A/N: Note at the beginning because I know that I won't be able to type anything at the end of this chapter. I'll feel too empty to type a little message for you.
This entire story is inspired by the story of the Swan Lake, specifically this chapter. I'd suggest looking it up to fully understand this update, although it's not necessary. Okay...here goes. Hope you enjoy it and happy Friday!
XXXI: Final Act Pt. II
I WOKE EARLY THE NEXT DAY. Too early, hours before sunrise. Cloaked by the darkness of dusk, I changed into a white blouse and trousers. Taking my heels and purse in hand, I walked out of our bedroom, leaving Cole to wake alone.
I didn't know where I was going, I just knew I didn't want to be home. With a cup of hot cocoa, I walked aimlessly along the nearly deserted streets of Manhattan. Soon the city will rise, and I will no longer be the only one save for a few early risers. Pulling the lapels of my trench coat closer to shield myself from the crips morning wind, I ran across the road and down into the subway station.
I bought a ticket and climbed onto the subway for the first time since I received Mina's inheritance. It felt good to sit on those hard plastic chairs once more, surrounded by so many strangers but the only noise the scrape of the wheels against the tracks. It was comforting in a way, almost like coming home. If I closed my eyes I could picture myself in a pair of old tattered jeans and my dirty plimsolls, my frizzy hair done up in a braid unlike my now tamed locks thanks to whatever product the stylists put on it. If I closed my eyes right now, I would be transported back to simpler times when my only problems were paying the rent and dealing with my old boss's sexist antics.
Nothing had changed. I was in the same seat I always took on my way to work to 89 Designs. Everything was the same down to the stale smell that lingered in the air. But something was off. I didn't realize what it was until I heard the name of my stop on the speakers.
I had changed.
I was no longer the nerdy, quirky art history girl with oversized glasses sliding down her face. I was no longer the plimsoll-wearing type that owns a lifetime supply of shapeless cardigans, or the same girl that thought so little of herself that she would give anything to any man who so much as looked in her direction.
I caught a glimpse of myself as I exited the subway, and saw the type of woman I used to enviously admire from behind thick lenses. Classy, elegant, pretty. That's what I saw in my reflection.
A vision in white.
MY PHONE BUZZED WITH ALL THE UNANSWERED MESSAGES. All day Cole's been texting, asking where I ran off to this morning. I responded vaguely, giving the excuse of a pipe bursting in the gallery.
Now I sat going over some paperwork in my glass office, ignoring the messages on the screen. Instead I looked out my windows, watching as the workers hung up the different pieces of artwork I've selected to display for the opening of White Lies. They were all stunning, and all created by undiscovered artists.
Hanging above my head in my office was the Picasso Scott had gifted me. It fit beautifully with the decor the designers had chosen. White Lies was sleek and modern but it was also warm and inviting, something that other galleries like 89 Designs lacked. I was proud of the work that had gone into it, and come next month I'll be able to share it with the world.
My phone buzzed again, interrupting my thoughts. It was a call from Cole.
Taking a deep breath, I picked up. I couldn't avoid him any longer. "Hello?"
I waited, but there was no response. Perhaps he'd called me by mistake. "Cole? Hello, are you there?"
"...not part of the plan. You weren't supposed to marry her." I froze when I heard the unmistakable voice of Olivia Richmond-Prescott through the speaker. "I called Gates."
"You didn't have to get lawyers involved, Mother," Cole responded.
"Evidently I do, since you can't seem to do anything right. You've left me no choice."
"I said I'd deal with it, alright?"
"And how do you propose to do that? You made a mess of things. I had to call Gates."
There was a third voice, this one deeper and father away. "Mr. Richmond, I've drawn up the paperwork. Get her to sign, and everything that's rightfully yours will be returned."
There was a pause. A second in time that seemed to stretch out into an eternity.
"Fine."
It was strange how one work had the power to break you. Blood rushed to my ears, tears down my face. But not one sound escaped me. I was didn't so much as breathe, I didn't dare cry out.
"Do it tonight," Olivia said. "The sooner the better. We'll handle the rest."
"What are you going to do?" Cole asked, his voice strained.
"Don't worry, Mr. Richmond." It was then that I remembered him. That voice....it was the same one as the attorney that cross-examined me so many months ago. "We'll make sure that girl is taken care of."
I hung up then. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I threw phone and watched the screen shatter into a million pieces.
Just like my heart.
I WAS NEVER REALLY INTO WINE BEFORE THIS. Never much of a drinker. But I must admit this white was really delicious. It was after all, a nine hundred dollar bottle.
Because that's what people did, didn't they? When change was on the horizon, they toasted to expensive old grape juice in expensive old glass in their even more expensive homes. I wasn't sure, I've only being rich for a few months but it seemed like appropriate.
I heard the door open but I didn't move. I sat on the couch, my legs lazily crossed and sipped every last drop of my wine.
"Hey," I heard him say. "I'm home."
I turned my head a little to the side and watched him. Watched my beautiful husband.
He took in the sight of the glass with raised eyebrows. "What are we celebrating?"
I angled my chin in the direction of the coffee table. On it lay a sealed manila envelope. "Open it and see."
Cole walked forward to pick it up. I watched him open it, I watched his eyes the color of icebergs read the lines on the paper.
"What is this?" He asked in a quiet voice.
I stood and walked forward with his glass. "Your freedom."
"Poppy..." His eyes looked pained, his voice strained.
"You know, you called me today. You should really be careful, someone might hear something you don't want them to know."
"I-I can explain. If you just let me--"
"I signed it already. Hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of writing my own. It's all there. You get everything back."
I extended my hand, offering him the glass. "Take it."
His jaw shook, almost as if he wanted to cry. But he took it anyway.
I slipped my rings off and tossed them inside the glass. "Congratulations, Cole. You got what you wanted."
I walked around him then, biting my lip to keep the tears at bay. I heard the glass shatter a moment before his hand wrapped around my arm. "Wait, please wait. God, please don't go like this."
I pushed him away, flinching as if his touch burned my skin. That had been my undoing. Now I felt my eyes flood with tears, my chest tightening. "Don't touch me!"
I bit down my lip and blinked back tears, "Don't you dare touch me!"
He was stunned, frozen with a look of absolute terror on his face and a pained expression in his eyes.
"I don't ever want to see you again." I heard my voice break at the end. I needed to leave, leave before I really broke down in tears.
I heard him yell my name, but I didn't stop. I ran out the door and out into the dark night.
I jumped into the back of the waiting taxi, and the moment my door was shut we took off. I told myself not to look back, but I did anyway.
Standing there in the street was Cole, looking off in the direction of the cab. I watched him grow smaller and smaller, until I could barely make him out.
We took a turn and sped out of Manhattan. Soon enough I was back in Brooklyn, in my safe haven. Once the door of my apartment was shut behind me, I slid down to the floor and clutched my legs tight.
Only then did I let the sobs escape past my lips. I cried and cried, cried until my throat was scratchy and my body tired.
I cried until my eyes were red and my blotchy.
I cried through sunrise and sunset until the days melted together.
It was an inescapable cycle, this pain. It plunged me into an eternal darkness.
An endless darkness that surrounded me like pools of water.
An all-engulfing darkness that filled my lungs.
Until I could no longer breathe.