Patty’s screams echoed violently through the house. She lay crumpled at the foot of the stairs, arms wrapped tightly around her leg, whimpering in pain. The staircase wasn’t particularly high, but she was still so small–too fragile for even a minor tumble.
Bruises were already blooming on her limbs, blotches of purple against pale skin. Elias rushed down beside her, sweeping her into his arms like a lifeline. His face twisted–not just with fear, but with anger.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he barked at me, his voice sharp as glass.
I stumbled back, raising both hands. “I didn’t touch her!“>
Sabrina appeared almost instantly, a hand dramatically covering her mouth like she’d stepped out of a soap opera. “I saw it,” she gasped. “She pushed Patty. I watched it happen.”
“No, I didn’t-” My voice cracked.§
Elias turned away from me, his fury momentarily set aside as he looked down at Patty in his arms.
“Sweetheart,” he said, gently brushing hair from her face. “Tell me what happened, okay?“>
Patty sniffled, tears streaking down her cheeks as she gripped the collar of his shirt. Her tiny voice broke through the silence.
“She pushed me,” she whimpered. “Mommy, she shoved me.”>
Those words pierced me like a blade. I could barely breathe. Elias’s expression darkened, thunderclouds forming in his eyes.
“You’re sick,” he muttered.
I took another step back, heart pounding. “You know me, Elias. You know I would never lay a hand on her.”}
But he didn’t respond. Instead, he lunged toward me, gripping my arm with a bruising force and shoving me away from Patty. I stumbled, catching myself before I fell.
“If anything happens to my daughter,” he hissed, his voice low and venomous, “I will make sure you pay for it.”
I didn’t arque.
I didn’t scream.
I simply watched them go. Elias carrying Patty out the door like a protective father. Sabrina trailing behind, pausing only to glance back at me–her mouth curled into a satisfied little smile before she followed him out.
And just like that, they were gone.§
The hallway felt empty, stripped of all warmth. The silence felt like it could swallow me whole.
But I wasn’t sad. Not anymore. Not angry, either.
I was done.}
The very next morning, my phone buzzed with a message that nearly made me fall to my knees:
“Divorce papers finalized. Only Elias’s signature needed.“}
I stared at the screen, my grip tightening around the device. My throat was dry, my chest heavy.
This was it. The end I’d been waiting for.
The lies, the humiliation, the betrayal–I’d survived it all. And I was still standing.”
I went straight to the hospital, a manila envelope tucked beneath my arm, determined to end this chapter of my life for good.
He was outside Patty’s hospital room when I found him, arms folded, deep in conversation with Sabrina. The moment he saw me, his entire body tensed.[
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, his eyes colder than ice.
I took out the envelope, extended it toward him. “I came to hand you something important.”
He barely looked at it. “What is it?“}
A bitter chuckle escaped me. “You know damn well what it is. Divorce papers.”
He stared at them for a beat, unmoving. Then, suddenly, he shoved them right back at me, the force making me stagger.
“I’m not signing anything,” he said.}
I blinked, stunned. “What?“>
“I said no,” he replied, enunciating each word like a dagger. “I’m not giving you a divorce.”
My stomach churned. “Why the hell not?“}
His smirk was slow and chilling. “Because I want you to suffer.”
It felt like the air had been punched from my lungs.
He stepped forward, closing the distance, his voice low and cruel. “You don’t get to walk away clean. You don’t get to just disappear, Veronica.“}
His eyes gleamed with venom. “You’ll stay, and you’ll live with the guilt. With what happened to Patty. No divorce.”
I clenched my fists, trembling. “You already have everything you want! You have her, you have Patty, you’ve built your perfect life–why are you still holding on to me?“}
His lips curled. “Because you deserve this. Because someone needs to pay.”>
A bitter laugh bubbled out of me. “You’re twisted.“@
7:21 AM S
He shrugged, unbothered. “No more than you.“>
That was the final crack.
I didn’t say another word. I turned on my heel and stormed down the corridor, rage bubbling beneath my skin.
I pulled out my phone and hit the number I’d memorized days ago. The call connected quickly.
A voice answered on the other end. Calm. Professional.}
“It’s time,” I said.
There was no hesitation. “Understood.”}
1
That night, as Elias and Sabrina stepped out–probably to celebrate the chaos they’d unleashed–someone else would step in. Patty would vanish.
Not kidnapped. No ransom. No threats.
Just gone.
I had paid generously. Secured the best people. There would be no trail, no prints, no footage. Just a cold bed and a gaping hole in their perfect life.
Exactly like what they’d left in mine.
Let them search. Let them scream and cry and beg for answers. Let them feel helpless.
Let them break this time.
