The fluorescent lights of the Mount Sinai emergency room hallway hummed, casting a sterile, unforgiving glare on everything. Beryl stood frozen outside the swinging doors of the trauma bay, her gaze fixed on the glowing red "IN USE" sign above it. Every tick of the clock on the wall was a hammer blow against her skull.
She had replayed the last hour in her mind a hundred times. The pantry. The orange package. Chloe's greedy little hands. The wheezing gasp.
The elevator at the end of the hall dinged. The doors slid open.
Aidan and Katlin burst out, their faces pale with terror. Katlin's eyes, red-rimmed and wild, scanned the hallway and locked onto Beryl.
A guttural scream ripped from Katlin's throat. " You bitch! Murderer!"
She launched herself at Beryl like an animal, a whirlwind of flailing limbs and sharp nails. "What did you do to my baby? WHAT DID YOU DO?"
Beryl threw her arms up to shield her face, but she was too slow. The slap came first, a sharp, cracking sound that echoed in the quiet corridor. Beryl's head snapped to the side, a fiery sting exploding across her cheek.
Before she could recover, Katlin was on her, clawing, scratching. Sharp nails raked down Beryl's neck and arms, tearing thin lines of fire into her skin.
"She's allergic! Everyone knows she's allergic!" Katlin shrieked, her voice a raw weapon.
Instinct took over. Beryl grabbed Katlin's shoulders and pushed her back, just hard enough to create space. "It was an accident! I didn't know!"
But Katlin was a master of her craft. The moment Beryl's hands made contact, she went limp, her body crumpling to the cold linoleum floor with a theatrical flair. She clutched her stomach, her sobs escalating into a full-blown wail.
"She pushed me! Aidan, she's trying to kill me too!"
Aidan, who had been frozen for a split second, moved with terrifying speed. He shoved Beryl out of the way, a brutal, dismissive motion that sent her stumbling backward. Her back slammed hard against the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of her.
He didn't even glance at her. He was already on the floor, gathering the sobbing Katlin into his arms, shielding her with his body.
"It's okay, I've got you," he murmured, his voice thick with a tenderness that was a dagger in Beryl's heart.
He looked up at Beryl, and the look in his eyes was pure, unadulterated hatred. His voice was low, each word dripping with venom.
"If anything happens to Chloe," he snarled, "I will make you wish you were never born."
Just then, the doors to the trauma bay swung open. A doctor in blue scrubs stepped out, pulling off his mask.
"She's stabilized," the doctor announced, his voice calm and professional. "The epinephrine worked. We're moving her to the pediatric ICU for observation, but the worst is over."
The relief that washed over Beryl was so profound it made her knees weak.
Katlin, however, seemed to take this as her cue for a final performance. She let out a soft moan and sagged against Aidan, her eyes fluttering shut. "Aidan... I can't... Don't let that woman near us again. Please."
Aidan scooped her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. He stood, holding her protectively, and fixed Beryl with one last, chilling glare.
"Get lost," he said.
And then he turned and carried Katlin down the hall, following the gurney that was wheeling his daughter to safety.
Beryl stood there, her cheek throbbing, her arms stinging, her back aching. She slowly raised a hand to her mouth and tasted blood where her teeth had cut the inside of her lip. She didn't cry. The tears were frozen somewhere deep inside her.
She walked out of the hospital, a ghost in a noisy, bustling world. The sky had opened up, a cold, miserable drizzle falling from a bruised-looking sky. She didn't have an umbrella. She didn't care.
The subway ride to Long Island was a numb eternity. She got off at her stop and walked the mile to the Beaumont estate, the rain plastering her thin jacket to her skin.
Since marrying Aidan, she moved here to make it easier for her to handle various matters as Lady Beaumont. Everything is here, but she has never enjoyed the privileges and treatment of being Mrs. Beaumont for one day.
This time she is back，she needed her passport, a few personal items, and the picture of her mother she kept on her nightstand. Then she would be gone for good.
She pushed open the massive, carved oak doors of the mansion.The air inside was warm and dry, but the atmosphere was instantly, jarringly wrong.
The grand, formal foyer, usually pristine and silent, was cluttered with unopened shipping crates and designer baby gear. A massive, unassembled pink plastic castle sat in its box atop the Aubusson rug, a stark intrusion of Katlin's new reign.
The maids, who usually greeted her with a polite smile, now averted their eyes, scurrying away into the back of the house.
The butler, an old man who had served the family for forty years, approached her, his face a mask of pained embarrassment.
"Mrs. Beaumont," he began, then faltered. "Mr. Aidan has given instructions. Miss Johns and the child will be staying here... to recuperate."
A block of ice formed in Beryl's stomach. She nodded numbly and walked past him, her wet shoes squeaking on the marble floor. She took the sweeping staircase two steps at a time, her heart pounding a frantic, desperate rhythm.
She pushed open the door to her bedroom. Their bedroom.
The room was in the middle of a hostile takeover. Two maids were frantically sweeping her belongings off the vanity, replacing her few things with an arsenal of expensive creams and gold-topped bottles. Rolling racks of Katlin's vibrant designer dresses stood like an invading army, while Beryl's own clothes—the few sweaters and worn jeans she hadn't yet moved to Queens—were being unceremoniously stuffed into large, black garbage bags in the corner.
It wasn't just a move; it was an eviction.
A choked sound escaped Beryl's lips.
Beryl felt a wave of nausea. She stumbled over to the garbage bags and knelt, her trembling fingers pulling at the knot on the first one. She dug through the wrinkled clothes until her fingers closed around something soft and familiar.
A faded silk scarf, printed with small blue flowers. It had belonged to her mother. Because of the smell of mother, she can sleep peacefully in this lonely wedding room by smelling it every night. It was the one beautiful thing she had from her life before the Beaumonts. Now it was crumpled into a ball, smelling faintly of the floor polish from the closet.
She carefully unfolded it, smoothing the wrinkles with her hand. The dam of her composure finally broke. A single, hot tear escaped and splashed onto the delicate fabric.
She quickly wiped it away.
At that moment, she heard the crunch of tires on the gravel driveway below, followed by the sound of a car door slamming.
They were back.
Beryl stood up, her movements swift and decisive. The tears were gone, replaced by a cold, hard fire. She shoved the scarf into her worn leather backpack, along with her passport and the framed photo from the nightstand.
She zipped the bag shut, slung it over her shoulder, and took one last look at the room that had been her prison for three years. The last flicker of attachment, of memory, of hope, died.
This was never her home.
