Three Stolen Springs

Hugo's POV

I lowered my eyes and slowly picked up the fruit knife from the table, calmly pressing the tip against my chest.

"Esther is such a neat freak. Why would someone like her suddenly start taking out the trash herself every day? Do you really think Adam tagged along just to keep an eye on her for you?

"Stop being naive, Hugo. Go check the blind spot behind the house. Those 10 minutes she spends taking out the trash are the only time they get to be alone together, away from you!"

The front door swung open, and Esther Mabry walked in.

The moment she saw me holding the knife to my chest, the color drained from her face.

"Hugo, what are you doing?"

She did not even stop to take off her coat before rushing toward me like a madwoman.

The voice on the phone continued.

"Look at her face. Someone with OCD that severe, and look at the state she's in."

Esther was a serious germaphobe with severe OCD. Her makeup was always flawless and elegant, and even her lip liner was applied with meticulous precision.

Now, however, her makeup was smudged, and a faint trace of men's cologne lingered on her.

My gaze moved past her and settled on my brother, Adam Abernathy. His face was flushed.

My arms went slack. The knife was still in my hand, its tip nearly stabbing my thigh.

Esther stopped abruptly. Her hands hovered in midair, and her voice turned cautious.

"Hugo, put the knife down. Don't hurt yourself."

I stared at her, my voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Who's the guy?"

Esther froze for a brief moment. Then she pulled up her phone's location history with practiced ease and held it out to me.

"I just went to take out the trash. The dumpster is right outside, and I was gone for less than 10 minutes."

Deep exhaustion surfaced in her eyes.

"Hugo, that was three years ago. How long are you going to keep holding on to it? Taking care of you every day is exhausting enough. Please, stop being so paranoid."

As she spoke, she stepped forward and reached for the knife.

I swung it toward her and backed away.

"Don't touch me!"

The blade sliced across my palm. Blood poured from the wound and dripped onto the floor.

"Hugo!"

Adam cried out and rushed over.

However, he moved too quickly and twisted his ankle, crashing into the cabinet beside him.

"Adam!"

Esther lunged toward him almost on instinct. Yet just before her hands reached him, she seemed to realize something and stopped short.

Adam looked at the blood covering my hand, then backhanded Esther across the face.

"Esther, you're pushing him again! Don't you know he's sick?"

The slap landed so hard that her head snapped to the side.

She clenched her fists tightly, as though fighting to keep her emotions from spiraling out of control. When she looked back at me, every trace of irritation and resentment had disappeared. Once again, she became the meek and gentle wife she always pretended to be.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you, Hugo. You're bleeding. Let me bandage it."

Esther crouched in front of me, yet her eyes kept drifting to Adam's swollen, reddened ankle.

She wrapped my hand quickly, then handed the first-aid kit to Adam as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Her voice was terribly hoarse.

"Go put some spray on that."

Watching her swallow her pride so completely, I could not bear it any longer.

I turned and fled to the bedroom.

Three years earlier, I had caught Esther cheating for the first time.

I tore through the entire hotel like a madman, yet I never found a single trace of the other man.

In despair, I climbed onto the rooftop.

Adam was the one who stabbed Esther and dragged her in front of me to confess.

That day, Esther, who had always been so proud, knelt before me and sobbed like a child who had lost her entire world.

"Hugo, I'm begging you. You can't die."

The desperation she showed as she fought to keep me alive made me believe she truly loved me after all.

Now, a single phone call from the future had shattered every one of those illusions.