Chapter 15: PleaN
Russell stayed in that pool all night, still diving over and over like he was gonna find that tiny Antarctic stone. His skin was pale, fingers wrinkled, covered in grime and algae, but he kept going.
He wouldn’t give up.
It was hard to watch.
We all knew he wasn’t gonna find it. That thing was long gone, just like whatever love we had left. But that didn’t stop him from trying. He clung to it, as if he could pull that pendant out of the water, maybe he could rewind everything.N
From upstairs, I stood at the window, watching him through the glass. I was a little dazed, honestly. All these memories kept rushing back like our first date.N
Although our marriage was a business arrangement, we both wanted to try and give each other a chance to love truly.
Russell didn’t treat it as just a casual date. He prepared thoroughly and took me to romantic Paris.N
He brought me to see the Eiffel Tower and experience French customs. He said that even if we didn’t have a foundation of love, he was willing to try and stay with me.N
I will always remember the day he arranged for fireworks in advance, then kissed me on the Ferris wheel. But I missed the moment at the highest point because I wanted to watch the fireworks.
I told him later that I didn’t even see the peak. He just smiled and said it didn’t matter. That if we were good to each other, things like tradition and old myths didn’t mean much.N
Lookin
Looking back now, it feels almost prophetic.N
I laughed bitterly and tried to lie back down, but realized dawn had come.
At that moment, I heard Russell’s weak voice outside the door.
When I opened it, he looked like he could barely stand. His skin was pale, his body soaked, his arms shaking like he might fall over at any second.
“I didn’t find it,” Russell said, voice low, “but I’ll go to Antarctica myself and dig up a bigger, more beautiful stone. I’ll make you a new pendant.”>
I scoffed and curled my lips. “So what, you’re trying to cover up the fact that you gave my charm necklace to Claudia? Trying to give me something better?“}
“But Russell,” I said, my voice flat, “love doesn’t come with second chances. We’re over. We’re divorced. Do you understand that?”
“I don’t!” he shouted, suddenly alive with frustration. His fists clenched, and his eyes were bloodshot. “I only know I love you, I hurt you, and I want to make it up. I think you still like me. You can’t just get engaged to a man after meeting him a few times!“>
“But Russell,” I said, my throat tight with emotion, “we got married after just a few meetings, too, didn’t we?”
He went still, his jaw tightening like he was biting back something he didn’t want to say.§
Then, without looking at me, he muttered, “I’ll go to Antarctica today. Nadine, come with me.”
Before I could even open my mouth to answer, another voice cut in, low and cold.
“She’s not going.”
I looked past Russell and saw Jacob standing there, eyes like ice locked on Russell’s.
Russell didn’t say a word. Without warning, he lunged forward and threw a punch like there was still something he needed to prove. Jacob caught it with a steady, swift strike, didn’t even flinch, and snapped Russell’s wrist with a sharp crack.N
He let out a scream, stumbling back in pain.”
I didn’t even hesitate. I stepped right over him and into Jacob’s arms.
His scent–crisp cedar–hit me first, washing away that chlorine–stained, sweat–soaked smell still clinging to Russell.
My body relaxed before I even realized it was tense.“]
“You came,” I whispered, my voice barely above a breath.!!
“Mm.” Jacob didn’t say much. He just wrapped his arms tighter around me.§
I didn’t have to look at Russell to know how much that hurt him. The tender and intimate closeness between Jacob and me cut him like a knife. I could feel it in the way his breathing hitched.
“Nadine…” His voice cracked.
I’d never heard him sound like that. So raw, So desperate,
“Don’t treat me like this. Don’t stand there smiling and laughing with another man like I don’t exist. I can’t take it. You can humiliate me. Kill me in front of the whole damn city, but…”
Russell couldn’t finish. His body finally gave out, and he collapsed from exhaustion, right there on the floor.”
We called an ambulance and watched them wheel him away.
But Jacob and I didn’t leave. Not yet.”
Instead, we went down to the basement. I opened the door and immediately staggered back as a wave of rotting stench slammed into
me.”
9:07 AM
Standing in front of me, Jacob just reached into his coat, pulled out a mask, and handed it to me.”
“You okay to handle this?” he asked.
I nodded, slipping the mask on and stepping inside.}
This was where they’d almost broken my fingers, where Claudia’s body lay now.”
She was still in that same gown from Grandfather’s birthday–now filthy, soaked through with blood, crawling with flies.}
Her body was contorted in ways that no body should ever be. One glance revealed everything. She’d been in a terrible car crash before she died.
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
Had Russell found out what she did? And that she tried to run me down? Did he kill her for it?}
Jacob moved quietly, taking photos and sending them off to the police. Then he came over and gently pulled me to his side, covering my eyes with his hand.
“Let’s go. Don’t dirty your vision.”
…D
Russell’s POV
I had this dream.
In it, I never met Claudia. Not once.
Instead, it was Nadine. I saw her in Florence and I just fell hard.”
She was it for me from the start. We were like teenagers, awkward and nervous, trying to figure out love while walking around this foreign city, hand in hand, like it meant something.
We kissed at the top of the Ferris wheel in Paris. In that dream, we stayed together. We had a daughter, a cat, and a dog.
Life was simple, sweet, and damn near perfect.
But then things shifted.”
The colors started to drain. Everything turned gray, then pitch black, like someone flipped the lights off on us.
A spotlight cut through the dark, and there she was, Nadine, right in the center of it.
She looked straight at me and said, clear as day, “Russell, let’s get divorced.”)
I tried to reach her, ran as fast as possible, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t catch up. It was like my legs were stuck in molasses while she was moving forward without me.
And then I saw him.”
Some other guy was by her side.”
They were close, laughing, talking like we used to.}
“No… no…“D
My chest ached. My lungs were on fire.
None of it mattered, because I still couldn’t get to her.”
“Nadine…”
Her name came out of me like a prayer–a whisper.”
And then I felt something.
A hand, warm and real, pulling me up, yanking me out of the freezing water.”
