“It wasn’t me,” I said for the hundredth time. “I didn’t hurt him. I didn’t hurt anyone!”
The fluorescent lights above me buzzed faintly, slicing through the silence of the interrogation room. My wrists were still raw from the cuffs, my voice hoarse. Two police officers stared at me across the table, expressionless.
“Mrs. Hale,” one said calmly, “witnesses stated that you pushed the child. The evidence points—”
“I didn’t!” My voice cracked. “It was an accident. Dominic—he—”
The door opened. I turned, expecting my lawyer.
Instead, Dominic walked in.
He was calm, too calm, dressed in his usual tailored suit, not a wrinkle in sight. His expression was pure contempt. “Hannah,” he said softly, almost pitying. “What have you done?”
“You know what happened,” I whispered. “You saw—”
Before I could finish, his hand struck across my face. The slap echoed through the room, sharp and final.
“Dominic!” the officer barked, stepping forward, but Dominic lifted his hand in mock apology. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But seeing her like this—it’s hard to stay calm, after what she’s done.”
Blood filled my mouth. I tasted metal. “You—” I could barely speak.
He turned to the officers, tone smooth. “My wife, probably soon to be ex, attacked my son. She hit my mistress when she tried to intervene. She’s unstable. We’ve been trying to get her help, but she refused treatment.”
“Mistress?” I repeated, my voice barely a whisper. “You dare flaunt it now?”
Dominic’s gaze didn’t waver. “Yes. She’s in the hospital now—bruised, bleeding. You nearly killed her. And Jacob…” He paused, shaking his head like he couldn’t bear to continue. “He’s terrified of you.”
My stomach turned. “You’re lying.”
He looked straight at me. “Then prove it.”
But I couldn’t. I had no camera footage, no witnesses, no one left who would stand by me.
They booked me that night. I barely remembered the ride—just the flash of cameras, the muffled questions from reporters, the word murder whispered like poison.
By morning, the police told me I could post bail while the case was “under review.” It felt like mercy, but it wasn’t.
I just wanted to go home—to tell my father what had happened, to make him see that I wasn’t the monster Dominic made me out to be.
I signed the release papers with trembling hands. My lawyer said something about keeping quiet, about how the truth would “surface eventually.”
But I didn’t hear most of it. I only heard my own heartbeat and the faint buzz of the city outside.
When I finally stepped into the car, I exhaled for the first time in days. I was free—or so I thought.
Halfway home, headlights came from nowhere. Tires screeched. A horn blared. The world spun.
Metal screamed against metal. Then—nothing.
When I opened my eyes again, everything hurt. My neck. My chest. My legs. I tried to move, but nothing responded. Panic crawled up my throat. “What—what’s happening?”
A nurse rushed in. “Ma’am, please stay calm.”
“Why can’t I move?”
She hesitated. “You were in a serious accident. You’re lucky to be alive.”
I tried to sit up, but the weight of my body felt foreign, wrong. “My legs,” I whispered. “I can’t feel my legs.”
The nurse looked away. “The doctors are doing everything they can.”
That night, as the ward quieted, I heard voices outside my room. Low, tense.
One of them was Dominic.
“Just keep treating her,” he said. “Pretend you’re helping.”
The doctor’s voice was nervous. “But, sir, with therapy, there’s a chance she could—”
“No,” Dominic cut him off sharply. “Don’t make her walk again. I like her this way—useless. She can’t run, can’t talk to anyone, can’t ruin things anymore. At least she’ll finally learn her place.”
I froze, breath caught in my throat.
“Sir, that’s unethical—”
“I don’t care,” Dominic said coldly. “Do what I’m paying you for. Keep her quiet. She can stay alive long enough to watch me with my mistress. That’s all she’s good for now.”
Footsteps retreated down the hall, the sound fading like a nightmare crawling away.
I lay still, my fingers gripping the sheets until my nails dug into skin. My vision blurred from tears I refused to let fall.
He had taken my voice, my name, my body—and now he wanted my will.
When the door opened again, I wiped my tears quickly, pretending to sleep. Dominic stepped inside.
He stopped beside my bed, hands in his pockets, the same arrogant calm as always.
“Look at you,” he murmured. “Quiet for once. Peaceful. I almost prefer you like this.”
I stared at him through the reflection on the metal tray beside me. He smiled faintly. “Don’t worry,” he said, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “I’ll visit sometimes. You’ll have a front-row seat to my life with Katerina. Maybe I’ll even bring Jacob to see you—just so you can remember what a real family looks like.”
He left laughing softly.
I broke then. Silent sobs tore through my chest. I wanted to scream, to claw at the walls, to tear out the IV lines and run—but my legs were dead weight, my body a cage.
The next afternoon, the door opened again. Katerina.
She was dressed in white, her hair loose, her smile soft and poisonous. She carried flowers.
“Oh, Hannah,” she said sweetly. “You poor thing.” She set the bouquet on the table and leaned closer, her perfume choking me. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Dominic while you spend the rest of your life in bed.”
She tilted her head, smirking. “Maybe it’s better this way. You were never strong enough to keep him anyway.”
My throat tightened, but no words came. She gave me one last look of pity and walked out, humming as if she hadn’t just torn out the last piece of my soul.
When the lights dimmed that night, I thought it was over. Maybe this was what dying felt like—slow, quiet, unseen.
Then I heard the door click open again.
A familiar voice whispered, “You’re safe now.”
Adrian.
He appeared beside me, eyes sharp, breath quick. “I’m sorry, I was too late. Let’s go. I’m bringing you with me.” He carried me.
We slipped through the back exit of the hospital. A black car waited. Adrian settled me inside and drove fast, the city lights blurring into streaks.
A small plane waited, engines humming. He carried me up the narrow steps, his arms firm beneath me. Inside, the lights were low, the world quiet. He buckled me in and brushed a strand of hair from my face.
As the plane lifted off, the world below shrank into darkness. The pressure in my chest eased, replaced by something faint but fierce—hope.
Tears slid down silently. For the first time, they weren’t from pain.
I looked out the window at the stars, my voice small but certain in my mind.
When I walk again, they will all pay.
