He Thought I Was A Doormat, Until I Ruined Him

o

ady, high-pitched whine. It was the

was blindingly white, a sterile purgatory where she was currently bleeding out. Her uterus had been removed, a desperate attempt to stop the hemorrha

the weight of death, drifted to the phone held by t

ick with panic. "Please, your wife... the sur

r than Skye's remaining lifespan. Then, a giggle. It was a light,

and poisonous. "Stop calling, Skye. It's pathetic. Faking a m

't faking, that she was dying, that the stress of five years of neglect and three y

ice mumbled in th

e asked, sou

hed. "She's probably having a panic att

Detached. "If she dies, call the funeral

ic

d. And a second l

nto the void, a silent, agonizing wail of regret. Regret for loving a man who saw her as a nuisance. Regret for letting the

air rush

ew open, wide and terrified, staring blindly into the darkness. She clutched her chest, her fingers digging i

thing. Just smoo

bs, a frantic bird trapped in a cage.

elvet curtains, illuminating the familiar contours of the master bedroom at Kensington Manor. But it was wrong. The fur

smartphone on the bedside table. She tapped t

12

year... the year

idn't come as a wave; it came as a physical blow to the stomach. She wasn't dead. She was back

bedroom opened

s of walking on eggshells, screamed at her t

man who had been fired two years into Skye's marriage for st

ce. She walked over to the bed and threw the garment bag down. "Mr. K

emembered this day. She remem

e wants you to look modest. No flash. He doesn't wan

rifying, visceral memory of the atrophy that had claimed her muscles in the final months of her previous life. She gripped the edge of the mattress, knuckles white, waiting for th

he air that didn't smell of antiseptic. S

her fade into the background, to make her look washed out and sickly next to Seraphina's vibrant youth. In her past life, she had

touched the fabric.

. "Start getting ready. I don'

aid. Her eyes, usually soft and pleading, we

rom the phantom tube that had been down h

taken aback.

Skye repeated,

tion, she ripped it. The sound of the expensive fabric tearing was l

her mouth. "Have you gone mad? Mr

said, tossing the ruined rags onto the f

mered, her face flushing red. "I re

the mistress of this house. My name is on the deed, alongside

ever encountered. The mouse had grown fangs. Terrified, the

d down at her hands. They were shaking, no

Liam preferred. She went to the very back, where she kept the clothes from her life before Liam-the life whe

at and found it. A garment bag

nzipp

t in Paris on a whim, thinking she would wear it to her engage

erself in the mirror. The face staring back was young, unl

ge foundation she had applied earlier out of habit. She reached for the

d it like

d on the vanity

in the background. Seraphina is coming

r cry. It had made her anxious, desperate to please, despera

It was a dry,

, Liam, she whisper

reply. I'll

before sending it. He

n, hugging her curves, exposing the porcelain expanse of her back. Sh

as dead. Long l

-