Chapter 6
720 Words
Audrey never imagined that on her very first day in the mental institution, she'd find herself strapped tightly to a hospital bed.
The doctor looked at her and murmured, "Someone on the outside put in a word. Said we should give you special treatment."
As the door clicked shut, a woman from the same ward approached with a malicious grin.
"So you're the slut trying to steal Ms. White's man? Look at yourself. Do you really think you deserve him?"
The woman drove her fist into Audrey's abdomen. The blinding pain made her vision swim, the coppery tang of blood flooding her mouth.
"Mr. Bennett gave strict instructions. We're to teach you what you shouldn't do and who you shouldn't touch."
'Would Nathaniel really go this far for Lily?'
Ice flooded Audrey's veins.
Fists, open-handed slaps, sharpened toothbrushes—they came at her from all sides. She couldn't even curl into a protective ball, forced to endure each blow through clenched teeth.
Blood seeped from her wounds, soaking the white sheets crimson. The doctor willfully ignored it, hauling her up and strapping her to the shock therapy table.
"You're not fit for Mr. Bennett. You're nothing but damaged goods."
He forced her to repeat the words, delivering electric shocks whenever she resisted.
Level 1 shock.
The current ripped through her body like claws tearing muscle from bone. The agony arched her spine violently against the restraints.
"You're too mentally ill to be a good wife."
Level 2 shock.
A stronger surge tore through her. Audrey's scream shattered the air.
'It hurts! It really hurts!' Audrey screamed inwardly.
"A madwoman like you shouldn't be Colin's mother."
Level 3 shock.
"Ah!!"
Through the haze, the stench of searing flesh reached her. The pain was so intense she felt as if her eyes might burst.
Her consciousness slipped away, only to be yanked back by fresh torment.
They only stopped when her body could take no more.
Then came the solitary confinement cell—a standing coffin barely three feet wide. Her legs swelled into numb pillars, and every slight movement sent needles of fire through her nerves.
During the day, she endured darkness, water torture, glass shards hidden in her meals, and the fists of other inmates.
At night, they forced her to watch Lily and Nathaniel's perfect life.
While Audrey endured this living hell, Nathaniel toured the world with Lily, his arm around her shoulders, and Colin perched on his back like a happy family portrait.
"Having fun, Colin?" Lily glanced pointedly at the camera.
Colin nodded wildly. "So much fun! No awful Mommy to boss me around! I love Mommy Lily best!"
They traveled the world together, swimming in clear blue waters and watching rare wildlife in distant places.
Nathaniel bought her priceless jewels at private auctions and even held a lavish wedding overseas just for her.
He gave her everything except the title of his wife.
"See?" The doctor's voice cut like the shocks he administered. "Mr. Bennett doesn't love you. He and Ms. White belong together!"
Audrey's breath was faint as a thread when the doctor forcefully shook her, causing her wounds to split open. Blood dripped steadily, spreading into a crimson pool across the floor.
Excessive blood loss made her vision darken in waves. In her haze of pain, she saw the doctor advancing slowly, a dagger in his hand.
The sharp blade pressed against Audrey's throat, and with the slightest pressure, blood streaked down her pale neck.
He sneered. "Due to the institution's negligence, the patient committed suicide. In his grief, Mr. Bennett, for the sake of his son, had no choice but to remarry. Ms. Miller, for everyone's happiness, you'll have to die."
Just as the dagger was about to pierce her neck, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted at the entrance.
Half the mental institution's structure was damaged, and no one noticed that one patient had vanished.
As fire engulfed the building, Audrey was loaded onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.
The ambulance passed Nathaniel's car like two parallel lines destined never to intersect, each heading toward their own fate.
Her eyes lingered on that once-beloved silhouette as Audrey murmured to herself, "Nathaniel, after today, we are nothing to each other."
From that moment on, Audrey cut Nathaniel out of her world completely.
________________________________________
- Writer
