Jacquelyn Spencer POV:
I walked out of that hospital, not home. Home, as I knew it, no longer existed. It was a beautiful lie, meticulously crafted, now thoroughly exposed. My feet carried me through the polished corridors, past the bustling reception, into the cool, indifferent night air. I didn't know where I was going, only that it couldn't be back there. Not ever again.
My fingers, numb and trembling, found my phone. There was only one number I could call. One person who wouldn't judge, who wouldn't ask too many questions, who would just fix it.
"Fay," I rasped, my voice raw and broken. "I need you. I need you to make me disappear."
A beat of silence, then Fay's cynical voice, laced with concern. "Jacquelyn? What happened? Where are you?"
"I need to die," I said, the words falling flat, devoid of emotion. "I need to fake my death. Properly."
The line went dead silent. I could practically hear Fay's brain processing, calculating, then dismissing the absurdity before coming back to the chilling certainty in my tone.
"Jacquelyn," she finally said, her voice low and serious, "you're not making sense. Talk to me."
"I've never been more serious in my life," I insisted, my grip tightening on the phone. "He won't let me go. Not for a second. If I just leave, he'll find me. He'll use everything he has, every resource, every connection. He'll hunt me down like a stray dog."
I pressed a hand to my still-flat stomach. "And I can't let him find us. This baby deserves a life free from his toxicity, free from the shadow of his lies." My voice cracked on the last word, but the resolve stiffened my spine. "I will do anything to protect this child."
The decision had been made, irreversible and absolute.
The next morning, I began to pack. Not clothes, not valuables. Just the essentials for a ghost. The first thing I pulled from the closet was a cashmere sweater I' d painstakingly knitted for Harrison, a deep forest green, his favorite color. It was meant to be a surprise for our anniversary. The soft wool, once a symbol of my devotion, now felt like a suffocating tether.
My hand found the sharp blades of my fabric shears. Snip. Snip. Snip. The luxurious threads fell to the floor in ragged pieces, each cut a severance from a past I no longer recognized. I didn't cry. I didn't feel anything but a cold, burning resolve. When it was nothing but a pile of unusable scraps, I dumped them into the trash. Goodbye, Harrison. Goodbye, us.
Then came the jewelry. The diamonds, the emeralds, the pieces he' d lavished upon me. Each one a glittering cage. I took the most expensive necklace, a sapphire pendant he' d bought me after I' d landed the Ellis Tower project, and tucked it into an envelope addressed to the foundation for abused women I secretly supported. Let it do some good, real good, for once. The rest, I carefully placed back in their velvet boxes, leaving them behind for the ghost of Jacquelyn Spencer. They meant nothing to me anymore.
Next was the photo album. Years of our life, meticulously documented. Our wedding, our vacations, the quiet evenings in front of the fireplace. Every smile, every shared glance, now tainted. I carried it out to the backyard, to the sturdy fire pit we used for summer gatherings.
With a flick of my wrist, I tossed it in. The flames licked at the glossy pages, curling them, charring the edges. Our faces distorted, faded, then turned to ash, drifting upwards on the smoke. The memories, once vivid and cherished, were being systematically erased, leaving only a hollow space where they once resided.
My phone chimed. It was Fay.
"It' s all set. The yacht, the flight plan, the new identity. Everything is in place. You just need to walk away."
My breath hitched. "When?" I typed back.
"Tomorrow morning. Just before dawn. You' ll be on the yacht. The 'accident' will be reported a few hours later."
Tomorrow. The word hung in the air, heavy and final.
That night, sleep was an impossible luxury. Every time I closed my eyes, the image of Harrison and Britt and that boy flashed behind my eyelids, their happy faces mocking me. The tears came then, hot and silent, tracing paths down my temples into my hair. I sat upright in bed, a statue in the darkness, watching the slow crawl of the clock, waiting for the first hint of gray light to bleed through the curtains.
I just sat there, staring into the blackness, until the sky outside the window began to soften, turning from inky black to bruised violet, then finally to a pale, hopeful rose. A new day. A new life.
A new death.
Just as the first rays of dawn pierced the horizon, the bedroom door creaked open. Harrison. He' d just returned. His scent, a familiar mix of expensive cologne and something uniquely him, filled the room. He shed his jacket, draped it over a chair, then slipped into bed beside me.
I kept my eyes closed, feigning sleep, my breathing shallow and even. He shifted, his body radiating a warmth that had once been comforting, now felt like a suffocating weight. He reached for me, pulling me gently against his chest.
I felt the steady thrum of his heartbeat against my back, strong and alive, utterly oblivious to the silent scream trapped within me. Oblivious to the ghost he was about to create.
