Chapter 2 · Six Digits Under The Glaze

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed my keys and ran out the door.

The self-storage place was in a rundown, forgotten corner of the city. The lights in the long, concrete hallway flickered ominously.

Following the map on the app, I found her unit.

The lock was electronic. I punched in the code.

With a soft beep, the lock disengaged.

A wave of musty, stagnant air hit me as I pulled the metal door open.

The unit was small. There were no stacks of cash or family jewels but a waist-high safe and a yellowed, brittle file folder lying beside it.

I reached for the folder first.

The first document was a pre-marital health screening.

It was Fiona's. Every single marker was perfect. She was in excellent health.

Behind it was a thick stack of bank statements.

Every transaction was a transfer from Fiona's account to Scott or his mother, Kelly Guy, that venomous old woman.

The largest transfer was for one million dollars, the full amount of the redevelopment payout her parents had left her.

The date was three days after they got married.

A chill crept up my spine.

At the back of the folder was a diary.

The handwriting belonged to Fiona, which was elegant and neat at first, but it grew increasingly frantic and messy. I could see the warped, water-stained pages where tears had fallen and dried.

[October 3rd. Sunny. Scott took me to meet his mother today. She held my hand and promised she would love me like her own daughter. I'm so happy.]

"November 15th. Overcast. Jenny got into a fight with Scott's family for me at the wedding. I felt so useless. I gave her the mug. Daddy had his old gold bar melted down and made into that for me.]

[I'm scared to keep it in the house. Jenny loves her money. I know she'll guard it with her life. I just hope she never finds out what's inside.]

[December 20th. Rainy. Scott said he wants to start a business and asked for my parents' money to fund it. I was hesitant, and he got angry. He said I should trust him.]

[January 5th. I gave him the money. All of it. He was so happy that he picked me up and spun me around. He promised he'd give me the best life.]

[March 17th. He's been coming home later and later. When I ask about the company, he just says I wouldn't understand. His mother moved in. She keeps making comments about how a woman's place is at home, raising children.]

[May 22nd. I'm pregnant. He didn't seem very excited. His mother, on the other hand, was thrilled. She said I was finally good for something and that I'd better have a boy.]

[August 9th. I saw him texting another woman. The messages were intimate. When I confronted him, he slapped me across the face. He said I was hysterical and crazy. His mother stood right there and told him I was just bored and looking for trouble.]

The entries became sporadic after that.

The handwriting was so heavy that it looked like she had carved the words into the paper.

[He's putting something in my soup. It makes me so sleepy.]

[I think I'm getting sick. I can't remember things.]

[They took my phone and my laptop. They said the radiation is bad for the baby.]

[I tried to run. They caught me. Scott squeezed my neck and told me if I ever tried again, he'd break my legs.]

On the final page, there was a dark, reddish-brown smear that looked like dried blood.

Below it were some desperate sentences.

[If you're reading this, I'm probably "crazy" now. Jenny, save me.]

The dam broke. Sobs tore through me, raw and uncontrolled.

My heart felt like it was being crushed in a vice grip. I was gasping for air, the pain unbearable.

I immediately dialed the number I still had saved for Fiona.

An automated voice, cold and sterile, answered, "The number you have dialed is no longer in service."

Her phone number led to nothing but a dead line. They had completely isolated her.

I turned to the safe and wrenched it open.

It wasn't filled with money. It was filled with more evidence.

Inside were photographs documenting Scott's affair, audio evidence of his domestic violence, and a falsified medical report he used to frame Fiona as a schizophrenic.

What a goddamn animal.

The whole thing was a setup. He married her for the payout and the property. He was playing the long game to wipe her out and swallow her family's legacy whole.

Chapter 2

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed my keys and ran out the door.

The self-storage place was in a rundown, forgotten corner of the city. The lights in the long, concrete hallway flickered ominously.

Following the map on the app, I found her unit.

The lock was electronic. I punched in the code.

With a soft beep, the lock disengaged.

A wave of musty, stagnant air hit me as I pulled the metal door open.

The unit was small. There were no stacks of cash or family jewels but a waist-high safe and a yellowed, brittle file folder lying beside it.

I reached for the folder first.

The first document was a pre-marital health screening.

It was Fiona's. Every single marker was perfect. She was in excellent health.

Behind it was a thick stack of bank statements.

Every transaction was a transfer from Fiona's account to Scott or his mother, Kelly Guy, that venomous old woman.

The largest transfer was for one million dollars, the full amount of the redevelopment payout her parents had left her.

The date was three days after they got married.

A chill crept up my spine.

At the back of the folder was a diary.

The handwriting belonged to Fiona, which was elegant and neat at first, but it grew increasingly frantic and messy. I could see the warped, water-stained pages where tears had fallen and dried.

[October 3rd. Sunny. Scott took me to meet his mother today. She held my hand and promised she would love me like her own daughter. I'm so happy.]

"November 15th. Overcast. Jenny got into a fight with Scott's family for me at the wedding. I felt so useless. I gave her the mug. Daddy had his old gold bar melted down and made into that for me.]

[I'm scared to keep it in the house. Jenny loves her money. I know she'll guard it with her life. I just hope she never finds out what's inside.]

[December 20th. Rainy. Scott said he wants to start a business and asked for my parents' money to fund it. I was hesitant, and he got angry. He said I should trust him.]

[January 5th. I gave him the money. All of it. He was so happy that he picked me up and spun me around. He promised he'd give me the best life.]

[May 22nd. I'm pregnant. He didn't seem very excited. His mother, on the other hand, was thrilled. She said I was finally good for something and that I'd better have a boy.]

The entries became sporadic after that.

The handwriting was so heavy that it looked like she had carved the words into the paper.

[He's putting something in my soup. It makes me so sleepy.]

[I think I'm getting sick. I can't remember things.]

[They took my phone and my laptop. They said the radiation is bad for the baby.]

[I tried to run. They caught me. Scott squeezed my neck and told me if I ever tried again, he'd break my legs.]

On the final page, there was a dark, reddish-brown smear that looked like dried blood.

Below it were some desperate sentences.

[If you're reading this, I'm probably "crazy" now. Jenny, save me.]

The dam broke. Sobs tore through me, raw and uncontrolled.

My heart felt like it was being crushed in a vice grip. I was gasping for air, the pain unbearable.

I immediately dialed the number I still had saved for Fiona.

An automated voice, cold and sterile, answered, "The number you have dialed is no longer in service."

Her phone number led to nothing but a dead line. They had completely isolated her.

I turned to the safe and wrenched it open.

It wasn't filled with money. It was filled with more evidence.

Inside were photographs documenting Scott's affair, audio evidence of his domestic violence, and a falsified medical report he used to frame Fiona as a schizophrenic.

What a goddamn animal.

The whole thing was a setup. He married her for the payout and the property. He was playing the long game to wipe her out and swallow her family's legacy whole.