"At night we'd lock him in a water cage and let him soak. During the day, we'd leave him out in the sun. That's why his skin ended up swollen and cracked at the same time."
"Yeah, and we only fed him slop and dishwater. When he put up too much of a fight, we'd shove his head in the toilet."
"Sometimes late at night, when we got bored, we'd drag him out of the cage and take turns... heh, you know what I mean..."
Under the doctors' efforts, my consciousness slowly returned.
I could still vaguely recall that day three years ago, when I went to pick Linda up from work and saw it with my own eyes: her and Kerry, locked in a deep kiss.
My blood boiled. I didn't hesitate. I marched up, called them out, and slapped Kerry hard across the face. Twice.
The absurd part was that Linda, the one in the wrong, didn't apologize. Instead, she threw herself in front of Kerry, jabbed her finger at my nose, and told me she'd remember those two slaps. That she'd pay me back a hundredfold.
I never imagined those words, spoken in a flash of rage, were anything more than an empty threat.
I brought up divorce. Linda refused. She swallowed her pride, admitted her mistake, promised she'd never do anything like it again.
When I thought about what we'd had, a love that started in high school and carried us all the way to the altar, and when I thought about both our families and the hopes they'd placed in us, I softened.
The very next day after we reconciled, I received a message from an unknown number. It was a video of Linda, bound and gagged. The message said they knew I was the head of the Lambert Group.
The kidnappers demanded I bring everything I was worth. Alone. Or they'd kill her.
I loved her. Truly. Setting everything else aside, I loved that woman. I emptied my savings, drained every dollar from the company accounts, and went to the meeting point by myself.
At first, the exchange went smoothly. Money for the hostage. Simple.
But just as I was about to leave with Linda, Alfred changed his mind. He had the money now. He wanted us dead. No witnesses.
I grabbed Linda and ran. Ran like a man possessed. But she couldn't keep up. Her legs gave out and she collapsed.
I turned back alone to hold off five men. They beat me to the ground.
Blood ran into my eyes. My vision blurred. But I could still see her, and I screamed: "Run! Don't worry about me!"
Even after three years, I could still picture her face that day, tears streaming down her cheeks like rain.
"I'm not leaving! I want to stay with you!"
"Linda, run! Or I swear I'll die right here in front of you!"
That threat worked. She looked terrified that I might actually do it. She turned and stumbled away.
Before she disappeared, she choked out through her sobs: "Darrell, you have to stay alive. I'll come back for you. As long as we're both breathing, we'll see each other again!"
That single sentence became the pillar that held me up through three years in the dark.
How real it had all seemed. How natural.
This was the grand production my wife Linda had staged to avenge her precious protege. Every scene, every tear, every desperate word.
The whole script had been written to destroy me.
After the twelfth round of defibrillation, I shot upright in the hospital bed.
My vision still swam. Everything I looked at split into doubles.
But even so, a laugh clawed its way out of my throat. Wild. Unhinged. No. This show shouldn't wrap up so soon. The curtain wasn't coming down yet.
A month later, Linda wheeled me home.
She'd never been one for the kitchen, not once in all our years together. Yet there she was, insisting on cooking a full spread to celebrate my safe return.
When the dishes hit the table, whatever warmth I had left went cold.
Vinegar-braised cabbage. Numbing pepper chicken. Sweet-and-sour eggs. Spicy shredded potatoes.
Every single dish was Kerry's favorite.
Every dish on the table was sour—Kerry's favorites.
She seemed to have forgotten that sour food was the one thing I couldn't stand.
Just as the ache in my chest deepened, Kerry pushed the door open and walked in.
I had never seen Linda so warm. The woman who carried herself like ice in public actually went to the shoe cabinet and fetched Kerry's slippers for him.
"You're back! Go wash your hands, dinner's ready. I made all your favorites."
Kerry moved through the house like he owned it, slipping his watch off and tossing it onto the coffee table without a second thought.
He washed his hands, disappeared into the bedroom, and came back out wearing a set of pajamas.
Only then did I notice the drying rack on the balcony. His freshly laundered clothes hung there—shirts, pants, even his underwear.
Kerry tossed a pair of boxers into the laundry hamper. "Hey, Linda, when you get a chance, could you wash these for me?"
