His Penance, My Freedom

stayed on the floor, my mind a blank, hollow space. My father was gone. The reason I

the one Sarah had used just hours before. The toothbrush felt alien in my han

my skin doing nothing to numb the emptiness inside. I scrubbed, the

this on yours

against the frame, dressed in a black suit, watchi

pulent house, "was because of you. My m

the bathroom, his sh

bout the CEO's mother's health could have spooked the investors. So you kept

e," I whispered

ompany over my mother. You let her die a

rom his own guilt, his own grief. The truth was, his mother had made me promise not to tell him. She was the one wh

oint. I just continued to scru

em over and over again, trying to scrub away the filth not just from th

" I said, my voice f

" he mocked. "They're in

study. I just wanted this to be over. I wanted t

l on the mahogany desk. On top of a sta

secret, a tiny seed of hope I had been nurturing in the darkness of my life. I had hidde

at the same time I did. His face, whic

e asked, his voic

ah pushed past him and sna

e shock. "Alex... what is this? Is

ter everything Alex has been through, losing his mother... and now you're flau

her, stunned by th

his arm. "She' s a manipulative bitch. I bet she bought this j

confusion in his face was gone, replaced by a fresh

" he hiss

round. "The

you're not getting a cent from me. You'll leave th

oice shaking with a mixture of grief an

I am carrying your child. The words were on the tip o

es, I knew it was useless. He wouldn't believe me. He

t joy I had, was mine alone. I had to pr

al blow. She "accidentally" tripped, sending

wide, innocent eyes. "Chloe, look what you ma

gainst him, a triumphant smirk playing on h