"What did you say?" I stared at her, refusing to believe it, so furious my hands were shaking.
Quietude was the last perfume I'd blended with painstaking care, three years ago, before I lost my sense of smell.
A week ago, Bryce had sweet-talked me into handing Quietude over to him.
Watching me teeter on the edge of collapse only made Jocelyn more pleased with herself.
She closed in on me step by step, sneering, "Joan, if it weren't for stripping you of your sense of smell and grinding you completely under my heel, do you really think Bryce would have bothered staying by your side?"
"Actually, Mom and Dad knew the truth ages ago. They just love me more, so they let it all happen."
So it turned out our parents had known the truth all along.
And those two, who had favored Jocelyn my whole life, would rather stand back cold-eyed and watch me lose my sense of smell, kept in the dark the entire time.
"Enough!" I couldn't listen anymore. My eyes went red as I grabbed her by the collar. "Shut your mouth!"
Jocelyn's face went white. She shrieked, "Sis, what do you think you're doing!"
Just then, Bryce came bounding up behind me, two strides eating three, and shoved me away.
He tucked Jocelyn safely behind him, his eyes turning glacial on me.
"Joan, what are you doing!"
"Have you lost your mind? Why would you treat your own sister like this!"
Before I could get a word out, Jocelyn cut in, her voice already wobbling with tears, "Don't blame Sis. She probably just saw you hold me today and acted on impulse—"
At that, Bryce's face went ashen. He looked at me, deeply disappointed. "When did you get so jealous? Jossie wasn't feeling well, and I only grabbed her because I panicked. Would you rather I stood there and watched her fall?"
I drew a deep breath and demanded, my voice sharp, "What gave you the right to take the perfume I made and hand it to Jocelyn?"
"You already know?" A flicker of panic crossed Bryce's eyes, quickly hardening into irritation. "You can't smell a thing anymore anyway. So what if I let Jossie use the work?"
In that moment, my heart felt like it was being crushed in a giant fist, the pain so sharp I couldn't breathe.
But Bryce didn't spare me so much as a glance. He turned and pulled Jocelyn away without looking back.
Three days later, I came home alone from the hospital, the abortion done.
The moment I turned on my phone, a piece of news popped up.
Quietude, the newest work of genius perfumer Jocelyn Fox, had sold out the instant it hit the shelves.
It was deep into the night when Bryce came home.
There was a smear of bright red lipstick on his collar, and the satisfied glow of a man fresh from pleasure in his eyes.
Only when he saw me did a rare trace of guilt surface in them.
"I'm sorry, Joanie. Work's been so crazy lately, I've been neglecting you. The other day, I was too worked up. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you."
Apology delivered, he circled his arms tightly around me from behind, resting a hand softly on my belly and coaxing in a gentle voice, "Baby, you stay put in Mommy's tummy and behave. Daddy and Mommy both love you so much."
If I hadn't already known the truth, I might really have teared up, moved.
But he was the one who'd switched my vitamins for birth control pills. Even my losing my sense of smell had been nothing more than his handiwork, start to finish.
I couldn't understand what gave him the nerve to keep putting on this devoted act in front of me.
The laughable part was, he still had no idea.
Our child was already gone.
Lying on the cold operating table, I'd wavered for a moment and placed one last call to Bryce before the procedure.
But when the line connected, what came through the receiver was Jocelyn's light little laugh.
"Sis, Bryce is in the shower right now. Is there something you need me to pass along for you?"
