Ellie POV:
Barton's voice was a low growl, vibrating with years of suppressed rage. "If you ever hurt her again, Armand," he snarled, taking a menacing step forward, "I swear to God, I'll drag you down with me. We'll both go to hell."
My father gasped, clutching his chest. His breathing grew ragged, a harsh, wheezing sound that tore at my heart. He doubled over, coughing violently.
"Armand," my father choked out, his voice hoarse, tears welling in his eyes. He straightened up, his gaze pleading, desperate. "Just… let her go. Please. Leave us alone." He made a move to kneel, his knees buckling.
"Dad!" I cried, lunging forward, my hands reaching out to steady him.
But Armand was faster. He moved with a practiced grace, his hand shooting out to catch my father before he could fall. His face, usually so composed, held a flicker of something unidentifiable-perhaps embarrassment, perhaps a fleeting shadow of the man he once was.
"No, Mr. Schultz," Armand said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "There's no need for that. I just want to make things right. To compensate."
My mother, her eyes blazing with defiance, stepped in front of me, shielding me with her small frame. Her face was streaked with tears, but her resolve was iron. "We don't want your compensation, Armand," she spat, her voice shaking but firm. "We just want you to disappear. To leave us in peace."
She looked at him, her gaze piercing through his carefully constructed facade. "Ellie… she's finally getting better. Don't you dare shatter her again. She can't take it."
My stomach churned. The raw pain in my mother' s voice was unbearable. I couldn't let them suffer anymore. I stepped out from behind her, my hand on Armand's arm, pushing him gently but firmly towards the door.
"Armand," I said, my voice low and steady. "Just go. We don't need anything from you. We just want to be left alone."
As I pushed him, my sleeve rode up, revealing the angry, jagged scar on my forearm-a stark reminder of the knife attack, a permanent brand of our shared past. His eyes, momentarily, lost their focus. A flicker of something, guilt or pain, crossed his face before he composed himself.
I seized the moment, pushing him out the door and slamming it shut behind him. My body sagged against the wood, trembling with a mix of fear and exhaustion.
That scar. It was a constant companion, a testament to the fact that my body had never truly recovered after that night. The doctors had warned him. Said my heart was weaker, my immune system compromised. But he had been too busy climbing the ladder, too consumed by his ambition, to notice. Or perhaps, he simply didn't care.
"I'll give you everything you've ever dreamed of," he had promised, his words echoing in the vast emptiness of my memory. He certainly had. He had built his empire, become the star corporate lawyer in New York City. But in his relentless ascent, he had trampled over my heart, my dreams, my very being. He had given me a life of luxury, yes, but at what cost? A life of invisible scars, of silent screams.
It was in the third year of our marriage that the first crack appeared, the first bitter taste of betrayal. He was handling a high-profile pro-bono case, a whistleblower who had exposed corporate fraud. Cassandra Nieves. She was a victim, he said. Abused, traumatized, needing protection. Her case mirrored, in some twisted way, the plight of his own mother. He saw a chance to be the savior he couldn't be for his mother.
I met Cassandra once. Her eyes were hollow, vacant, like a broken doll's. She flinched at my touch, retreated from my kindness. She seemed utterly consumed by her trauma, unable to connect with anyone. Anyone, that is, except Armand. With him, she was different. Her gaze followed him, a desperate, childlike dependency.
"She trusts me, Ellie," he had explained, his voice laced with that familiar mix of ego and genuine concern. "Because I can help her. I can make things right."
I remembered his mother's haunted eyes, the way she would sometimes stare into space, lost to some inner torment. I understood his need to save Cassandra, to mend a broken past through a new present. So I stood by, silently. I didn't question his late nights, his sudden trips, his constant availability for her.
He told me Cassandra was emotionally fragile, needed constant reassurance. He said he had to be there for her. Always. I believed him. Or perhaps, I desperately wanted to.
Months later, Cassandra was "recovering." She came to our apartment, a picture of tearful gratitude. She hugged me, her body trembling. "Thank you, Ellie," she whispered, her voice choked with emotion. "For everything. For letting Armand help me. I know it's been hard on you." She promised she would disappear once the case was over, move to some quiet town, maybe set up a small art studio in Santa Fe, or perhaps start a new life by the sea in Big Sur. She talked about Big Sur, its wild beauty, its isolation. "A place to heal," she had said, her eyes fixed on mine. "A place to start over."
I believed her. I wanted to.
Armand won the case. The corporate criminals were exposed, the whistleblowers protected. He was hailed as a hero, his reputation skyrocketing. Cassandra, the fragile victim, was lionized by the media.
I went to the airport to see her off. To wish her well, to believe in her new beginning. The air was crisp, the sky a clear, hopeful blue. I waited by the departure gate, a small bouquet of wildflowers in my hand, a gesture of peace and healing.
Then I saw them.
Armand, his arms wrapped around Cassandra, her face buried in his neck. His lips, the same lips that had kissed me good morning that very day, were now pressed against hers, deep and possessive. The bouquet slipped from my fingers, scattering petals like fallen dreams.
Then the snow started. Big, soft flakes, just like the day he made his promises to me. Only this time, they were cold, biting. I collapsed in the biting cold, the pristine white turning scarlet around me. My scream was trapped in my throat, a choked sob that tore through my chest.
He pulled away from her, his eyes finding mine. For a split second, I saw panic, then anger. He pushed Cassandra behind him, shielding her. "Ellie, what are you doing here?" he demanded, his voice harsh, accusing. "Are you trying to ruin everything?"
Cassandra, her face flushed, peered out from behind him, a smirk on her lips, a look of triumph in her eyes. The fragile victim had vanished. In her place was a predator.
He led her away, leaving me there, a broken thing in the snow, like a stray dog abandoned on a desolate street. The cold seeped into my bones, but it was the icy grip around my heart that truly froze me.
