Sylvia gave the order without hesitation.
"Throw Simon's mother out of the hospital. No one touches her case."
"No!"
I collapsed at her feet, sobbing.
"I'll apologize! You want me to apologize to Morris? I'll do it! Just don't touch my mother!"
"Too late."
Sylvia's voice was ice.
"When Morris wakes up and forgives you, that's when I'll let someone deal with your mother. Not a second before."
I looked toward Morris, still cradled in her arms, and caught him snapping his eyes shut. Pretending to be unconscious.
Desperation drove my forehead to the floor. Again. And again.
"I'm begging you, Sylvia. Do whatever you want to me. Anything. Just leave my mother alone."
"Morris, I've given you everything you ever asked for! Can't you just let us go?!"
The only answer was Sylvia's back as she walked away, her voice trailing behind her like a verdict.
"Watch him. Keep him on his knees. If he tries to stand, break his legs."
One hour. Two hours.
I knelt there, crying, praying that Morris would have a shred of mercy left in him, that he'd wake up and stop Sylvia.
What I got instead was a phone call from Sylvia's assistant. Cold. Clinical.
"I'm sorry, sir. Your mother has passed away. Since you weren't present to sign for the body, we've already sent her remains to the processing facility."
"No!"
The scream tore out of me. Blood followed, pouring from my mouth in thick, dark waves.
The bodyguards received a message from Sylvia. They hauled me off the ground.
"Miss Fox is hosting a birthday party for Mr. Harding tonight. She wants you cleaned up and on your knees at the venue to apologize. You're his birthday present."
I followed them like a dead man walking. Into the car. Back to the house. Into the bedroom to get ready.
They waited outside.
Minutes passed. Then more minutes. I never came out.
They kicked the bedroom door open.
I was gone.
All that remained was a beautifully wrapped gift box sitting on the bed.
Sylvia wore a smile as she watched the man in front of her blow out his candles.
But irritation gnawed at her beneath the surface.
Simon still hadn't shown up.
She'd scared him enough, hadn't she? All she wanted was for him to apologize to Morris, to put a period at the end of all the wrongs he'd committed. Was that really so much to ask?
Her agitation was reaching its peak when a bodyguard rushed into the room.
Sylvia's eyes lit up. Then dimmed the moment she scanned the space behind him and found no trace of Simon.
"Where is he?!"
The bodyguards were drenched in cold sweat. One of them held out the gift box with trembling hands.
"This is his gift, ma'am. He said to open it."
