Grayson’s resistance crumbled under Liam’s force. His eyes opened, and when they met the sight of my pale, lifeless form, he broke down. He wept–deep, guttural sobs that shook his entire body.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry,” he cried, his voice cracking. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I swear I didn’t. I just… I just wanted to save Alice first. I thought there would be time. I didn’t know… I didn’t know this would happen. His apologies spilled out in a torrent as he clung to the cold edge of the drawer, his face a mess of tears and snot.
“Come on, wake up. Please, wake up,” he pleaded, his voice trembling. “We’ll go home. No divorce, no more fights. I’ll be better. I’ll treat you right this time. Just wake up, Belle.
Please…”
Liam, unmoved by the pitiful display, struck Grayson across the face with a force that sent him stumbling. “Don’t you dare pretend you care now. Belle loved you more than you
+
deserved, and what did you do? You left her to die while carrying your child! You and that whore deserve each other. Don’t think for a second you’ll escape judgment.”
Liam hit him again and again, each punch fueled by grief and fury. “You’re scum, Grayson. A cold, heartless bastard. My sister gave you everything, and you gave her nothing. You and that woman will get what’s coming to you. Mark my words.”
When Liam finally exhausted himself, he let Grayson fall to the floor and stormed out, leaving him crumpled and sobbing like a broken man.
Later, Liam oversaw my cremation himself. Grayson, hollow–eyed and silent, trailed behind, watching as the flames consumed what remained of me. When it was over, he tried to take my ashes, but Liam stood in his way.
“You don’t deserve to keep her ashes,” Liam said, his voice like steel. He punched Grayson again, sending him sprawling. “Belle’s dead, and that scheming tramp you call a lover? She’s the one who orchestrated this whole mess. Even after my sister died, she couldn’t stop slandering her. She knew from the start Belle was gone. Why don’t you go ask her- ask her how her child really died. Grayson, you disgust me.”
Grayson didn’t even get a chance to touch my ashes. Liam took them and left, cradling the urn as though it held the last piece of me. I wanted to follow him, to go with my brother, but I couldn’t. I was bound to Grayson, like a ghost shackled to the man who had betrayed
- me.
Grayson returned to the hospital; it was the day Alice was being discharged. He took her back to their small apartment–a place that wasn’t our old home. I suppose that was for the best. As much as I had already passed, the thought of those two carrying on in the house we once shared would have made me sick enough to gag.
That evening, Alice prepared a candlelit dinner. Meanwhile, Grayson watched her with hollow eyes as she fiddled with her phone. She sent a message to my phone, and—just as expected–she got a reply.
“Alice, I saw Belle’s corpse today,” Grayson said quietly.
At those words, Alice’s wine glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor.
“Grayson, what–what are you talking about? She’s alive and well.” Her voice cracked, louder than necessary, and perhaps a little too defensive.
“Alice,” Grayson’s voice was suddenly cold, “Belle was always good to you. Why would you do this to her?”
He didn’t even seem like the same person anymore. In a flash, Grayson lunged at Alice, his hands gripping her throat with the kind of force that made her eyes roll back in her head. She almost suffocated under his grasp.
I watched them, the two of them snarling at each other like animals, and thought it was all
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rather pointless. I had always believed Grayson loved Alice deeply, but seeing this made it painfully clear: it was all nothing but a farce.
“Grayson, you’ve finally figured it out, haven’t you?” Alice suddenly laughed, a wild, manic laugh.
“Why did you pretend to be Belle and send me those messages? Why deceive me like that?”
“I wanted her dead. She shouldn’t have married you. You’re mine. Why should she take what’s mine?” Alice’s voice was sharp, full of anger and possession.
“Why did you marry her, Grayson? You should have stayed with me. You were only ever meant to be mine.”
“Is that why you killed her?” Grayson’s eyes were bloodshot now, full of rage.
“Grayson, you were the one who chose to save me,” Alice’s smile was feral now, as if reveling in her twisted truth. “Belle is dead, but you’re the one who’s guilty. You fell for her, didn’t you? You didn’t even realize it, but you loved her.”
I listened to their exchange, and it all seemed like some sick joke. Grayson loving me? That was the most absurd thing I had ever heard.
Grayson locked Alice and kept her starved for three days, only giving her water to keep her alive. I found the whole thing too ridiculous. Late regrets and empty affection were worth less than dirt.
While I was still alive, he treated me like garbage, and now, dead as I was, it felt like this charade was put on for the benefit of ghosts.
