Chapter 2

I had just turned to go downstairs when he called after me.

"One more thing."

I stopped.

He blew out a stream of smoke.

"Buy a few extra boxes. We go through them fast."

I rubbed my eyes and bit my lip.

"Understood."

Night wind slipped down my collar as I walked into the convenience store.

Ten boxes of condoms stacked on the counter. The cashier glanced at me over and over, the surprise plain on his face.

I paid without a word, took the bag, and walked back to the villa.

Keith took the bag and tossed it onto the nightstand.

The door wasn't shut all the way. From inside came the sound of Brenda's breathing.

I was about to leave when Keith's voice drifted out.

"Wait."

"The maid's off today. Come in later and clean up."

I stood outside the door, listening to the sounds inside that made my face burn and my heart pound.

My hand clenched, nails digging into my palm.

It wasn't until the small hours that the room finally went quiet.

I pushed the door open to change the sheets.

The air was thick with a heavy, suggestive smell, the bedding rumpled into a heap.

Keith walked out in his robe. He passed right by me without so much as a glance.

Brenda sat down at the vanity.

I bent to pick up the condoms off the floor.

She spoke lazily.

"Laurel, sometimes I really do admire you."

"Hated this much by a man and you still won't leave. Your skin's thicker than a fortress wall."

I said nothing and kept picking them up.

Then she threw something. It hit the back of my head.

It was the underwear she'd just taken off.

"You're cleaning anyway. Wash these while you're at it."

I held the wad of fabric, my throat closing up.

She picked up her phone and sent a message.

"Keith, my period's almost here. I want Laurel to do my laundry."

A few seconds later, his reply popped up.

"Let her wash them."

I stood up with the underwear in hand and had just turned around.

Brenda stuck out her foot and tripped me.

I went down hard, my knee cracking against the foot of the bed.

The pain blacked out my vision in waves.

She drew her foot back slowly.

"Oops. Not really thinking."

I pushed myself up on my hands. My knee was red with blood.

Gritting my teeth, I walked out of the bedroom one step at a time, back to the maid's room.

I curled up on the cold board of the bed, my forehead burning.

I don't know how long it was before cold water splashed across my face.

My eyes snapped open.

Keith stood by the bed, the cup in his hand still dripping.

Brenda stood behind him in a pink dress, a mocking smile on her face.

"Laurel, we're going to see Keith's sister today, and you've still got the nerve to sleep in?"

Keith set the cup on the nightstand, his voice cold as ice.

"Polly Gilbert's been lying there three years, and you sleep just fine."

I dragged my burning body up and changed clothes.

The woman in the mirror was frighteningly pale.

I pulled on long pants to cover the wound and followed them out to the car.

The car was full of a sweet, cloying scent.

The passenger seat had a pale pink blanket spread over it, a stuffed toy and a diffuser hanging from it.

Everything Brenda liked.

Keith leaned over and fastened her seatbelt for her.

Something bitter rose up in me.

Once, Keith had told me, "The passenger seat will only ever be yours."

I sat in the back and said nothing.

At the nursing home, the ward held only the sound of machines.

Polly lay on the hospital bed, her lips without a trace of color.

Keith stood behind me, his voice cold.

"Kneel."

Every time we came to see Polly these past years, Keith made me kneel for an hour.

Then only I was left in the ward.

I held Polly's hand gently, my voice trembling.

"Polly, I don't think I can keep the promise I made you."

"Every single day now, I'm in pain."

"I don't think... I can hold on much longer."

Three years ago, before Polly slipped into the coma, she'd held my hand.

"Laurel, you have to wait for me to get better, so I can come to your wedding with my brother, okay?"

I nodded and said yes.

But in these three years, everything changed.

My family went completely bankrupt, my mother passed, and my father never stood again after his stroke.

Keith was no longer gentle, and the women beside him changed one after another.

I was like a lamp burning down to nothing, its last bit of light about to go out.

Then someone came to the door.

Brenda leaned against the frame, looking at me on my knees, and curled her lips.

"Laurel, right now you really do look like a stray dog nobody wants."

I lowered my eyes and didn't answer.

She folded her arms and walked over to stand in front of me.

"If I were you, I'd have crawled off far away by now. Why keep asking for it?"

I slowly lifted my head and looked at her.

"Brenda, if I were you, I wouldn't be so smug."

"He can treat me like this. One day he'll treat you the same way."

Brenda's face flushed red in an instant, and she snapped in fury.

"I'm nothing like you!"

Then she smiled. From somewhere she pulled out a dagger.

"Just you wait."

The next second she suddenly seized my hand and shoved it forward.

My foot slipped, and she dragged me down onto the bed with her.

The dagger sank into Polly's calf.

Blood came pouring out.

I froze where I was, my hand still gripping the knife.

Brenda let go at once, backed away, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Ahh——"

"Laurel! What are you doing! Don't be rash!"

The door slammed open, and Keith burst in with his people.

He saw the blood on Polly's bed and kicked me square in the chest.

I heard my own rib snap, the pain choking off every word.

Keith threw himself down at the bedside.

"Doctor! Someone, hurry!"

The ward was chaos in a heartbeat.

The doctors and nurses all crowded around that bed. No one paid any attention to me in the corner.

I curled up on the floor, gasping, my vision blacking out in waves.

Brenda huddled in Keith's arms, her voice thick with tears.

"Keith, you've been so cold to Miss Dickerson, she must have taken it all out on Polly..."

"She's so terrifying..."

Only then did Keith turn his eyes to me.

He crouched down, his gaze full of disgust.

"Laurel, seems I've been too kind to you lately."

He took out his phone.

My heart clenched all at once, a huge, crushing fear washing over me.

The call connected.

Keith's voice was cold.

"Pull the ventilator on Laurel's father."