The sounds that followed, I didn’t need to understand them. I turned the switch off.
My hand was shaking. My chest felt hollow. Like there was nothing left inside me at all.
After everything settled down, Felix said that word again.
“Okay.”
Three days later, I was discharged.
Felix carried me the whole way. From the hospital, into the car, then all the way back to the villa like I couldn’t even walk. He laid me down on the sofa carefully, his voice low and warm. “You’re still recovering. Don’t push yourself. I don’t want you getting tired.”
It sounded so gentle.
So loving.
Until I saw her.
Shannon.
Standing there among the servants, wearing a maid uniform like she belonged there.
My chest tightened so hard it hurt.
I looked at Felix, disbelief crashing over me.
She said she wanted to leave the villa… and this was his solution?
Bring her here?
“Danica, listen,” Felix pulled me closer, his arms tightening around me like he was afraid I’d slip away. His tone was soft, but there was something firm underneath it. “If she went to prison back then, she’d already be out by now. four years is nothing. But I’m not letting her off that easy.”
He tilted my chin up, making me look at him.