Addison POV:
The world felt soft, muffled, like I was wrapped in a thick blanket. The smell of disinfectant was faint, replaced by something… familiar. Home. I slowly opened my eyes. I was in my own bed, the silk sheets cool against my skin. My hand, still heavily bandaged, throbbed with a dull ache.
A crash from downstairs shattered the fragile peace. A roar, then the distinct sound of glass breaking. Clark. My heart sank.
I pushed myself up, my body still weak, and made my way to the top of the stairs. Clark was in the living room, a hurricane of fury. He was smashing a vase, then a sculpture, his face a mask of primal rage. Aurora cowered nearby, wringing her hands, her face pale.
"Find them!" Clark bellowed into his phone, his voice echoing through the house. "Find those men! I want them to pay! No one touches my wife and gets away with it!" He slammed the phone down.
Aurora rushed to his side, her voice a soft, manipulative purr. "Clark, darling, what happened? The news is all over the internet. They're saying Addison was... attacked." She laid a hand on his arm, her eyes wide and innocent. "Do you think... do you think it was just a random attack? Or do you think she provoked them? You know how she can be, sometimes."
Clark' s head snapped up. His eyes, dark and dangerous, landed on me at the top of the stairs. "Provoked?" he snarled, his voice laced with venom. He picked up another vase, a priceless antique, and hurled it against the fireplace. It shattered into a thousand pieces. "She's just like her mother. And her sister. Always attracting trouble. Always a scandal. A stain on my reputation!"
His words were daggers, each one twisting deeper into my already wounded soul. My mother, Anissa, now me. All lumped together, dismissed, desecrated. I clutched my bandaged hand, my nails digging into the pristine white. My chest ached with a pain far deeper than any physical injury.
He didn't even ask what happened. He didn't care. He just assumed. Assumed I was "dirty," "stained," "provoked." My worth, my dignity, my entire being was reduced to a potential scandal for his image.
The memorial for Anissa. He had promised. He had sworn. I walked out of the house, my head held high, my heart a barren landscape. I took a taxi to the cemetery. I wanted to be alone with her.
The air was damp and cold, a mournful whisper. I knelt before a fresh plot of earth, a simple wooden marker bearing Anissa's name. There was no headstone yet, no flowers, no mourners. Only me. I lit joss sticks, the thin tendrils of smoke curling into the grey sky, carrying my silent prayers, my unspoken grief.
Clark was not there. No one was. He had promised a proper tribute, but he hadn't even shown up. He didn't care enough to even pretend anymore. It was just me, and the ghost of my sister.
I carefully picked up the small urn containing her ashes. It felt impossibly light, yet heavy with the weight of my loss. My sister. Gone. And I was alone.
As I rose, turning to leave, a wave of noise crashed over me. Flashing lights. Shouts. Reporters. They surged towards me, their microphones thrust forward like weapons.
"Dr. Frank! Is it true you were brutally attacked last night?"
"Are the rumors true, Dr. Frank? Did you provoke the attackers?"
"Is it true your husband left you on the roadside?"
"What about your sister's death? Was it really suicide, or is there more to the story?"
Their voices blurred into a cacophony of accusation and morbid curiosity. They didn't see a grieving woman; they saw a story.
"Leave me alone!" I cried out, clutching Anissa's urn to my chest. "How dare you speak about my family like that?"
But they pressed closer, their questions growing more insidious.
"Some say your sister was involved in a scandal, Dr. Frank. Is that why she took her own life?"
"And your mother's DUI? Was she also involved in something shady?"
"Is it true your hands are permanently damaged now? Is your career over?"
They were vultures, picking at the raw wounds of my soul. I tried to push past them, but they were a wall of bodies, unrelenting. Someone grabbed my arm, yanking me forward. I stumbled, my balance precarious. Another pushed from behind.
I fell. Hard. Anissa's urn flew from my grasp, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. The lid popped open. Her ashes, once contained, scattered, a delicate grey cloud mixing with the cemetery dust.
"No!" I screamed, a primal wail of agony. I scrambled on my hands and knees, ignoring the pain in my bandaged wrist, desperately trying to gather the scattered remains of my sister. "You monsters! Look what you've done!"
"Dr. Frank, your sister's ashes are everywhere! How do you feel about your husband's clear abandonment of you?" a reporter shouted, his camera flashing, capturing every agonizing moment. Another, even more cruelly, stepped on the ashes, grinding them into the dirt.
"Get out! Get out of here, all of you!" My voice was hoarse, tears streaming down my face as I tried to scoop up the dust, but it was impossible.
A sharp shove from behind. My head slammed against the cold, hard ground. A blinding white light, then darkness. The last thing I heard was a woman's scream, not my own.
Consciousness flickered. I saw Clark's face above me, his eyes wide with what looked like genuine alarm. He was leaning over me, his hand reaching out, hovering uncertainly.
"Addison?" His voice was a whisper.
But he didn't touch me. His hand, so close, stopped in mid-air. He looked away, his jaw tight.
"Get her to the hospital," he commanded, his voice cold and detached, to a waiting assistant. "And make sure this... mess... is cleaned up."
The assistant hesitated, glancing from Clark to my bleeding head, then back to the scattered ashes. "Sir, are you... are you sure you don't want to come with her?"
Clark turned his back, his voice a low growl. "She's dirty, Assistant. She's tainted. Take her away. I don't want to see her."
His words, delivered with such callous indifference, were a final, crushing blow. They were heavier than any physical pain, deeper than any wound. They solidified the cold, hard truth: I was nothing to him. Less than nothing. A liability.
