I Went South, He Went Mad

Synopsis

The ice-cold husband, famous for having a heart of stone, had secretly been keeping a little lamb in the run-down worker's quarters. The girl was a mute who picked coal cinders for a living. Her hands were cracked and raw from frostbite, but her smile was like fresh spring snow melting on the ground. For Edward Grey, a man who'd seen nothing but scheming and power plays his whole life, that smile stirred something new. A want. Not for power. For protection. He thought he'd hidden her perfectly. But on Christmas Eve, I found them out. I flipped the table at the family reunion dinner in front of both our families. Edward didn't even flinch. He just brushed the broth off his wool overcoat and had his assistant hand me divorce papers. "Claire Dawson. Sign it. The two storefronts on Maple Street will be yours." I tore up the papers. So he turned up the heat. He cut off the imported meds keeping me alive. He had my younger brother, who was sent to the countryside for labor, arrested on bogus "hooliganism" charges. Then he tied up my parents and strapped them to the back of a speeding truck. "Sign the papers, or watch them get thrown off and smashed to pieces. Your choice." I begged him on my knees in the snow. But the engine roared to life—and blood painted the deep white drifts. "No... Mom! Dad!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I first discovered the mute girl. This time, I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I made a single call that night to a trucker running black-market goods down south. But when I actually disappeared? Edward lost his damn mind.