Two lovers, torn apart by betrayal, obsession and an unquenchable thirst for revenge.
How far would you go for love?
About to start the career of his dreams and marry the woman he loves, Sebastien Merrow has everything he could ever want, until a b...
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"I want to say I can't believe he'd do something like this," Marianne Perrin says, as Laura Lacroix places two mugs of coffee on the table and takes a seat on the couch beside her friend. "But we both know he's capable of that, and much more," she adds. Laura couldn't remember the last time the two of them had spent time at her house together. The hostility between Marianne and Rodrick had reached boiling point years ago, and Marianne knew it was easier for Laura if she stayed out of Rodrick's way. But while Rodrick had been successful in building distance between them, he could not drive Marianne away, no matter how hard he tried.
Laura absentmindedly runs a thumb over the old, jagged scar on her wrist, and sighs. When Laura had told Marianne that Rodrick had been reading her journals, Marianne's eyes had darkened with fury. It was a fury Laura had only seen in her friend's gaze once before, years ago, the night Laura had driven over to Marianne's at two in the morning, sobbing hysterically. The night Rodrick had crossed the line for the first time.
"You have to leave him," Marianne says, grasping Laura's hands. She'd said the same that night, along with a few unrepeatable insults. Marianne had practically barricaded Laura in her apartment, until Rodrick had shown up hours later and had convinced–coerced, Marianne would argue-Laura to go home with him.
Laura had realized that night that she'd made a terrible mistake in marrying Rodrick, but it had taken her years since to break free of Rodrick just enough to start digging her way out.
Maybe now, without all the medication Dr Morales had forced on her to keep her docile and dormant, it would finally sink in. Laura had to leave Rodrick. She had to, for her sake, for the sake of Matthew.
"I know," Laura says. Laura had even given Eliza the rest of the day off so she and Marianne could be alone, but she can't help but keep her voice down to a whisper anyway. Saying the words, admitting it to herself, it feels dangerous, even now. At this point, Laura wouldn't put it past Rodrick not to bug their own house. "But it's not that simple..." Laura picks up her cup and takes a sip, barely tasting the hot, creamy coffee. "Rodrick will never agree to a divorce." He would cry and swear he loved her more than anything, like he always did whenever she attempted to talk about a separation. But Laura has come to realize that his love wasn't love. It was an obsession, an all-consuming obsession that terrified her, kept her pinned down under him. An obsession that would eventually be the end of her. "And then there's Matthew."
Marianne picks up her mug and stares at the black liquid. "I wouldn't put it past him to use him against you."
Laura bites her lip, holding back the defensive retort that automatically comes to mind. It had become almost second nature to defend Rodrick, even when she didn't believe a word she was saying. But Laura knows Marianne is right, and there's no point pretending otherwise. Not anymore.
Laura could take whatever Rodrick wanted to throw at her. He could belittle her, tear her down until she was nothing, until she felt like nothing, and she'd weather it. She'd do it because as long as his ire was on her, it wasn't on Matthew. That had been aunt Helen's strategy, and it had worked, for the most part. Lewis had been strict, verbally abusive, had even thrown a can in the general direction of Laura's head once, but he'd never touched her.
