This place wasn’t home anymore.
The walls, once filled with laughter and warmth, now closed in around me like a cage. Every room whispered memories I wished I could forget–Amara’s giggles echoing faintly in the halls, the image of her small arms wrapped around my neck, the softness of her cheek against mine before it all turned to ice.}
Dominic used to be my savior.
He had once pulled me from the depths of a nightmare–my knight in bloodied armor, the man who had stormed into that hideous warehouse and freed me when no one else came. He held me as I sobbed, promised I’d never be left behind again. For five long years, I believed in him. Loved him. Trusted him.
And in the end, he chose to let our daughter die.
I sat on the edge of our bed–our bed–staring at the hollow space beside me. My fingernails dug into the flesh of my palms, but I didn’t flinch. Physical pain was nothing compared to what tore through my heart.”
His voice replayed in my head, cruel in its comfort now.
“You’re safe, Evelyne. I’ll protect you. No one will ever hurt you again.“}
He had whispered those words the night he rescued me, his face bruised and bloody, trembling as he cut the ropes binding me to that chair. I’d been too weak to move, barely conscious, my body broken by days of torture. But he had gathered me into his arms, holding me like I was something precious.
“It’s over. You’re mine now,” he’d whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion.[]
I had clung to him as though he were the last thread keeping me tied to the world.
Even after the trauma, I stayed beside him. Dominic had been my anchor. My comfort. My steady hands when the nightmares gripped me in the middle of the night. He kissed every scar I tried to hide, told me they were beautiful because they meant I had survived.
I had thought his love would heal me.
But now, in the house we had built together–with walls that once held laughter, with sheets that smelled of a life we had dreamed about–he was no longer my hero.”
He had become the man who destroyed me.”
I stood up and walked over to the nightstand. My divorce papers, signed and final, trembled in my hands before I placed them down with care. I didn’t look back at the bed. I didn’t want to. It was just a tomb now–a grave for the love that once
lived here.
I snatched my suitcase and began pulling clothes from hangers, stuffing them in without care. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I couldn’t stay. Not here. Not surrounded by the scent of him, or the ghosts of my daughter’s laughter.” When I reached up to grab a sweater from the top shelf, something small slipped down and hit the floor with a quiet
clatter.
A flash drive.
Curious, I bent down and picked it up. A label was stuck to its side in block letters:
“Julienne – Kidney Transplant“}
My stomach twisted. I remembered Julienne’s fragile health–it had always been a concern growing up. After the kidnapping, we were told someone had come forward to donate her a kidney, But no name had ever been mentioned.
Just… “someone.“}
Dread crept along my spine like ice as I shoved the flash drive into my laptop. I clicked on the sole video file it contained, and the screen lit up.
Dominic’s face filled the frame.
He sat beside Julienne in a hospital room, his hand tightly clasped around hers.
“It’ll be alright,” he whispered gently, brushing the hair from her face. “You’re her sister. You’re a genetic match. This will work. I’m going to stay with you until you wake up–no matter how long it takes.”
My breath caught. My vision swam.
Dominic wasn’t just there for Julienne’s son.
He had always been there for her.
The video kept playing, but I didn’t need to watch anymore. The truth was already burning into my memory. Dominic had
1/2 11.4%
chosen Julienne a long time ago–long before Amara was born, long before I ever knew what I had lost.
And worse?
The kidney that saved Julienne’s life… was mine.
That was the reason I only had one. Dominic had given away a piece of me. Without my consent. Without ever telling me.” Maybe he married me to atone for it. Maybe the guilt was too much. Or maybe I was just a placeholder–a substitute for the woman he truly loved.”
My hand trembled as I closed the laptop. But the heartbreak in my chest had morphed into something else now- something sharper. More dangerous.}
6 1⁄2 F £ £ ¤ ¤ ° £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 3
They had taken everything from me.”
My body. My love. My daughter.
They thought I would walk away. But I wouldn’t.”
Not anymore.
I yanked the flash drive out, tucked it into my pocket, and turned toward the door.
That was when I heard footsteps downstairs. The front door creaked open. I didn’t move. Moments later, Dominic appeared at the top of the stairs, his expression unreadable.”
Julienne followed behind him, cradling her son.
“We’ll be staying here,” Dominic said, as if it were a casual decision. “Julienne and the baby need a place to recover.“>
He looked at me as though this were something I should accept.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I crossed the room in a single stride, raised my hand–and slapped him across the face with everything I had left in me.
