I curled up in the bed, my chest constricting.
“Ms. Miller?” The detective’s voice was edged
with concern. “I’ll get a doctor.”
He turned to leave, but I grabbed his sleeve.
“Wait. I have one more question.”
He looked at me, hesitant. “You don’t seem
well.”
I wiped my face, sitting up. “I’m fine. I can do
this.”
I took a deep breath. “Did… did Mark’s parents
know?”
Detective Sullivan’s lips pressed into a thin line.
He nodded.
“His mother actually suggested using David.
She said it was better to keep it ‘in the family.‘
That way, the baby would at least carry the
Thompson bloodline.”
So they knew. They’d pretended to be
devastated, manipulating my sympathy, all the
while complicit in this horrific scheme.
Disgust rolled through me, a wave of nausea.
My mother exploded. “Those monsters!”
My dad’s face was red with fury. “Officer, you
have to arrest them all!”
“They can’t get away with this! Our daughter is
not their plaything!”
The detective, trying to calm them, ushered
them out of the room as another officer
entered.
く
He turned to me, his eyes filled with pity. “Ms.
Miller, you should rest. I have to go. We can talk
more later…”
“Detective Sullivan.”
He stopped. “Yes?”
I paused. “Thank you.”
“Take care of yourself.”
After he left, I sat there, numb. I still had
questions. Why this elaborate, convoluted plan?
Mark had spent months laying the groundwork
with his escalating pranks, conditioning me to
expect the unexpected. He’d been prepared to
grovel, to beg for forgiveness, all to avoid
suspicion. It was so much work.
Why not just get me drunk? Or drug me? It
would have been so much easier.
<
Why the “trouble“?
David Thompson was arrested. He confessed,
claiming he’d been coerced by Mark, pleading
for leniency. Mark’s mother was also arrested,
charged with conspiracy.
I refused to offer a plea bargain. I wanted them
to face the full consequences of their actions.
Two months later, the trial ended. David was
sentenced to four years. Mark’s mother
received two years, with one year suspended.
Mark got four years.
Before he went to prison, I visited him. He was
a shadow of his former self. His hair was
buzzed short, his face gaunt, his body thinner.
He looked at me with an expressionless face,
but his eyes… his eyes were filled with hate. In
that moment, I knew. Mark hated me.
But why?
<
After a long silence, he spoke. “Why are you
here? To gloat?”
A smirk twisted his lips. “Jenna, I never thought
you were capable of such cruelty.”
“In your plan, I was supposed to forgive you,
get pregnant, marry you, and then you could
slowly bleed my family dry, right?”
I stared at him, finally asking the question that
had haunted me.
Why the “trouble“?
Mark paused, then laughed, a harsh, grating
sound. “Why do you think? To punish you.”
My breath hitched. “What?”
“To punish you,” he repeated, his voice flat. “Do you know how humiliating the last seven
years have been?”
<
“You’re from a good family, you’re beautiful. Everyone thought I was punching above my
weight. Back in college, they’d joke about me
being a gold digger, a kept man. Even my
parents thought so.”
“Every time they called, they’d tell me to be
nice to you, to keep you happy, never to upset
you. They were counting on me marrying you,
using your family’s money to show off back
home.”
“So for seven years, I’ve been groveling at your
feet. Do you even realize how spoiled you are?”
He continued, “I still remember the way you
looked at David that day he came over. The
disgust, the disdain. You thought he was a
thief. But Jenna, we’re the same. I just got
luckier.”
“The way you treated him showed me how little
you really thought of me.”
く
“That condescending attitude… it made me
furious. I wanted to punish you. To drag you
down, to crush your precious pride.”
I stared at him, my fingernails digging into my palms. He’d done this… to punish me.
I had given my heart to a monster. No, Mark wasn’t even a monster. He was something
worse.
“Mark,” I said, my voice trembling, “I regret ever meeting you.”
He chuckled. “Too bad. I’ve already ruined you.”
“Ruined? Says who?” I met his gaze. “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. I’ll be fine. I’ll find people who love me for who I am.”
“Mark, you’re the one who’s ruined.”
Timo w
The quordo como for him Lost
Time was up. The guards came for him. I sat
there, tears streaming down my face.
An officer touched my arm. “Ms. Miller, you
need to leave.”
I wiped my eyes, picked up my purse, and
walked out. The sun was shining. Bright, warm
sunlight that Mark wouldn’t see.
A strange sense of peace settled over me.
Relief. I had been brave. I could start over. Life
was long, full of possibilities.
