The next morning, Jake left for the office early. He seemed pissed at the time of leaving because I did not prepare his breakfast. However, he chose to be quiet.

Later, as I was taking my coffee, Linda walked into our home. As soon as Leo saw her, he threw himself in her arms.

Giving her morning kiss, he said, “Mama Linda! I missed you so much.”

Linda gave me a side glance, expecting to see jealousy and hurt on my expression. But, I showed none.

I continued taking the sip of my coffee while scrolling my phone, completely unaffected by their little depiction of affection.

“Mama Linda, please drop me at school. I don't like to go with Mommy. She is not as pretty as you.” Leo said, “And, she doesn't take me to eat ice-cream like you do.”

If it was in the past, I would have argued with Linda for hours about taking Leo to eat ice-creams as early as morning. But, the present me, didn't care at all.

However, Linda could not tolerate my silence. She walked on her high heels and stopped just before me.

“Leo is used to calling me Mamma, Stacy. Hope you don't mind.” She said, trying to provoke me.

“It's alright! When he was one year old, he used to call our toilet cleaner ‘Mamma’ and then the maid and one day he saw a bartender and called her ‘Mamma’, I don't mind at all.” I said. “He can call Mamma whoever he wants, I don't mind.”

“He wants you to take him to school, then please do it. He has been a trouble to me, anyways.” I added, “You have saved me a day, Linda. Now, I can happily do shopping with the card Jake gave me last night.”

“You-” she hissed. But soon a smugful smile appeared on her lips as she added, “You are so sweet, Stacy. I guess you definitely wouldn't have minded Jake for taking me on a date yesterday because he thought I was sad.”

“He even gave me a full body massage with his own hands and helped me relieve stress by… ah, let's not talk about that.”

She leaned closer to my ears as she whispered, “Thanks for letting him practice on you for three years. So, he could make me feel good in bed afterwards!”

“He used to be clueless before. But now, he has grown into a really dashing man who knows how to do it. All thanks to you.”

My hands clenched into the Coffee Mug. So, I had really been a substitute for Jake to have practiced until his true love finally came to him.

But, I didn't want to entertain Linda by letting her see through me. I simply smiled as I stood up.

“You are right. I don't mind.” I said, “You want Jake? You can have him. You want Leo? You can have him too. I’m done with both of them.”

Having said that, I walked out of the house. I just couldn't tolerate her anymore.

I was in the driveway, intending to drive far away. I was seconds away from turning the key and never looking back when a piercing scream ripped through the quiet of the estate.

"Stacy! No! Please!"

I spun around. Linda was standing ten feet behind my car, her clothes torn, her face smeared with dirt. She threw herself onto the gravel, rolling and sobbing as if she’d been struck.

"Help! Jake! She’s trying to kill me!"

Jake charged out from his car, his face contorted. Leo was right behind him, his small face pale, clutching a toy soldier.

"What happened?" Jake roared, rushing to Linda’s side.

"Leo asked me to drop him at school!" Linda wailed, pointing a trembling finger at me. "She got angry... She said I was snatching her son. So, she’d make sure I never walked again! She put the car in reverse and floored it, Jake! If I hadn't jumped..."

"I saw it!" Leo shouted, his voice high and shrill, perfectly rehearsed. "I was looking out the window! Mommy aimed right for Mama Linda. She was smiling, Daddy. She looked like a monster!"

I stood paralyzed, the keys heavy in my hand. "I haven't even started the engine, Jake. The car is in park. Look at the gravel—there are no tire marks!"

Jake didn't look at the gravel. He looked at Leo, whose testimony was the only truth that mattered in this twisted house.

"You tried to run her over," Jake said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, calm register. "In front of our son.”

“I thought you were kind and mature. But, I was wrong.” He spat, “You are a jealous scheming woman who bullies others.”

‘I didn't do it!’ I wanted to scream.

I never meant to fight her for you or Leo? She wants to have Leo, she can have him.

She wants you? She can have you as well. I’m done with you, Jake.

But, he lunged before I could scream, his hand was around my throat, pinning me against the driver’s side door. He reached into the open window, clicked the locks, and shoved me into the driver’s seat.

"Jake, what are you doing?" I gasped, clawing at his hands.

"You like cars, Stacy? You like using them as weapons?" He leaned in, his face inches from mine. "Let’s see how you handle one without a safety net."

He didn't hit me. Instead, he reached under the steering column with a pair of heavy-duty shears he’d grabbed from the garage. With two swift, practiced snips, he severed the brake lines. I heard the hiss of fluid leaking onto the driveway like a dying breath.

Blood drained throughout my body. I had never rode a car in the past two years while I was away, and still didn't know how to drive properly.

Driving a car without break was like asking me to do suicide.

But, Jake’s dark and distant gaze were crystal clear that he was not joking.

"The estate road is a three-mile decline, Stacy," Jake said, his voice devoid of any humanity. He reached over me, shoved the car into gear, and jammed a heavy wooden block—a leftover from Leo’s toy set—onto the accelerator.

"Jake, no! Stop!"

“You should have thought twice before even thinking of hurting Linda!” He spat, his voice cold.

The engine roared, the tires screaming as they struggled for purchase on the gravel before the car lurched forward.

I looked in the rearview mirror one last time. Jake had his arm around Linda, and Leo was waving goodbye.

***

When I opened my eyes, the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital room blinded me. I groaned, my throat feeling like I’d swallowed crushed glass.

"Stacy? You're awake."

A familiar voice sounded. It wasn't the voice of the man who had severed my brake lines and watched me careen toward a potential grave. It was soft, almost melodic.

I turned my head slowly. Jake was sitting in a chair pulled close to the bed. His usual sharp suit was wrinkled, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

When he saw me looking at him, he reached out, his fingers brushing a stray hair from my forehead with a gentleness that made my heart stutter in confusion.

"The doctors said you had a severe concussion and a few cracked ribs," he whispered, his hand lingering on my cheek. "You're lucky the car hit the embankment and didn't go over the cliff side."

I stared at him, my mind reeling. Where was the monster from the driveway? This man looked... devastated. He squeezed my hand, his palm warm against my cold skin.

For a fleeting second, I wondered if the crash had been a fever dream. Maybe he hadn't done it. Maybe he had saved me.

Then he said, “You have learnt your lesson. From now on, do not try to hurt Linda.”

My nails dug deeper in the sheets.

‘I didn't do it!’

The words remained stuck to my throat, never coming out. I knew he wouldn't believe me.

The next two days, he stayed by my side. And when I was discharged, he personally helped me into the car, placing a pillow behind my back. He didn't speak of the accident, only of my recovery.

"We’re going to the family dinner tonight," he said as we pulled up to the manor. "Everyone is waiting. I told them you had a minor 'mishap' with the car. It’s best we move past it."

I felt a chill. Mishap. Is that what we were calling an attempted execution? Yet, as he walked me into the dining room, his arm remained firmly and protectively around my waist.

I leaned into him, a small, treacherous part of me hoping that the near-death experience had finally opened his eyes to my innocence.

The long mahogany table was set for a feast. Leo was there, playing with a silver spoon, and Linda sat to his right, looking radiant in a cream-colored silk dress—the picture of a victim who had narrowly escaped a villain.

The dinner was quiet, the clinking of silverware the only sound. As the dessert plates were finally cleared, Jake cleared his throat. The room went silent. He turned to me, his hand covering mine on the table.

"Stacy," he said, his voice dropping to that same soft, gentle register he’d used in the hospital. "I'm glad you're back. I’m glad you’re safe."

I felt a tear prick my eye. "Jake, I—"

"But for us to truly move forward as a family," he continued, his thumb tracing circles on the back of my hand, "there needs to be closure. We can't have this darkness between us."

He looked toward Linda, who cast her eyes down with a practiced, trembling lip.

"Stacy," Jake whispered, leaning in close so only I could hear the terrifyingly calm edge beneath his words. "Apologize to Linda. Tell her you’re sorry for trying to kill her. Do it now, and we can go back to how things were."

I looked at Linda. She sat there, the light catching the faux-innocence in her eyes, waiting for her victory. Then I looked at Jake.

"No."

The word was small, but it cut through the room like a blade. Jake’s thumb stopped its gentle circling on my hand. His gaze darkened, the ‘soft’ husband mask beginning to crack.

"Stacy," he warned, his voice dropping a threat. "Don't ruin this. Just say the words."

"I won't apologize for something I didn't do," I said, my voice gaining strength even as my heart hammered against my cracked ribs.

"You tried to kill me, Jake. You sabotaged my car and watched me drive toward a cliff. And you want me to apologize to the woman who orchestrated this entire lie?”

Jake didn't argue. He didn't shout. Instead, his hand moved with lightning speed. Before I could flinch, his fingers closed around the thin gold chain at my throat—the only thing I had left of my mother.

"This necklace," he hissed, his face inches from mine. "You told me once it was the only piece of her you still had. That you’d rather die than lose it."

"Jake, stop!" I gasped, reaching up to grab his wrist.

He threw the chain towards Linda. "Apologize, Stacy. Or I’ll wrap it around Linda’s legs like an anklet. I’ll turn your mother’s legacy into Linda’s dirt."

“Though it's an old fashioned cheap accessory,” Linda began, hiding a smirk behind her wine glass. “It will look better around my legs than your neck,”

My pride was screaming, but the thought of my mother’s last memento being destroyed by her filthy legs was too much.

I would be gone the next day. I thought. The humiliation… I can bear it one more day for the sake of my dead mother.

"I'm... I'm sorry," I choked out, the words tasting like ash. "I’m sorry, Linda. I... I shouldn't have tried to hurt you."

The tension in Jake’s eyes relaxed for a fraction of a second. A triumphant glint appeared in his eyes. "There. Was that so hard?"

He then instructed Kinda to give the chain back. But, as she went to release the chain, her fingers gave one final, cruel jerk.

Snap.

The gold links shattered. The small locket hit the hardwood floor with a hollow thud, skidding toward the corner of the room. I stared at the empty space on my chest, then at the broken chain still clutched in her hand.

"Oops," Linda said, her voice devoid of any actual regret. "My hand slipped."

Something inside me snapped along with that gold. The fear that had kept me paralyzed for years evaporated, replaced by a searing, white-hot rage. I stood up, knocking my chair backward.

"You're pathetic, Linda," I spat, raising my hands to slap her. But, they were held by a strong force.

“Enough, Stacy!” He said, “It was a mistake. Linda didn't mean to break it.”

"You bastard!” I snapped back. “You destroyed your wife’s only treasure for a woman who has been playing you like a fiddle. You think she loves you? She loves your bank account and the power you give her. She’s been whispering poison in your ear while she sleeps in your bed, and you're too blinded by her act to see she’s nothing but a home-wrecking parasite!"

Linda’s eyes welled up instantly. "Jake... how can she say such things? I... I've only ever wanted this family to be whole! This is defamation! She's slandering my character in front of Leo!" She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with practiced sobs.

“I’m Taylor’s widow. What will people talk about me if words like these go out? And the servants…They have listened to everything.”

"Enough!" Jake roared. The rage was back, more violent than in the driveway. He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising. "You like humiliating another woman? You want to assassinate Linda’s character?"

He turned to one of the footmen standing near the sideboard—a man who had always looked at me with a discomforting leer.

"If you can't act like a lady at this table, you don't deserve the clothes of a wife," Jake growled.

Before I could process his words, he reached for the zipper of my dress. With a violent tug, the fabric tore. I scrambled to hold the silk against my chest, my face burning with a shame so deep I felt sick.

"Marcus," Jake called out to the servant, his voice cold and lethal.

He shoved me toward the man. I stumbled, my bare shoulders hitting the servant’s rough uniform. The man’s arms instinctively went around me to steady me, his touch lingering far too long on my skin.

"She’s yours for the night," Jake said, turning back to the table to comfort a 'crying' Linda.

"Take her to the quarters. Maybe a night among the house helps will teach her how it feels to be humiliated.”