The Edge of Ruin

Blackness swallowed me, and I lost all sense of time.

When I came to, Theo's coat was draped over me. He stood a short distance away, his back stiff, as if carved from stone.

"You really are cunning," he said, his voice tight with restrained anger. "You actually eavesdropped on what Hannah said back then to trick me."

He turned to face me, his expression cold, unyielding.

"Catherine, put an end to these thoughts you shouldn't even be having. Stay in your lane from now on, and don't provoke Hannah. Maybe… just maybe… I'll spare you a shred of mercy now and then."

I pushed myself up, my heart hollow.

What did I need his mercy for? All I wanted was for Sebastian to finish arranging everything and take me out of this nightmare.

Just then, Theo's phone rang.

Hannah's whiny, panicked voice came through. "Theo! Our child is gone! It's Catherine! The doctor said that the model she delivered was made with toxic materials. The fumes killed our baby!"

Theo's face turned an instant, terrifying shade of gray. His eyes snapped to me. "Catherine Wolfe!"

He bared his teeth and grabbed my throat, crushing me with a force that stole my breath. "How dare you! That was a life! You witch!"

I clawed at his arms, my hands useless against his grip.

"If anything happens to Hannah, I swear I'll make you pay with your life!"

There was no room for my protests. Like dragging a heavy, broken sack, he hauled me to the hospital entrance.

Reporters swarmed outside, cameras flashing like strobe lights on a battlefield.

"That's her! She poisoned Hannah's baby!"

"Oh my God, that's cruel… How can adult grudges fall on a child?"

"Bitch, go die already!"

Shouts and curses swallowed me whole.

Then Theo looked at the angry crowd and something twisted in his mind.

He didn't take me inside. Instead, he turned sharply and dragged me to the gallery where I'd been preparing my sculpture exhibition for months.

The hall was nearly ready. At the center, on the most prominent pedestal, stood the piece I had poured my soul into: a hollow human figure.

"You value these sculptures so much, don't you?" he sneered, gesturing to his bodyguards. "Put her inside. Right here. Let everyone see what happens to a woman with a heart of venom."

I struggled, terror clawing at me, but it was useless.

They forced me into the narrow, suffocating cavity of the sculpture.

Then red spray paint hissed across the outside, scrawling vicious words over the work of my heart and hands.

My masterpiece, my blood and sweat, transformed into a public symbol of shame.

The air inside the sculpture was thin. Each breath burned. Dizziness hit fast, my mind swimming in faintness.

Outside, the whispers and stares of the crowd pierced me. Humiliation and suffocation wove together, choking me from both sides.

Theo looked at his handiwork, expression cold, then turned and left to tend to his beloved Hannah.

As my vision blurred, and I felt myself nearing death in the body I had sculpted, a sudden, frantic pounding of footsteps echoed through the hall.

"Cathy!"

Sebastian's voice.

He lifted me out of the sculpture, concern etched deep in every movement. "It's okay. I'm here. I've got you. We're leaving."

…

Meanwhile, Theo had just finished soothing Hannah, yet an unreasoning irritation gnawed at him. He felt his punishment had been sufficient and was about to have someone release me.

Then one of his men rushed in, clutching several reports, face pale and urgent.

"Mr. Bennett, the anonymous donor who gave you a kidney after you escaped the kidnappers… We compared the records with Ms. Catherine Wolfe. The data shows the kidney matches her exactly."

Theo snatched the papers. His face drained of color in an instant.