No one else came up to congratulate my dad. In fact, everyone stared and gave us a wide berth as we made our way across the room, which made the journey feel excruciating and long.
Yet, it was even worse when we reached a table near the stage with a placard bearing my father’s name in neat cursive letters.
Dad didn’t say one word to us, but he didn’t have to. His disappointment and anger were written out in clear language across his face.
Those silly dreams I’d woven in the back of Wayne’s car about possibly taking our relationship beyond May 25th….it had included figuring out how to broker a peace between Dad and Victor. But now, as we took our seats, I sizzled alive in a frying pan of embarrassment and regret.
I said nothing, but of course, Victor had the nerve to try to make conversation.
“Where’s your lovely wife?” he asked Dad, his expression coldly pleasant. “She should be recovered from her surgery by now.”
Dad visibly gritted his jaw.
“She’s still in Texas,” he answered in sign language. His choice of communication appeared to be a decision. “She had some unfinished business before she could move up here.”
“I see. She is still in rehab then,” Victor signed. That malicious smile of his returned as he dropped that bomb. And he spelled out R-E-H-A-B as if he didn’t want to leave it to chance that we wouldn’t understand exactly what he was saying.
Mom was in a rehab facility? My heart jerked at this new piece of information. But I didn’t want to give Victor the satisfaction of my shock. He was already winning this last anniversary battle on every front.
“Where’s Byron?” I asked dad out loud, changing the subject.
Dad stared Victor down for a long, hard beat before he answered me, also out loud, “Your brother’s not here yet. I’ll shoot him a text message to see if he’s on his way.”
With that, Dad brought out his phone, saving us from any further conversation.
And a new idea occurred to me.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I told them both, hitching my tote upon my arm. “I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t bother to wait for an answer before making my way back to the restrooms near the venue’s front door.
I’d been holding on. I’d been holding on to hope for so long. I didn’t realize how long until all hope completely disappeared.
But Victor had taken everything. The last ten years of my life. The MFA I’d worked so hard for. My father’s big night. My chance to start over again in Pittsburgh.
It was painful to walk, painful to breathe. Everything inside of me felt shattered and broken.
I crashed into the women’s bathroom and found the perfect hiding place. Plenty of stalls and no line since the event had just started.
I chose the stall furthest to the back. And once inside, I finally took out the item I’d bought from the campus bookstore.
A pregnancy test.
“As long as you don’t get pregnant, in ten years, on May 26th, you will be free, and your family will be safe. This I vow to you on my life.” Victor’s words to me before our wedding echoed in my head.
Yesterday, I had been too afraid to take the pregnancy test I’d bought. Too unsure of my next steps to know the possible answer it held. Yesterday, I’d still held hope that maybe, just maybe, Victor and I could make this work.
But all that hope was gone.
Victor was a monster. He did not love me…perhaps could never love me. I knew that for sure now, without a shadow of a doubt.
So there was only one question left.
Was I pregnant with the monster’s baby?
34
VICTOR
A mix of pride and final triumph filled Victor as he watched Dawn all but run away.
Yes, he had made an unnecessary enemy out of Kuang. Yes, the extraction process from their partnership would most likely bring consequences. Violent ones.
But he had finally won his ten-year war with Dawn. And he would win the upcoming one with Kuang. Of this, he was confident.
At least he felt confident for the first fifteen minutes after Dawn scurried away to the restroom, so obviously unable to withstand his latest bit of payback.
The ballroom filled up with more and more people, many of whom openly stared at him. But none of them were her. And eventually, her extended absence began to needle at him.
It was the Providence Town Hall all over again. She should've returned by now, but she hadn't.
Fortunately, Phantom was not here to judge him. So he surreptitiously checked the app he'd used to track her phone. If she had left the building, Victor made a dark plan to hunt her down and drag her back here. He would threaten her with whatever it took. This was his final revenge, and he was determined to see it through.
