AbigailThe promise I made to Marceline to stay in the house seemed to look reckless and stupid the more I paced in my room. Was this how it was going to be every time? Would I be swayed from important decisions I made just because Marceline asked me to reconsider?I pressed a hand to my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. It was as if the walls of my room were closing in on me. The tension from my argument with Conrad still lingered in my head. I didn’t even want to think of what a disaster that had been, or the side of Conrad I had been shown today that I didn’t even know existed before.Everything in me screamed for escape from the suffocating air of this house. I fished my phone from the bedside table and hesitated for only a second before texting Roxy. “Are you free to meet up?”The words felt desperate as I hit send but the itch to leave her overpowered any guilt I felt about inconveniencing her. The memory of our earlier phone call sprang to mind just as I saw the three dot
AbigailFor a moment, I stared at Roxy as if she had just told me the sky was green. A chest went tight as my thoughts started to fly in a thousand different directions. Was this because of Conrad? Had he pulled some strings to sabotage me? I couldn’t put it past him after the cruel side of him I had seen today.I couldn’t lose my job in the company. It had given me something I desperately needed: normalcy. I needed to feel like my life wasn’t completely falling apart.”“Abigail?” Roxy’s voice softened, her brows knitting together in concern. “You okay?”I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. My thoughts had tangled into an incoherent knot. The moment Roxy had said something about it being better for me not to come into work right now, my mind latched onto the worst possible explanation: Conrad had gotten me suspended. Or worse, fired.“I’m fine,” I finally ground out. &ldqu
AbigailRoxy stretched her arms over her head, letting out a contented sigh as the breeze ruffled her hair. Inside her bag, her phone buzzed. Grumbling, she fished it, frowning at the text that had just come through.“Still on the hook for clean-up duty?” I teased, watching her frown deepen.“I wish,” she said, scratching her chin. “The dog got into the leftovers and my sister’s rushing him to the vet.”“Because he ate some cake?”“It was chocolate cake.”“Oh.”“Yep,” she said, shaking her head. “Dumb dog. I guess this is where we part ways, huh? You sure you’ll be okay?"I gave her a small
AbigailThe morning sun barely peeked through the heavy gray clouds as I pulled into the parking lot of the police station. The chill in the air wrapped around me, but it wasn’t enough to cool the nervous energy buzzing under my skin. I stepped inside, the fluorescent lights overhead casting an unpleasant glow on the scuffed tile floor. A tired-looking officer glanced up from his computer as I approached the front desk.“Good morning,” I said, offering him a polite smile. “I’m here to see someone. Her name is Marcy.” I paused, then added her full name in case he needed it.The officer typed away at his keyboard, his fingers moving with efficiency. “Give me a moment,” he said, his voice neutral. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, my gaze darting around the room. There was an odd quiet here, punctuated only by the occasional shuffle of papers or muted conversation.After what felt like an eternity
AbigailThe door creaked open slowly, revealing Marcy on the other side. From the get-go, her expression gave me a sneak peek about how her attitude would only worsen from here on out. With that cold, disdainful look, you would think I was some wild dog tracking dirt and mud into her pristine home after a rainy day. She didn’t need to say a word; the set of her jaw and the sharpness in her eyes told me this was going to be far more troublesome than I had prepared for.Still, I smiled, softening my features as much as I could. Letting my pride dictate how I treated her would do me no good. “Good morning, Marcy. Can I come in?”For a moment, she just stared at me, her lips pressed into a tight line. Then, with a stiff nod, she stepped aside, holding the door open just wide enough for me to slip past her into the house
AbigailMarcy’s eyes were on me as she leaned even further back in her seat, arms crossed, her expression unreadable save for the flicker of defiance in her gaze. “You want the truth?” she asked, her voice tinged with bitterness. “Fine. You told me to steal Susanna’s jewelry. That’s the truth.”I blinked, my jaw tightening as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. The same story. The same nonsense. It was beginning to annoy me. It was as if there was an invisible teleprompter behind my back that was stuck on the words “You told me to steal Susanna’s jewelry”. Her stubbornness would have been impressive if it weren’t so enraging. “Marcy,” I said, keeping my tone even, though irritation was startin
AbigailMy blood was boiling as I stormed out of Marcy’s house, the door slamming so hard behind me that I could hear the frame shake. She wasn’t worth my time—her lies, her smugness, her refusal to admit the truth. I hoped, with every ounce of anger boiling in my veins, that whatever Susanna had given her to keep her mouth shut was worth it.The cool morning air hit my face as I stalked toward my car, but it did little to cool my temper. I was shaking, my fists clenched so tightly my nails dug into my palms. My heels clicked against the uneven pavement, the sound as sharp and angry as I felt. I yanked my car door open and slid inside, slamming it shut behind me.For a moment, I just sat there, gripping the steering wheel, breathing heavily. The entire conversation replayed in my head, each word st
Abigail“Chat?” he repeated, his tone making the word sound like an unanswered question. His surprise was clear, exposed by a faint stammer before he cleared his throat. “What... uh, what about?”I glanced at the dashboard clock, taking note of the time. That might work to my advantage, it was nearing lunchtime. “It won’t take long,” I promised, smoothing down the front of my blouse as though he could see me. “And since I’m probably cutting into your lunch break, I insist that lunch will be on me. Consider it my way of thanking you for hearing me out.”There was a pause, long enough for me to imagine him debating whether to protest. “That’s not necessary,” he began, but I cut him off, my tone firm but still friendly.
AbigailI saw the shift in Susanna’s eyes before she moved.Tears welled up as if on cue, her steps shaking and her voice cracking with practiced fear as she stumbled toward Conrad like a wounded bird. “Conrad… thank God you’re here,” she said. “She’s gone mad… Abigail’s lost her mind… she brought me here to hurt me…”Quietly, I slipped the photo into the pocket of my hoodie, never taking my eyes off her. Whatever game she was playing, I wasn’t about to be caught off guard. Conrad just stood there stunned stupid, his eyes locked on her with an unreadable expression. And then she fell into his arms. That’s when everything went left. One moment she was clinging to him, and the next she spun out of his grasp like some deranged ballerina and turned. My heart shot into my throat as I saw the gun in her hand and her arm aimed straight at me.I didn’t even think before I ducked behind Conrad, using him as a shield. It was an ironic thing to do, hiding behind the very man who had let all of
Susanna“Give it to me!” I screamed again, my voice splitting with raw desperation. But Abigail didn’t even flinch.Instead, she tilted her head to the side, watching me like she was observing some pathetic creature in a zoo enclosure. Her voice came out calm, even almost bored when she answered me. “Why would I, Susanna? You didn't lose your cool until I pulled this out. So why should I let go of the one thing that finally made you crack?”My mouth opened, but nothing came out. Rage and panic all tangled in my chest, choking me. I didn’t even know if the livestream was still going. Had I managed to destroy the camera? Or had it caught every scream and every scrap of panic that had just bled out of me like an open wound? I couldn’t think about that now. I had to take back control. Abigail might have caught me off guard, but she was still… her. The girl who used to look away under my gaze. The woman who couldn’t manage to speak up for herself. That person couldn't just vanish in a f
SusannaAbigail hit me in the side of the head again, even harder this time, and I almost blacked out. As I struggled to stay upright, I was vaguely aware of her dragging me, and tightening something around my wrist. By the time I got my bearings, she had knotted a rope around my wrists, and tied one end to somewhere behind the couch she had dragged me to.She slammed a stack of documents on the small table in front of me, and the moment she did, something in my chest twisted. She gestured for me to pick them. I tried not to flinch and tried to play it cool, but my fingers felt a little numb as I reached for them. It was difficult with the way she had tied my wrists together, but I managed it. She was too calm, too damn confident, even in the way she held herself and I didn’t like it, not one bit. And the way she just stood there in that shapeless h
SusannaI was still lost in my daydreams of what I would do to the server when the car slowed to a stop and the driver glanced back at me. “We’re here, ma’am.”I looked up from my laps and looked out the window. A multi-storey building rose before me, all chipped paint and faded brick, like it had been built decades ago and then forgotten by time. No shine, no polish, no class. I sneered. So this is where he lives?What an absolute joke. The sheer nerve of that man to lay a hand on me, when the ring on my finger could pay his rent for five years and furnish the entire building. Yet he’d acted like a vigilante, like he had the right to involve himself in a matter that didn’t concern him. Like I wasn’t the Susanna Remington.
SusannaI leaned back in the plush reclining chair, sighing as the warm water bubbled around my feet. The spa always smelled like lavender and citrus, and that familiarity made it soothing. A soft towel was draped over my legs, and the nail technician was diligently filing the nails on my left hand while my right held my phone just above the water. I was watching a video of some influencer's vacation in the Maldives, my eyes half-lidded in relaxation.Then my phone vibrated in my hand. It was a call from an unsaved number. I didn't recognize it, and I didn’t care to. Without hesitation, I hit decline and went back to the video, rolling my eyes.The phone buzzed again almost immediately; it was the same unsaved number. I frowned.Twice in a row? What kind of idiot… My finger hovered over the decline button again when a thought struck me. Was it Harry’s father?He used to do this sometimes, calling me from random numbers, burner phones, maybe. He hadn’t done it in a while, but I also ha
Liliana I stared down at my lunch, the delicate aroma rising from the bowl doing nothing to stir my appetite. It was my favorite meal, carefully prepared and beautifully plated but today it tasted like nothing more than ash in my mouth, bitter and dry. I set my spoon down with a loud clatter, the sharp sound slicing through the silence of the room. Harry was out playing baseball with his friends, so I was all at home today, which made my annoyance even worse. My chest felt tight, suffocated by a fury I was barely managing to keep contained. How could I eat happily? How could I pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t? I let out a harsh loud breath, pushing my plate aside so forcefully it nearly toppled over the edge of the table. Enough. It had been months of enduring this slow descent into chaos. I had been an angel to tolerate it for this long. What other woman could have withstood the humiliation and the pressure of everything that had been thrown my way lately? First, ther
AbigailI meant to wait until later to tell Alexander about the meeting. I had every intention of acting cool, composed, someone who didn’t need to rush and blurt everything out like an overeager intern.But the second I promised to see Mr. Hayes back at the office and stepped into the elevator and the doors slid shut behind me, all my resolve crumbled. My fingers itched for my phone, and before I knew it, I was pulling it out of my pocket, rapidly typing out a message. I crushed it, I wrote, my heart beating a little too fast. Conrad’s project is dead. You should have seen his face, Alexander. It was glorious.I stared at the screen, grinning like a fool. And then, reality caught up with me.I was being ridiculous. Maybe even downright immature. This wasn’t the dynamic we had. I was supposed to be professional and reliable, not someone who acted like they were texting a secret crush after acing a test. Groaning quietly under my breath, I erased the entire message and typed a much s
AbigailI froze mid-sentence, lifting my head slowly to look at him. He was still at the front of the room, but now his arms were crossed loosely over his chest, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.“And here I thought,” he added, dripping with false politeness, “that only those formally invited had something to contribute.”A few people shifted in their seats. A few glanced at me. I could feel the weight of their eyes, the tension coiling in the air.Conrad was trying to embarrass me and put me back in my place.I leaned forward, pressing the button on the microphone in front of me. My voice was cool. “I have nothing to say to you, Mr. Remington.”I started t
AbigailInternally, I whooped and punched the air in victory. But outwardly, I gave Mr. Hayes a serene, practiced smile, the kind that said I'm glad to be here, not desperate to be here. “Thank you again,” I said politely, then stepped out of his office before my excitement bubbled too far to contain.Ten o’clock was only forty minutes away. Not enough time to start anything new, but just enough to make myself useful. I returned to my office, where Elle was already tidying up the documents on my desk.“Anything urgent?” I asked as I approached.She handed me a printed memo and gave me a quick update on a postponed meeting. “Only thing worth noting is