Chapter 5
Hospital.
I remembered Olivia. After she burst into my place and slapped me, Harley had her sent away.
Not to any regular hospital. A private psych ward out in the countryside.
I looked at Harley, utterly stunned.
He was really going to lock me up all for Chloe.
Run! I should get out now.
Alarm bells exploded in my head. I bolted for the door. I didn't care about my twisted dress and just ran. Tripping, stumbling, I scrambled out.
Behind me, Jake called out, "Mr. Frost, should I go after her?"
Harley's voice was as cold as ice. "She'll come back on her own."
*****
I didn't know how long I ran. I just knew that every step away from Harley felt like survival.
I kept going until my legs gave out, tripped on my dress, and crashed to the ground in a heap.
Right then, my phone lit up with a call from my parents' home.
I stared at that familiar number. Tears streamed down my face before I could even blink.
"Hey, Janice, what's going on? All our cards are frozen." My mom's voice came through.
"I just ordered some jewelry a few days ago, but now I can't make the final payment. And your dad lost out on that antique he was bidding for. Someone else grabbed it first," she said.
"And Ethan's new gaming console got stopped too. We were supposed to go on a trip, but now that's canceled," she added.
No wonder Harley was so certain I'd come back.
My throat was so tight that I couldn't get a single word out.
When I stayed silent too long, my mom finally caught on.
"Janice? Why aren't you saying anything?" she asked.
I pressed my nails deep into my palm before I finally spoke, "Mom, Harley... He's... He's got another woman out there.
"I want to come home. Can you come pick me up?"
There was a long silence on the other end.
"Oh, come on, don't be silly," my mom laughed, totally brushing it off.
"Harley keeping a woman outside just means he still cares about you," she said.
"That's how it goes in rich families. Once he's bored, he'll come back to you," she added.
"No! This is different." I couldn't hold back, screaming, "That bitch is pregnant!"
My dad just shrugged. "So what? Just take the kid in and raise it yourself.
"Adam and Nina aren't your biological kids either, right? But they're still yours now."
"Janice, don't take it the wrong way," my brother, Ethan Hyde, said.
His words kept digging in. "It wasn't easy for you to climb this high. Can't you just grit your teeth and bear it?"
"Even if you can't stand it, can't you at least think about us?" he added.
They told me to bear it.
When I was Harley's secret mistress, living in the shadows, they told me to bear it.
When Olivia exposed me and slapped me, they told me to bear it.
When I couldn't have a child of my own, they told me to bear it.
And now, with another woman pregnant and trampling all over me, they still told me to bear it.
I screamed, "Bear it? That's all you ever say. I've had enough!
"You leeches! Why don't you all just go to hell? What have you ever done for me? All you ever do is shove me at rich guys and treat me like your personal ATM. What else have you ever given me?
"Do you even get it? Harley is about to throw me in a psych ward! Your fancy lives are about to go up in smoke."
I totally lost it, screaming into the phone, spitting out every nasty word I could think of.
To hell with being a classy lady. To hell with keeping up appearances. Let it all burn!
I cursed until my throat was raw. I coughed nonstop. I didn't care about anything. I grabbed a half-empty bottle of water from the roadside.
I twisted the cap off, desperate to chug the water down.
But as I tipped my head back, I suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure.
There she was—Olivia, standing barely seven feet away from me.