Zelda’s pov“She won’t,” I repeated, firmer this time. “Do you know why? Because she doesn’t have it in her. She doesn’t have the spine. A woman like Katherine—she folds. She takes the money, she runs. She doesn’t fight. That’s her nature. That’s why she was so easy to move off the board.”The lawyer shifted in his chair, his discomfort obvious in the way he tapped his pen against the folder on his lap. “Still… I would advise caution. People have a way of surprising you when you least expect it. In my years, it’s the quiet ones that bite the hardest and they never let go until their target is dead.”I smiled and leaned in my seat. “You don’t know Katherine. I do. She’s gone.”He nodded. “If you say so, then you’re right.”He then got up and bowed before leaving the office.I sat there, smiled slightly, feeling something beneath the smile push against my chest like a restless heart. I forced it down.She was gone.Nothing else was ever of consequence. It was just face i was worried abo
Katherine’s povThe silence by the car was hard and cutting. Especially with both our faces on the door window; one, as hollow and spent as she felt inside right now, and the other, as fierce as it was broken."You should stay and fight" she whispered finally, her voice trembling, "at least fight". I shook my head, a bitter smile curving on my lips " Fight?" I repeated hollowly, "Fight. Against what? They have already won Grace Zelda and Renee they've won! And me? I’ve lost so what’s the fucking point. You keep making me sound like a broken record but it’s over.”She was shocked as I opened the door and entered before pushing a button as the window went down.“You can stay here or come with me. There’s enough money for us both.”She stayed by the door for a while before stepping away.“I’ll stay,” she said as I sighed.“That was a stupid choice,” I said, “but good luck.”She just stood there, staring at me with a look that said everything words couldn’t.And God, it killed me.I roar
Katherine’s povMaybe he had really chosen this. Maybe he had written that letter, recorded those words. Maybe he had decided I wasn’t worth the fight.Or maybe—maybe they had twisted everything. And I’d never know.The tears came then, hot and fast.With a deep sigh, I coveeed my mouth to stop the sob from escaping my lips. This was the first time since I returned that I felt hurt this bad. From day one they had treated me like I didn’t belong and now… now they were truly showing me that I didn’t belong.But deep down, beneath all the hurt, beneath all the shame, something else was beginning. A tiny little spark of anger.They had thought they destroyed me with a pen and chequebook. But I wasn’t ready to be put out to pasture just yet.I rubbed at my face, grinding my exhaustion. My legs shook when I got up. I stood anyway. Because this was over. But there was something new out there.I would get out of the house. I’d take their money and their gifts, and I’d build something they co
Katherine’s povThat morning after having my bath, I was summoned to Zelda’s office as I sat in my seat and stared at the paper she had given to me.Sha was seating opposite me with a devilish smile.Her lawyer sat next to her, fumbling with his glasses out of either boredom or disdain. This was business for them. To me it felt more like a funeral for something that had hardly been alive.“Just sign, Katherine,” Zelda purred—seductive as usual—but I barely heard her over my own heartbeat pounding furiously behind my eyes. “It’s only logical. Take the money; get out while you still can and find yourself an existence actually worthy of your potential.” I swallowed hard. My throat hurt. “What about Dacre?” I said, and my voice faded on the last word that I hated myself for it. “I should see him, hear it from him… once… Let me hear him say this.”She laughed. “He is the one who even okayed this. He doesn’t want to see you. He doesn’t want you. You heard the voice notes. The recordings. H
Katherine’s povWasn’t Grace the head maid? Why was she being treated like some slave?“Stop it!” I shouted, though I knew they couldn’t hear. My breath fogged the glass, my fists aching against it.Grace stumbled forward, caught herself, but I saw the tears in her eyes even from here. She kept her head low, no defense, no words. Just silent suffering.I waited in my room until Grace came to meet me.“What is going on?” I asked. “Why are you being treated that way by Carla!?”“Apparently I was demoted to being an ordinary maid and Carla is now the new head maid.”“What?! Have you seen Dacre? Maybe you can…”“I can’t,” she said. “They told me I wasn’t allowed.They’d refused her just like they had me.She set down something on my bedside table. It was a simple sandwich wrapped in wax paper.“You missed these at dinner.”“A letter,” she whispered.I scowled and accepted it. The writing on the body looked like it was Dacre’s. He was up and he didn’t want to see me? Why?But when I start
Zelda’s povI blinked, mouth parting a little bit, because it was his voice in the words — not literally, but the phrasing, the bluntness of them. That was Dacre. That was how he would have actually put it if he really wanted to end something.A weird shudder went through me. Half of me wanted to put it in a frame and make Katherine read it till her tears had soaked through the paper.“This is . . .” I stopped and started again, trying to sound cool. “Yes. It’s right.”Maya didn’t say anything. She only shifted her weight and reached into her bag.“There’s also the recording,” she said, pulling out her laptop and sliding it across the desk. She opened the lid, pressed a key, and after a moment, Dacre’s voice filled the room.Not his real voice — but God, it sounded like it.“You think you matter to me? You don’t. You were useful, that’s all. Now I’m through with you. Take what I’ve given you and get lost. And stay the hell away from me.”I hated hearing it. The sound of my own son’s v