The entire time I was locked in that basement, I refused to apologize.
The sealed space made it hard to breathe. All I could do was curl into myself as tightly as possible, searching for some small scrap of comfort.
Then a pair of leather shoes appeared in front of me. Hubert stood over me, looking down. "Ready to admit you were wrong?"
I thought of the graves, leveled to nothing, and the stubbornness in me held. "I wasn't wrong. Hubert, you know that plot of land—"
He cut me off before I could finish. "I know."
"Clarissa wanted it. So I gave it to her."
I stared up at him, eyes wide. "You gave it to her?"
In that moment, I felt like I was looking at a stranger.
Hubert shrugged it off. "Clarissa is beautiful and kind. If she hadn't carried me out of those mountains, I probably wouldn't be alive today."
"Lavinia, all you have to do is admit you were wrong, and I'll let you out."
The mountains? Clarissa saved him?
Three years ago, when Hubert was stranded in the mountains, I was the one who hauled him out. Step by step, his weight on my back, through the snow. He survived. I ended up in the hospital for two weeks. When I finally woke up, the first thing I learned was that he'd been cheating on me. That was what ended our marriage.
But how had the person who saved him become Clarissa?
I opened my mouth. "Hubert, maybe you should look into—"
"Mr. Stephens, please don't be hard on her. It's all my fault. I lost my footing and fell on my own. She absolutely did not push me…"
Clarissa clicked over in her heels and positioned herself at Hubert's side, instantly pulling every ounce of his attention.
The moment I met her eyes, full of calculation and triumph, I understood. Clarissa had stolen credit for what I'd done.
Hubert wrapped his arm around Clarissa's slim waist, his voice tender. "What are you doing out of bed? The doctor said you need rest."
Clarissa leaned into him, her voice a syrupy whine. "I missed you. And it looks like she still hasn't realized what she did wrong. Maybe you should toss something in there with her. I hear people confess to anything when they're scared enough."
Hubert gave her an approving glance, then turned to the bodyguards. "You two. Go put my pets in there."
The word pets sent ice through my veins.
Hubert had a particular hobby. He kept centipedes, spiders, and snakes. Cold-blooded creatures, all of them.
The first time I'd seen them, I'd asked him, "They won't bite me, will they?"
Back then, Hubert had looked me in the eye and promised, with every appearance of sincerity: "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, I will never let them hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you."
I never imagined this day would come so soon.
When the centipedes and spiders were released into the basement, my scalp went numb. They moved as if drawn to me, locking onto my position with terrible precision, swarming up my body in a crawling, writhing mass.
Tiny, sharp stabs of pain, over and over, until I could barely think.
Hubert's expression wavered.
Clarissa pressed her fingertips to her temple, her voice going faint. "Oh no, Mr. Stephens, I think I'm feeling a little unwell…"
Without a word, Hubert scooped her into his arms and walked away.
I lifted my head just in time to catch Clarissa peering back over his shoulder. Our eyes met. She mouthed the words silently: You deserve this, you worthless tramp.
I clenched my jaw and slammed my hands down on the insects, crushing every one I could reach.
Only one thought kept me alive: I am not dying here.
