Chapter 3
931 Words
The elevator doors slid shut with a finality that cut off all lights.
The sudden, all-encompassing darkness crushed my chest, and I couldn't drag in a single breath.
From the other side of the doors, Andy's harsh, biting roar boomed out.
"I knew you hadn't changed one bit. What kind of creep bullies a girl half your age? You can stay in there and think about what you've done!"
He knew I had claustrophobia. Knew it full well.
Worse, the elevator walls were single-pane glass. Every single stranger walking past outside could see my naked body, clear as day.
I scrabbled wildly at the doors, beating them with trembling fists. "Help me... get me out of here..."
Andy didn't even glance my way. He was too busy cooing comfort to the sobbing Alexa, and the next second, he drove his boot hard into the side of the elevator.
"I've spoiled you rotten all these years, and now you've forgotten this family and this company both bear the Ferrell name! You think you can just come in here and throw your weight around? Alexa told me you'd been deliberately pushing her around, even forced her to get on her knees and apologize. You're completely out of control!"
The whole elevator shook violently, side to side.
The jolt sent a memory crashing into my mind, the day my father cheated on my mother. I watched him stand there, doing nothing, as she swallowed bottle after bottle of sleeping pills.
I screamed and cried, trying to rush past him to stop her, but he locked me inside a storage chest instead.
"Your mother's just a lunatic. If she wants to die, let her die!"
Through a thin c***k in the lid, I watched my mother choke and convulse, gasping for air... and I couldn't do a single thing to help her.
In the end, it was Andy who showed up on time. He called emergency services and got me out of that dark box.
"It's okay now, it's over. Trust me, nothing like this will ever happen to you again..."
All those promises he made to pull me out of my darkest days... they were never meant to be kept.
Footsteps faded away one by one, the sound of voices died off, and I blacked out cold on the elevator floor.
For a whole day and night, Andy never showed his face.
He was busy gallivanting from fancy party to fancy party with Alexa, his little intern who hadn't even finished her probation period, schmoozing for votes.
I tracked down the divorce agreement and signed my name on it.
The next day was election day for the Chamber of Commerce president.
Andy and I put on a good show as the happy 'loving couple', all smiles on the surface, but we were already worlds apart underneath.
And then I saw it. On Alexa's finger, she wore the heirloom of the Ferrell family.
The sight of it seared right into my eyes.
Once upon a time, Andy himself had slipped it onto my finger, told me this jade would only ever acknowledge me as the mistress of the Ferrell family for the rest of its days.
Now he'd had it re-carved, and placed it on another woman's hand.
He would take such a reckless risk, all for her.
I stood there frozen, lost in my own head, and didn't notice how off the surrounding energy was until it was too late.
Every eye in the room was locked on me, brimming with sneering amusement and cold contempt.
"You guys see the video that leaked yesterday? Mrs. Ferrell was naked in the elevator, putting on a free show for every random passerby out there!"
"Who knew Mrs. Ferrell hid such a great body under those fancy dresses? That's got to be a D-cup, right? Hahaha!"
"President Ferrell's so generous! Who would've thought we'd get to see what color underwear the first lady of Harbor City wears one day?"
Every word was a sharp, separate stab straight to my heart, and I almost snapped right then and there.
Alexa stepped toward me, all humble and meek as can be. "Aw, Mrs. Ferrell, maybe don't flaunt your body where everyone can see, yeah? Do it for President Ferrell's reputation, at least."
She suddenly leaned in close, dropping her voice to a venomous whisper, "I'm just dying to know, what do you think your mother's face would look like, if she saw those sizzling hot videos?"
I was suddenly hit like a bolt of lightning. My blood turned to ice and my brain went completely blank.
By the time I registered what she'd said, my hands had already wrapped around her throat of their own accord.
"Don't you dare show that to her! I swear, don't you dare!"
Her sneering, twisted face loomed larger and larger right in front of me.
"Stacey, you've actually gone crazy!" Andy shoved me as hard as he could, his face blazing with rage. "How dare you make a scene at an event like this? You've ruined my entire reputation! Apo-lo-gize!"
In that hazy, disconnected moment, the man who once gazed at me so tenderly and swore he loved me, the man who stood at our grand wedding and promised to cherish me for the rest of his life, that man shattered into a million tiny bubbles, was gone forever.
Right in the middle of our standoff, my phone suddenly rang.
"Ms. Stacey, your mother had a sudden heart attack after seeing that video. We need your signature to start emergency surgery right away!"
- Writer
