Chapter 4

4: 4

The plane landed.

I went back to the rented apartment I'd shared with Adam.

I walked up to the locked attic.

I took a hammer out of the toolbox and swung it down.

One swing, two swings…

With a sharp crack, the broken lock hit the floor.

I pushed the attic door open.

It was empty. All twelve paintings I'd stored inside were gone.

I rushed straight to the computer and typed Eleanor Dickerson's name into the search bar.

I clicked into her portfolio.

Besides the painting that had won today, the other eleven were all sitting right there in her collection.

The corner of my mouth curled with contempt.

I had a secret Adam knew nothing about.

Every time I finished a piece, I signed my name in the bottom right corner using a special material.

The signature only showed up under a UV light.

I organized the evidence and sent it to my lawyer.

Once it was all done, for some reason I let out a breath.

The next afternoon, Adam stormed through the front door, furious.

Eleanor trailed behind him, sobbing.

"Bridget Fox!"

He shouted my name and yanked me up off the couch.

Both his hands flew into frantic sign language.

"Was it you who had a lawyer sue Ellie for stealing your paintings? And reported it to the International Fine Arts Award people too?"

"Why would you do this? Don't you know it'll destroy her?"

"Ellie only just won yesterday, and now every award's been revoked, and she's facing a total blacklist from the art world!"

Eleanor's eyes were swollen like walnuts as she clung to the hem of Adam's shirt.

"Adam, let it go, don't blame Bridget."

"It was my fault to begin with. I shouldn't have taken her work without asking, and I definitely shouldn't have entered it in the competition. If I have to be disgraced, then so be it."

"Bridget, I'm sorry. I never meant to steal your work. I just couldn't stand seeing those pieces buried away."

As she spoke, she made a show of dropping to her knees in front of me.

"What are you doing!"

Adam stopped her, aching for her, then whipped his head around and glared at me viciously.

"As long as I'm alive, I will not stand by and watch you get hurt!"

Once he'd soothed Eleanor, he went back to signing.

"Bridget Fox, if you still want to stay with me, go withdraw the suit right now, apologize to Ellie publicly, and say you spread lies because you were jealous of her."

"You can't paint anymore anyway, so you might as well just hand your pen name over to Ellie too. And all your accounts."

I looked at Adam, worked up and shaking.

It just struck me as absurd.

How could he stand there, so righteous, giving away my money and my work to her?

I tugged at the corner of my mouth. I wanted to laugh, and I wanted to cry.

Adam gently dabbed Eleanor's tears away with a tissue.

When his eyes turned to me, all that tenderness drained away in an instant.

"Bridget Fox, do exactly as I said, and in six days I'll still go with you to get the marriage license."

"But if you don't do as I said, get out of this house right now."

"I'd love to see how someone with no job and no income is going to survive in this world."

I watched his hands come slowly back down.

I bit down hard on my lower lip, until the rusty, sweet taste of blood spread across my tongue, and only then let go.

I took a deep breath and signed.

"Fine. I'll do as you said."

Adam let out a cold laugh.

"If it was always going to be this way, why put up a fight in the first place."

The relief washed over Eleanor at once.

"Bridget, thank you."

I made an excuse about going to write the statement and turned back to my room.

The door closed out in the living room. The two of them left.

Tonight was Adam's family dinner.

Every time, he brought Eleanor home to eat with his parents.

His mother had once said I didn't count as family since I wasn't married in yet, so I wasn't allowed to come.

I dragged my suitcase out to the car.

On the way, a message came in from Adam.

【Once you post the statement, I'll make up for missing Valentine's Day with you.】

I didn't reply.

Instead, I logged into the painter's account with two million followers.

After three years, an update, at last.

……

Meanwhile.

Eleanor saw the screenshot a friend had sent her, and the color drained from her face.

Adam, who'd been putting food on her plate, caught what was on her screen, and a vein jumped at his temple.

He grabbed his phone and messaged me.

【Have you lost your mind? Delete what you posted, now!】

The reply came back as a voice message.