[CW: violence, assault, description of injuries, trauma/PTSD]
3 DAYS AGO - 07:03
NORAH GOT OUT OF HER car and locked it, stifling a yawn as she blinked away the tears.
The sun slowly started rising, but the sky had not yet brightened. Layers of white clouds scattered around the orange sky.
It was quite a view, she must admit.
Her pager beeped again, and she silently cursed at it for ruining the morning mood. She stuffed her hand into the pocket of one of Mark's leather jackets and made her way towards the hospital's entrance, just like every other day.
Except that this day, she got greeted with a rough arm around her waist and what felt like a blade pressed onto her back.
"Hello, Honorah, it's been a while," the man whispered next to her ear, and she felt her body stiffening at once. "Now, this knife of mine is pressing on your L3, and I would not like you to be paraplegic, do you?" he threatened, "So, doll, we have a lot to catch up on. Call your boss and tell him you're sick. Now."
She did as told while she plucked out the batteries of her pager secretly inside her pocket. Her back was starting to get damp, with her sweat rolling down from her neck. She did not dare speak another word as she followed Jeffrey reluctantly back to his car.
The memories of what happened in New York were quick to flush back into her head.
It was as though the vault that she had kept sealed for three years now was trying to bash open, the memories threatening to pour out like a waterfall, except this one had hot sparks of flames instead of cold droplets of water.
Two words echoed in her head: Help me.
❦ ❦ ❦
3 DAYS AGO - 08:24
NORAH SAT BESIDE JEFFREY on a long bench in the park where they watched children hurrying to school and many people exercising.
She knew for a fact that he would not hurt her in front of this many people. But she did not feel relieved at all-because that meant he would be messing with her mentally.
"Ah, I missed us, doll," Jeffrey voiced as he leaned against the bench, his arm spread behind her.
"I don't," she replied curtly. "And stop calling me... that."
"Doll? Oh, come on, you used to love it," he smirked.
Used to. And, correction: I had never loved it.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned demandingly, "Why are you here? How did you know I'm here?"
"Geez, don't you have lots of questions? Well, I have some, too, in fact," he brought one leg up on the other's knee, turning her face to him. She flinched under his touch, not that he cared. "Why did you run away? Why did you leave me alone? What made you think you could escape me?"
What made me think I could escape you? Good question, indeed.
Norah remained silent as she stared at the couple across the park with their little girl on the swings. They looked happy, a warm family spending a morning together.
She never had that.
Jeffrey's hand snaked to the collar of her leather jacket, and she immediately smacked his hand away, but he was quick to grab hold of her forearm.
"Now, now, doll," he whispered, his grip tightening around her hand, and she clenched her teeth at the pain. "You know, there are so many things we missed out on, and I say that we should catch up on time," he spoke, a sly smirk pulling his mouth as he yanked her up from the bench. "Let's go."
Norah felt like screaming, crying, yelling at the top of her lungs, but she remained silent.
She wondered if anyone noticed her absence unusual-she wondered if Mark noticed her missing.
If only she knew that he was only a few streets away from her, questioning her whereabouts while sending her texts.
Maybe then she would not feel like the world was collapsing around her.
❦ ❦ ❦
- PRESENT DAY -
S6 EP16
NORAH HAD WATCHED Jeffrey as he slept through all three nights, but she could not rest at all. She sat on the armchair right at the corner of his room, as far away from him as she possibly could.
The only relief she had was that he was in a hospital bed, healing up after his brain surgery, which meant he would not be able to get up for a while longer. She got up from her chair and headed towards the door.
"Doll, leaving me again?" Jeffrey's voice made her hair stand.
Calmly, she turned around, facing him. He stared at her, his eyes skimming her like he was a wolf, and she was a piece of fresh meat. "I have rounds," she answered tonelessly.
"And I'll be here waiting for you. I mean, it's not like I can go anywhere, can I?" he shrugged. "Well, if this is your way of keeping me close to you, then I'm all for it."
She felt like smothering him with a pillow, but she also knew he could tell what she was thinking.
"Don't even think of it. You don't wanna get charged for murder," he smirked knowingly, and she cringed. "I'll see you tonight, Honorah, or I'll get the cops here."
She twisted the doorknob and stepped out, not before him calling out behind her, "I vow to make your life a living hell until my very last breath!"
She slammed the door shut behind her, finally being able to catch her breath. His words echoed in her head like a mantra of a curse.
It felt as though the blood in her hands got replaced with ice; cold liquid ran in them with a desperate need of a warm touch.
And then she felt the slightest of it, at her fingertips, the warmth of the golden sand.
She swore she had finally gone insane.
❦ ❦ ❦
"I MISDIAGNOSED HARPER Avery. In front of Harper Avery," Cristina ranted as they walked down the hallway. "Do you know what that does to my chances of one day winning a Harper Avery?"
"Well, he could die before then," Meredith reasoned. "I mean, he could die today even."
Norah raised a brow at her statement as she pulled against the loose thread on her sleeve. "Don't say that in front of him," she suggested, "That will affect your chances of one day winning a Harper Avery."
Cristina nodded in agreement. "I just need to operate on my motorcycle daredevil guy, and I'll be fine," she sighed before turning to the brunette, "Where have you been the other day?"
"I um... just went to clear my head," Norah replied with a tight-lipped smile, "Turned off my phone and everything... Enjoy the air, you know?"
"You think we're gonna believe that?" Meredith raised a brow at the brunette, who shrugged and exhaled heavily. "Derek's been gone for days, too."
There was a long silence before Cristina popped up a question wildly, "Are you sleeping with Derek?" The two other residents stared at her wordlessly.
"Norah, I'm really sure you're not sleeping with him, but he looks stressed," Meredith stated, shaking her head, "You both are."
"Some things are better left untold... for now," Norah muttered, and Cristina narrowed her eyes at her as they headed down the hallway.
The former got pulled aside when Mark walked past them, and she hastily pulled the sleeves of her inner shirt to cover over her wrists.
"Hey," she breathed out.
"Hey? You haven't been back for three nights," he sighed. "What's going on?"
His voice filled with concern, but she could return was a shake of her head with a smile she had mastered. "N-Nothing's going on."
The look in his eyes made her scream internally. She did not want to lie to him, but she did not want him involved in this.
"I'm fine, Mark."
"Oh, who are you kidding? You're not," he deadpanned, but his pager went off. He sighed and moved the strand of hair covering her face to the back of her ear. He lowered his head to her and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Talk to me soon, okay?"
She nodded. When he left, her pager started to beep.
2523 - HANSON, J.
❦ ❦ ❦
WHEN NORAH MADE IT TO Jeffrey's patient room, he was already getting wheeled out with an intern bagging him. Her face went pale.
Derek followed closely behind him and saw her standing there, looking back at him with a pleading look on her face. "He has a re-bleed," he notified hastily.
"Will he-"
"I can't make any promises, Norah."
And with that, they were gone from her sight.
If he dies, I will be free. If he dies, I might get charged for manslaughter.
Timothy arrived at the room to find her pacing nervously. "Where'd that bastard go?"
"Re-bleed," she informed with a small scoff, "I need him out of my life, Tim. I need my life back. And I can't do it with him here."
He stared back at her for a moment before he spoke, "You're gonna run away again?"
"I don't want to. I really don't." She dropped herself on the armchair, staring blankly at the floor in front of her.
He shook his head. "I don't know how, but your knuckles are not bruised," he pointed out, "He can't fucking charge you without evidence."
Norah lifted her eyes to him, letting out an involuntary bitter laugh. "Oh, no... There is evidence."
She slowly pulled down the long sleeves until her elbow and watched as her brother's eyes widened twice their size. The green and purple bruises that were starting to fade around her forearms, close to her wrists, were nowhere near unnoticeable.
"That son of a bitch-" he snapped, "You told me you weren't hurt!"
She pulled her sleeves back down hastily. "It's just a few bruises..."
"Just a few bruises?" he bellowed; she ran a hand through her face as she shut her eyes in hopes to shut away from the buzzing noise in her head. "That fucking bastard-I'll personally kill him when he comes out of surgery! Hell, I'll put a scalpel through his brain now-"
"For god's sake-just shut up!" she snapped out of the blue, shaking her head, "My head is already killing me! And you raising your voice is not helping at all!"
He stared back at her with furrowed brows. "Why the fuck are you yelling at me?"
"Just-leave me alone. I-I need some quiet to think," she groaned, standing up from the chair she was sitting on. "I don't need your help, Tim. I'll sort this out myself."
"Will you, though? Or are you gonna run away again?!" He watched her as she headed out of the room despite his shouts. "You know what happened the last time it was like this!"
She ignored his words and left him to stand in the middle of the empty room.
"What the fuck happened that morning?"
❦ ❦ ❦
3 DAYS AGO - 09:56
NORAH HAD DROVE FOR how long, she did not know, but it felt like at least an hour. Jeffrey hummed to a tune from the radio; his legs kicked up above the glove compartment and his hands behind his head.
"Mm, pull over up there, doll," he pointed towards a space up front, and she did as told.
The engine got turned off, and he got out of the car; she followed suit. She handed the car keys back to him, and he was back to having his arm draped around her waist. She knew better than to fight back; hence she followed his steps.
They were surrounded by abandoned warehouses and factories; the place was deserted with no sight of life other than a few stray dogs. The chain gates were rusted, overgrown with moss; fallen concrete scattered on the uneven tar road.
One word to describe the surroundings was dead.
"W-Where are we... What are we doing here?" she finally mustered up the courage to ask.
Jeffrey tightened the grip around her waist, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek, but she pushed his face away, and he chuckled in response. "You'll warm up to me soon," he grinned.
He led them through a narrow alley, where the world seemed to darken, then into one of the abandoned warehouses where the locks had fallen off.
It was dark and stuffy. She could almost see the thick layer of dust floating in the air. Letting out a sharp cough from the particles, she covered the bottom half of her face with the collar of the leather jacket.
And then with a hard push, she lost her balance and was shoved down to the floor.
❦ ❦ ❦
- PRESENT DAY -
MARK TURNED IN HIS SLEEP, his left arm spreading over to the side of the bed out of habit. His eyes flickered open, and he squinted in the dark, only to find nobody next to him. Again.
He shuffled up from the bed and put on a t-shirt before quietly opening the room's door.
She did not spend the night in the hospital tonight, but she did not spend the night in bed, either. Norah sat on the couch, hugging the red throw pillow in her arms while she stared emptily at the ceiling.
Mark leaned against the doorframe of their room, watching her for who knows how long before he finally walked over to her.
She was startled a little when he plopped down on the couch next to her, grabbing the blue pillow in his hand. "Come back to bed," his voice was groggy but soft.
She shook her head ever so faintly. "I can't sleep."
"Come back to bed, anyway."
"I... can't."
Something was going on, he could tell. The smiles on her face got wiped out ever since she came back from that morning, when she was supposed to be in surgery but called in sick instead.
"You look like you haven't slept in days, Norah," he pointed out. Her eyes felt strained, and it was closing slowly, but before it could shut completely, she would widen them again. It was a repeating cycle that he could not bear to see.
"I can't sleep," she repeated dully.
"Have you ever tried, like those... sleeping pills?"
There was a long silence while she processed his words before slowly turning her head to look at him. "It didn't work," she stated with a twitch of a smile.
He sighed and nodded. "Come here," he whispered, slowly moving her from her shoulders so that she would lay her head on his lap. There was the slightest bit of relief when she did not protest.
"Promise me you'll be here when I wake up?"
He gave her hair a few light rakes before holding her hand in his. "I promise." She nodded and snuggled onto his legs, hugging the red pillow close to her chest.
He wanted to know what was going on inside her head because there was no way she would become distant overnight without a reason.
He had tried asking, but she would not provide a truthful response. Yet no matter how badly he wanted to, he could not bring himself to pry it out from her when she was in that... state.
"You know I love you, right?"
Something definitely happened, but he just did not know what.
And the 'what' was eating him alive.
"I know."
❦ ❦ ❦
3 DAYS AGO - 10:07
NORAH LANDED ON HER bottom, the solid floor making her grunt out loudly. Jeffrey had a snarky smile on his face, his figure slowly approaching her in the dark.
She did not run-she did not bother to try to run-knowing that they were in the middle of no life, running was not quite an option.
Fight or flight was screaming at her face; she chose fight.
Before Jeffrey could do whatever he wanted to do with her, he had collapsed to the floor. He let out a loud yell, his hand covering the blood trickling down his forehead. "What the fuck-"
Norah dropped the metal pipe she had stumbled upon, the loud clank echoing in the stuffy space. Before she could process that he was storming up to her, he had grabbed both her hands, backing her up against the wall.
The blood running down his forehead and the pure fear within her was triggering her flashbacks-both from her own bloodied hand and the past events of New York.
"How dare you hit me, huh?" he demanded and spat at her, "Who gave you such courage?" He eyed her up and down when she did not speak a word, his hand leaving the grip on her forearm and reaching for her wrists.
With her arms pinned to the wall and his grip tightening until she could feel her vessels getting clogged off, she kicked him-hard.
He had never beaten her in a physical fight, and he was not about to now.
Jeffrey staggered backwards; she punched him square in the nose, causing him to fall back.
The rage and adrenaline building up within her were making her mind spiral-it felt as though she was a beacon of wrath that she could not control.
And then she lost it.
Marching up to him, there was no longer a pinch of compassion behind the pair of hazels. She lunged him up and connected her fist with his jaw. He spat out blood from her blow, yet she was nowhere close to stopping.
The next few blows had made him shift in and out of consciousness. His tiny begging voice got cut off by the last blow that caused the back of his head to hit the floor.
She had no idea how long it went on; it seemed like she only stopped when she could no longer recognise the face of the man that had traumatised and haunted him and made her flee the state to escape her past.
"Crap..." she panted, slowly pulling up the sleeve of the jacket that had been saving her hand from injuries.
The sleeves of the black leather jacket were now blood-stained.
She spent a long while carrying the man back to his car-she fucked up, big time-and she made sure the cuffs of her sleeves were clean before driving them away from the hellhole.
Yet before she could drive them to the hospital, she was pulled over by the cops, who immediately called for an ambulance and cuffed her away.
She had never felt so brave yet afraid.
❦ ❦ ❦
JEFFREY WOKE UP THE morning after.
Norah felt the strain rising her throat again as she approached Room 2523.
Timothy had skipped his morning rounds, and he was standing outside the room, leaning against the wall. He observed the man from outside because his sister had forbidden him from going anywhere near the patient-in fear that he would not hesitate to commit murder.
When she stepped into the room, where Derek was already in along with a nurse, she frowned at the sight of the man on the bed. There was some sort of infection that she might recall the name of if she thought hard enough, but right now.
She had barely been able to think for the past few days, let alone make a medical-based judgement; the rational part of her mind was blank.
The sly smile on the face she loathed had never faltered, even after he almost died for the second time in four days. It all appeared to be a game to him, one that she had no interest in participating, but here she was, standing in the corner of his room, as per request.
"It looks like there is some kind of... infection on his face," Derek informed, sending her a conflicted look before turning to the nurse next to him. "Page Dr Sl-"
"No," her words came out sharply before he could finish his sentence. She snapped her head to the chief; her eyes widened with an alarming amount of stress. "Do not page him," she sent a hard look to the nurse, who looked between her and the chief.
The neurosurgeon pulled her out of the room, with Timothy frowning at the both of them. "Derek, you can't-"
"He could have infections that-"
"-that there are other plastic surgeons in this hospital!" she cut him off curtly.
"Mark is the Head of Plastics," Derek stated firmly, "And as much as I hate to, I am still running a hospital here."
She let out a dry laugh, shaking her head.
Timothy stood close to her, but he did not touch her. He knew that the last thing she needed was for someone to hold her and tell her that everything was okay when the reality-that everything was the exact opposite from okay-was slapped right in front of her face.
"Derek, please," she was begging now, and she did not care. "You can't. Please."
The chief nodded with a sigh. "Okay, alright," he turned back to the nurse, "Page the plastics attendings on call, not Dr Sloan."
When they returned to the room, they were greeted with the smile of the man. But this time, Norah felt a cold running up both her arms-she recognised that smile, and nothing good ever comes with that smile.
"I want your Head of Plastics," Jeffrey stated calmly, "Dr Sloan, is it?"
"No!" Norah barked back... not so calmly.
Her face drained when she saw his eyes widening with a smirk creeping up his face. Fuck, now he knows. Great job, Norah.
"Ooh, quite a reaction there, doll. He's your boyfriend?" he guessed easily and knew he had hit jackpot when she did not speak up. "Damn, you've moved on without me? I'm sad," he curved his mouth downwards.
Timothy was close to marching in and hammering his head in; even Derek could barely stand him.
"Bring me your Head of Plastics, or I won't get treated, then I'll sue this hospital for medical negligence," he spoke again, his tone low and dangerous.
"You can't sue medical negligence if you insisted on not getting treated," Derek argued back.
"Well, there's no evidence, is there? I didn't write it down anywhere, did I?" Jeffrey grinned back, "So if you force me, I'll sue for failure to treat instead. Get me your Head of Plastics, now."
I should've bashed his head in and made him a cabbage three years ago.
"And Honorah," he spoke up again; she did not like the tone of his voice. "I want you to be in the room, too, or I'll get the cops on speed dial."
Norah's face dropped, the screams of protest bubbling in her lungs, the cry of denial rising to the front of her throat. All she could do was nod. When she left the room, her legs almost gave out on her, but Timothy caught her in time.
"He can't report you without evidence," Derek stated with a crease on his forehead.
"That's what I told her," Timothy sighed.
"Why do you think I'm wearing long sleeves while sweating?" Norah deadpanned at the attending.
"You can report him with whatever's under your sleeves."
She chuckled weakly. "If I do, it's either gonna take months before we get a case or we play a fine game of roulette on whether the judge is gonna listen to the words of a powerful man, or lady nobody over here."
"Okay-first of all, you're not a nobody," Derek interjected sharply, "Secondly, you have... signs of assault as... evidence."
"Derek," she sighed, shaking her head, "I punched his skull in with my hands, again, and he barely made it out alive both times." The attending and her brother shared a look. "It's not self-defence. I-I snapped and attacked him," she admitted, "I threw him extra punches out of pure rage, even after he was unconscious."
The both of them did not reply; instead, they lifted their eyes over her head. When she heard the approaching footsteps, her stomach felt like it had been digesting itself for the past few days.
"Someone paged for a consult?" Mark asked as he stopped behind her. She could not even bring herself to turn to him.
Derek nudged towards the door next to him, and when three of them entered-excluding Timothy-the smile on Jeffrey's face seemed to brighten; the look behind the pair of pale green eyes flooded with thrill and excitement.
"Ah, he's a hot one, isn't he?" the man on the bed spoke up.
Mark flashed him a smile as he briefly introduced himself before started assessing the skin on his face. "I didn't think that a plastics consult would need the chief staring over me like this," the plastic surgeon joked, looking at Derek, who was standing right next to Norah; he raised a brow at the look on both their faces. "And why is He-Lawrence standing outside there like a creep?"
"Honorah over here was worried that the little brother might kill me in my sleep," Jeffrey replied simply, and Mark furrowed his brows at the patient before turning to the brunette who did no sort of explanation.
"These are not infections, probably just some allergic reaction towards some meds."
"That's great to know," Jeffrey exhaled dramatically before a malicious smirk crept up his face. "She's just so adorable when she sleeps. You know that?"
Mark snapped his head, not to him, but to her.
"Oh, no, not like that," Jeffrey laughed, "Don't worry, Dr Sloan, I'm just talking about the night she spent here, sitting on that armchair in the corner there."
Mark did not know which he should feel more enraged about: the fact that she had been spending her night here with him or that she actually fell asleep in this room.
Norah was expressionless as she stared at Jeffrey, knowing clearly that she could never have fallen asleep in the same room as him-but Mark did not know that.
A nurse had entered while the tense silence filled the air, passing some papers to Derek, who narrowed his eyes. He walked up to the man next to the bed, shoving the papers harshly in front of his face.
"It seems that your health insurance had expired, Mr Hanson," he spat.
"Oh, right, screw the insurance companies," Jeffrey waved the documents off, "I can pay in cash."
Derek stared at him before turning to the resident in the room, who looked beyond sick. "Cash?"
Jeffrey returned with a noticeably delighted smile. "Yup, and Honorah can get it," he turned his head to her. "You remember our spot?"
Norah felt like ripping her heart out of her chest at that very moment if that meant that she would be able to get away from him.
"The empty garage next door, there's where I keep it... And I want you to go alone."
Mark frowned at the man. "No way! Who knows what traps you have there?" he blared, standing up from the stool. "Who knows who is waiting for her there?"
"He's a lone wolf, never one for packs," she blurted out, a little too quickly, and four heads-including the one outside-landed on her.
"I don't know how you know him, Norah, but he could change since whenever that was, you wouldn't know," Mark snapped, his tone firm with a hint of anger behind it.
The man on the bed had the same calculating smile, the same tick on his cheek when he was getting thrilled, the same pair of pale green eyes that she never thought would ever haunt her again at night.
"He never changes," her voice came out tonelessly.
"Why are you defending him?" Mark finally hollered, scoffing at her.
Yeah, good question. Why am I defending him?
"Okay, that's enough!" Timothy roared, storming into the room with a murderous look on his face, but Jeffrey did not budge. "I'm gonna fucking-"
"Get out!" Norah yelled at her brother, her voice harsh. Everyone in the room stared back at her in disbelief, except Jeffrey, who looked considerably more satisfied than amused. "Stay back, get out! Don't you fucking step a foot in this room!"
Derek frowned while Mark stared between the siblings in shock.
She was never one who would scream at her brother; they were close, tight, they finished each other sentences. The resident who stood before his eyes was not the one he knew, not the one he recognised.
"Why are you defending him?" he demanded again, but she failed to respond again.
What a bloody mind game this is, she thought coldly. He was too smart for her liking.
There was a long silence, not one that she enjoyed.
Norah lifted her eyes back to the pair of blue that was no longer soft and loving. It was questioning, demanding and incredulity, catalysed with betrayal and temper.
All three pairs of eyes were burning at her skin; the one outside who was already in flames.
For the first time in a very long time, she felt trapped, she felt helpless, she felt suffocated.
Jeffrey cleared his throat, breaking the silence and tension in the room. "Well, aren't you gonna get going, doll?"
Norah was the first to move, fleeing from the room and ignoring the shouts from Timothy behind her; Derek had to ram back Mark, who was about to lunge at the patient.
"Doll?" he scoffed loudly, "Who the fuck are you?"
"Just somebody who happens to know your girlfriend better than you do," Jeffrey grinned.
"You don't know who she is at all!"
"Really?" he mused with a light scoff, "Did you know that I was her fiancé, then? Am, perhaps, she fled before we break it off, you see..."
Both the attendings were caught back by a mix of surprise and shock as Mark lowered his fist in mid-air. His mind ran wild at the mention of his words; Derek narrowed his eyes at the man.
"I know about her life in New York, do you?" Jeffrey questioned the plastic surgeon, who looked stumped. The former smirked slightly when he knew that the other man was blinded by rage; it was all a fun pastime to him.
"You know what? Screw that-I was her life in New York. She's sweet, beautiful, and has a fine hell of an ass," he chuckled when the surgeons went silent. "But really, Dr Sloan, how well do you really know her?"
Those words circled in Mark's head as he failed to wipe them away.
❦ ❦ ❦
THE FAMILIAR TAR ROAD had a stench of petrol. The smell was not a decent one.
Norah arrived at the same alley four days ago, but the sky was slightly clearer than that morning. She kicked on the same pieces of concretes, tripped on the same metal pole and breathed the same stuffy air.
The place was silent, not a trace of life. She felt like there was a set of eyes watching her from afar-as though someone was following her every step. She had parked her car closer to the garage she was heading to this time. So, if anything did happen, she had the shortest route to flee.
But at the same time, she had already accepted that she might not make it out from the middle of nowhere; she had already accepted her death.
What made her come here was unsure of; most likely the need to get away from him. And that would explain how much she needed to free herself from him, rid him of her life.
The garage doors were unlocked, and no chains were shutting it close either. This place is abandoned, dumbass, she scolded herself.
The screeching sound of the metal pained her head and caused the hair on her arms to stand. To her surprise, the interior was squeaky clean with lights beaming in the room.
In the middle of the empty garage sat a large trapdoor. She did not ponder as she walked in and crouched in front of it. Hell, she even hoped crocodiles were waiting for her.
I'd rather get my head chomped off by a croc than live my life in hell.
However, there was no form of reptiles; not a single living soul.
A large briefcase was under the shallow gap behind the trapdoor. She picked up the case without hesitation, not even bothering to think twice on whether or not she would fall for a trap.
No matter how much she hated that man, she trusted that he would ensure her safety-that was one bullet point in a very long list of reasons why she abhorred him.
She unzipped the briefcase just to make sure that it was what she came for. Not much to her surprise, there was, indeed, a large wad of cash that she could not even begin to think where he got them from.
A piece of folded paper sat on top of the fortune with her name written on top.
Out of curiosity-which she swore would one day be the death of her-she picked up the paper and opened it. There were three lines of words written in neat handwriting:
Take the money and flee
I swear to never come for you again
Your choice, doll - J.
She let out a dry laugh that echoed within the enclosed space. She hated the fact that he was a man of his words, and she hated more that she knew he had never broken a word he sworn to.
The briefcase before her eyes would grant her the freedom she had long yearned-if she accepted it.
He knew how to get into her head easily-temptation was an impulsive lure.
Like she said, he was too smart for her liking.
❦ ❦ ❦
From: Baby bro
[15:31] U shldnt be gone this long
[15:32] Where r u? Call me bck
From: Mark <3
[15:47] Where are you?[15:47] Are you safe?
[ 1 missed call from: Mark <3 ]
From: Derek Shep
[16:09] Where are you
[ 2 missed calls from: Mark <3 ]
[ 1 missed call from: Baby bro ]
From: Mark <3
[16:21] Come back, please
━━━━━
Reading back, I honestly think that this chapter makes no logical sense LMAO-