Betrayed Wife, Unstoppable Rise

hter, Lily, was

penthouse when I heard a shriek, cut

y husband' s stepsister, Haylee Walls,

y lay still in a pink dress, surrounde

ing me into an embrace that felt like a cage.

my eyes wer

d, damp, derel

ce. "She can't hurt you anymore," Brighton said. He accused me of

perience it for yourself. Feel what it's like to be blind." His

husband, the man who promised to protect us, had

. I stood straight, my hand finding the

my voice steady and clear. "Send

pte

e. Her giggles echoed through the spacious pe

ut, my heart full. At five years old, m

hind a fern, and we both laughe

I heard a sound that wasn't part of the game. A shri

ony. My husband' s stepsister, Haylee Walls, stood

y railing

spered, my vo

low, a small, still form in a pink dress lay

hed. The worl

lurring with tears and rage. "W

n, I... I didn't see her! It was dark, I thought it was a str

he lie was so absurd, so in

the balcony. He saw the scene below, then

at felt like a cage. He stroked my hair. "I' m here. We' ll

or a split second, I leaned into him, desperate for co

ast thing I saw was Brighton' s face, not fi

, agonizing pain in my eyelids. I tried to open them, but they wouldn't

sewn my e

old, damp space. The smell of mold and

alled out, my v

m across the room. Then, Haylee' s soft v

voice was close to her, intimat

thing, the sound of an em

ked out. "Br

ted her. You know she suffered from temporary blindness as a child. You kno

g her. He was j

e it for yourself. Feel what it's like to be blind. This is a derelict bui

gainst rubble. The threads in my eyelids pulle

und me. Brighton's friends. The wealt

ng like an animal,"

, hard calm settled over me. I stopped stumbling. I stood str

ction of the wall, my hands finding holds in the bro

up. Toward

single diamond earring I wore

esse

ady and clear, ringing through the derelict

ped. There was on