Victoria appeared at the basement door, holding something in a blood–stained pillowcase.
“Looking for this?” she asked sweetly, dumping the contents onto the floor
Cassie’s lifeless body slid out, her once–beautiful coat with dried blood.
“Poor thing kept meowing for you while you were in the hospital,” Victoria said with a pout. “Alexander said she was distressing me and the baby”
My legs nearly gave out beneath me.
She scrolled through her gallery. “Want to see something interesting? Remember when your brother was dying and you begged Alexander to use his connections to get him into that experimental treatment program?”
She turned the screen toward me, revealing a video of herself and Alexander in bed.
“This was taken the exact moment you were calling him from the hospital. Listen-”
From the recording, I heard my desperate voice: “Alexander, please, the doctor says James only has hours left. I just need you to sign the approval as his financial guarantor.”
Then Alexander’s dismissive reply: “Can’t it wait until morning? Victoria and I are in the middle of something.”
She paused the video, smirking. “He never told you why he didn’t make it to the hospital in time, did he? We were testing out that fancy swing he installed in the guest house.”
Fighting back tears, I walked past Victoria, clutching my brother’s urn tightly against my chest.
“Where do you think you’re going? I’m not finished with you yet!”
She ran forward, grabbing for the urn. We struggled briefly before she wrenched it from my grasp and ran toward the pool area.
“Let’s see how much you care about your precious brother now!”
Before I could reach her, she threw the urn into the deep end of the pool and my brother’s ashes dispersed in the water.
Victoria’s laugh echoed behind me. “Oops! Looks like big brother’s going down the drain!”
In that moment, blind with grief and rage, I turned toward her.
She must have seen something terrifying in my expression because she suddenly stepped back, her foot catching on a pool chair.
With a surprised shriek, she toppled backward into the shallow end of the pool.
“Help!” she screamed. “I can’t swim! The baby!”
Without thinking, I dove in after her.
Though I couldn’t swim well myself, I managed to reach her, I couldn’t let her harm the innocent child she carried, regardless of how much I despised her.
Instead of accepting my help, Victoria grabbed my shoulders and forced me under.
“Alexander!” she screamed. “Help me! She’s trying to drown me!”
CHAPTER 4
3:53 am DDD
Through the water, I could see Alexander sprinting toward the pool.
Without hesitation, Alexander dove in and pulled Victoria from the pool, carrying her in his arms like a rescued princess.
He didn’t even glance back as I desperately fought to reach the surface, swallowing water as my strength faded.
My fingertips just grazed the pool’s edge before darkness consumed me.
Two hours later, after ensuring Victoria was perfectly fine according to three separate doctora he’d summoned to the house, Alexander finally remembered my existence.
He searched every room, growing increasingly agitated when I was nowhere to be found.
By midnight, I was seated in the quiet corner of a 24–hour diner fifty miles away, nursing a cup of coffee as I waited for the mysterious contact to text me.
My burner phone vibrated with a text.
[Unknown number: Your car is waiting three blocks outside the pack. Everything’s arranged as discussed.]
I deleted the message just as another notification appeared–a text from Alexander.
[I don’t have time to track down a drowning victim. Don’t make me file a missing persons report.]
1:53 am DDDD
