Abigail
*
The idea of being in Susanna’s world while she had no idea of it was electrifying to simply think of, but I forced myself to push it aside for now. I took a deep breath as I stepped out of the restroom, smoothing my hands down the front of my blouse and pointedly avoiding eye contact with the part of my sleeve Susanna had smeared her blood against. I had more immediate concerns right now, like Alexander who was waiting for me in the hospital’s waiting room.
By the time I reached him, I had schooled my expression into something passably placid. He glanced up from his phone as I approached, his inquiring gaze immediately scanning my face.
“There you are,” he said, slipping his phone into his pocket. “How did it go?”
AbigailLiam was practically bouncing on his feet, his eyes bright with excitement. I tried to return the energy, but I was thrown off by the sudden announcement. The best I could manage was a blink. “What?” “I know, right? I still can’t believe it!” A rush of warmth filled my chest at his happiness. Liam had always dreamed of going to university, but our financial situation had made it difficult. He had been looking into scholarships in the past, but I knew he was worried about the competition and whether he would qualify for enough aid. My first thought was that maybe he had applied for yet a grant or scholarship without telling me. Maybe he hadn’t been confident about getting it and wanted to keep it a secret until it was confirmed. “You applied for something?” I asked, trying to keep up. Liam shook his head, still grinning. “Nope! Didn’t have to.” That made me pause. If he hadn’t applied for anything, then where was this coming from? “Wait.”
Abigail*His words stung. I clenched my fists, but I forced myself to pause. Getting angry wouldn’t help. I needed to see this from his perspective. To him, I probably looked like I was sabotaging his future out of spite, out of some petty grudge against Conrad and Marceline. I could understand why he would think that. It wasn’t easy to turn down a chance like this, especially when we had spent years worrying about money.So I softened my voice, doing my best to keep calm. “Liam,” I said, “you may have noticed by now, but I’m planning to leave Conrad.”Liam’s brows shot up slightly, but he didn’t interrupt.“When I tried to serve him divorce papers,” I continued, “he changed in the blink of an eye. He used the fact that he paid for Mom’s cancer treatments a
Abigail*I lowered myself onto the bench Marceline had gestured to, my posture stiff despite the serene setting of the indoor garden. As she sat down beside me, scent of freshly sheared greenery mingled with the faint traces of expensive perfume that clung to her silk blouse. The garden was almost tranquil, if not for the tension coiling tight in my chest.I needed to tread carefully.Marceline turned slightly toward me, an elegant picture of poise as she clasped her hands over her knee. "So," she said lightly, amusement lacing her voice, "to what do I owe this visit?"I swallowed and forced a pleasant smile. "I wanted to ask why you didn’t inform me that you had met with Liam. My brother."
AbigailI rose from the bench, my movements stiff with contained fury. The realization hit me like a slap to the face; Conrad wasn’t the only one trying to trap me in this marriage. Marceline was just as involved in locking this door to the prison called my marriage.She had spoken so calmly, so elegantly, as if what she was doing wasn’t manipulation, as if she wasn’t trying to back me into a corner using my own brother as leverage. Her words had been a veiled ultimatum, wrapped up in silk and grace. I walked out of the indoor garden without so much as a goodbye, with more force in my stride than was necessary. My breath came short and sharp as anger clawed at my insides.How dare she?How dare she look me in the eye and insist that I belonged in this family, knowing full well how Conrad had treated me? She had seen how he paraded Susanna through our home, making it clear wh
AbigailI pulled out my phone and typed a quick message to Daniel’s real number, asking if we could meet within the next hour. The response came almost instantly.“Of course. I’ll send you a location.” A second later, the location popped up on my screen; Centennial City Park. I entered the address into my car’s GPS and started the drive. It wasn’t far, just about fifteen minutes away. When I arrived, I parked under the shade of a large oak tree and took a deep breath before stepping out.The park was peaceful, the kind of place you came to when the chaos of the world was too much. Birds chirped from the branches above, children ran across the grass with carefree laughter, and couples strolled hand in hand, completely absorbed in each other.I found a bench under a wide tree and sat down, letting my gaze wander
AbigailI could feel exhaustion pressing down on me as I drove home. A hot bath was the only thing I needed as soon as I got home, as well as a full eight hours of sleep. But of course, I could never catch a break. As soon as I stepped inside the house, I knew something was wrong. I paused in the entryway, my heartbeat slowing to something heavy and cautious. My fingers curled around the strap of my bag as my gaze flicked toward the living room.And there he was, Conrad. Seated on the sofa like he belonged there, like this was his home, not my mother’s. His head lifted as soon as he heard me enter, his gaze locking onto mine. Instantly, my mood went sour.I forced myself to push down the immediate irritation clawing at my throat at the sight of him. After such a long day, this was not what I needed. My t
AlexanderI leaned back in my chair, rubbing my temples as the latest audio file played through my headset. The sound of Susanna’s voice filled my ears; agitated, and unmistakably bitter.“…and what does he expect me to do? Just sit around and wait for his scraps like some obedient little wife?”Daniel, seated across from me with a pair of headphones on, was listening to a different recording, but if I were a betting man, I’d stake all my shares on the fact we would give each other similar feedback. This was yet another complaint about her ‘miserable existence’. The audio files Abigail had sent were neatly organized, each one labeled with a date and time. There were nearly a hundred hours in total. So far, between Daniel and me, we had managed to get through thirty-on
Susanna I scrolled through my phone, barely processing the words on the screen. The longer I stared, the angrier I became, my fingers tightening around the device. I shouldn’t have been in this hospital bed. I shouldn’t have had to inconvenience myself like this, all because of Abigail. If not for her, I wouldn’t have had to go to such lengths. If not for her, things would have fallen into place a long time ago. My jaw clenched as I forced myself to breathe in deeply. There was no use getting worked up. I had already done what I needed to do. I had played my part perfectly at the company and when Conrad had brought me to the hospital, I had let the doctors fuss over met so Conrad could get a glimpse of the fragile, wronged woman in need of his protection. Soon, all of this would pay off. The door creaked open, and I immediately brightened, tossing my phone aside. I didn’t even have to see who it was, I could feel it. Conrad. A smile spread across my lips, and for a short moment, m
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
AbigailThe smell of the food filled the entire room, and something about the presence of Alexander beside me dulled the tightness I’d been carrying all day. The tension behind my eyes had started to fade as I picked at the grilled fish, letting the flavors roll across my tongue, my limbs slowly unknotting with every bite.“I’ve been getting calls from Liam,” I said, my voice tired but audible. I didn’t know why I chose now to bring it up; maybe because I finally felt safe enough to say it out loud.Alexander’s hand stilled mid-motion, his chopsticks hovering above the container of scallops. “Liam?” His eyes flicked to mine, sharp. “How long?”I nodded and swallowed. “It’s been a few times now. He says he’s changed and keeps asking to see me.”His brows drew together, and I could see him piecing something together. “He’s been coming to me too and asking to see you.” He paused. “He’s not been released from Ridgewell officially, but this is part of the treatment program; they release so
Abigail I didn’t know where I was going, I just kept driving. One street turned into another and headlights flashed past me in a blur. The city was quietly winding down while something restless stirred in my chest. My fingers were clenched so tight around the steering wheel, they ached. I told myself I would find a hotel. Or maybe I would go to Roxy’s, even though it was too late and she’d worry. But the truth was, I wasn’t thinking clearly at all. I wasn’t thinking at all.I just didn’t want to go home.And somehow, without meaning to, I ended up here. The car rolled to a slow stop in front of the tall, glittering building before I fully realized where I was. I blinked up at it, dazed and slightly breathless, my stomach twisting into an uncomfortable knot. I knew this place; it was the high rise I had met Alexander before we went to Ridgewell to see Liam. The lights shimmered against the glass like stars in a city that forgot what the real ones looked like. But I wasn’t looking at