Grandma Buried in the Rubble

1
Over six hundred miles away, the earth shook, and my hometown crumbled. My grandma was buried in the rubble.
I had to get home, to save her. But I couldnt drive. My only hope was to beg Ken Vance to take me.
Half an hour before we were supposed to leave, he bailed. A sudden press junket for the studio, he said.
The world turned to ice around me.
My hometown, Ridgefall, was a speck on the map. No airport. No easy way in. Booking a ticket now meant a two-day journey, at best.
My voice was practically a whisper, stripped of all pride. "Ken, Grandma's in real danger. Can't you postpone it? Please."
Silence stretched on the other end of the line.
I waited, my heart hammering against my ribs, only to hear the lilting voice of another woman cut through the static.
"Ken, darling, come help me with this clasp!"
It was Maya. His co-star.
"Coming."
The line went dead.
So much for a press junket. He was with her. In my moment of absolute desperation, hed abandoned me for Maya.
After he hung up, I stumbled out onto the highway, frantically trying to flag down a cab. But driver after driver heard my destination and just shook their heads, speeding away.
"Lady, that's an 8.0 earthquake in Ridgefall," one of them finally told me, his face grim. "Who'd drive into a death trap?"
Night had fallen completely. I was a ghost on the shoulder of the highway, watching the river of headlights flow past, lost in a fog of despair.
I tried calling Ken again. The call went straight to a cold, robotic voice: The number you have dialed is not available.
I should have known. It was his signature move. Whenever I needed him for something serious and he said no, any further attempt to reach him was met with a wall of silence. Hed just turn off his phone.
When did we become this?
In the end, I booked a series of bus and train tickets.
From the moment I booked them to the transfers and the agonizingly slow journey, it took me three whole days.
By the time I got back, the earthquake was a memory. Ridgefall was nothing but a landscape of shattered homes and broken lives.
Theyd pulled Grandmas body from the debris. She was crushed beyond recognition by stone and earth. I couldnt even make out her face.
The only thing left was the photograph clutched tight in her hand. A picture of the three of us. It was from the first time I brought Ken home to meet her. Shed been so proud, she hired a professional photographer just for the occasion.
My eyes were raw and dry. Id already cried all my tears on the journey home.
The house was gone, so a proper funeral was impossible. I forced my broken body to move, carrying her to the nearest crematorium.
She was ash, sealed in a small, neat box. A staff member was handing her to me when my phone finally rang. It was Ken.
"Clara, why haven't you been answering my texts?"
I looked at my phone. He'd sent a single message.
We're still tweaking the promotional shots for me and Maya. Stop bugging me. I'll take you back when I have time.
The timestamp was from three days ago. I was already on the first bus by then.
As if on cue, a notification popped up. His latest Instagram post. It was the photo hed been talking about. He held Maya in a fiercely possessive embrace, his arms a cage around her. The comments were a firestorm of fans shipping them.
Ken Vance, the award-winning actor, and Maya, his on-screen partner for countless projects. In the eyes of the world, they were a match made in heaven, just waiting for the wedding announcement.
No one would ever guess that his quiet, unassuming personal assistant was his actual girlfriend.
But right now, I didn't want to be his assistant anymore. And I damn well didn't want to be his girlfriend.
I typed a flat, emotionless reply. "Ken, I quit. And we're done."
I hung up before he could speak and blocked his number, his social media, everything.
When I came back to myself, a fresh wave of pain seared my eyes. It was a lie to say it didn't hurt. Wed been together for nearly a decade.
The government provided a small compensation fund. I took it, and with Grandmas ashes in my arms, I moved to the coastal city of Bayside, into the little house shed owned there.
She always said she was a Bayside girl at heart. If anything ever happened to her, she wanted to come home. To return to her roots.
The last thing I expected was to find Ken and Maya standing inside it.
Maya was clinging to his arm, swaying playfully. "Oh, Ken, you're too good to me! I can't believe you're giving me this house."
"It's a little old," she continued, "but the air is amazing, and you can see the ocean right from the porch. We'll renovate it, of course. Itll be our perfect little getaway whenever I want to see the sea"
A soft smile touched Kens lips. "Whatever you want."
I couldn't believe it. He was giving her the house. I had told him, explicitly, that this place belonged to my grandmother.
His careless, dismissive wordsWhatever you wantshattered the last thread of my sanity.
A raw scream tore from my throat. "KEN! This is my GRANDMA'S house! What right do you have to give it to someone else?"
They both spun around, startled by my furious voice. He looked genuinely surprised to see me there.
Mayas lips curved into a saccharine smile. "Clara, dear. Weren't you supposed to be visiting your grandmother? What are you doing here?"
Her words were poison, and they worked instantly. Ken's face hardened. "Clara, is lying some kind of game to you? We'll deal with this later."
Of course. He thought my plea to see my dying grandmother was just a lie. A manipulative trick. That I was just throwing a tantrum and had followed him here because I couldn't stand to be away from him.
My face must have been a mask of devastation.
Ken's tone softened slightly, as if speaking to a difficult child. "Look, since you're here, I might as well tell you. It's Maya's birthday, and she fell in love with this place. I need you to talk to your grandma. I'm buying it."
He wasn't asking. He was informing me.
But why? Why did he get to decide? This was the last thing on earth my grandmother had left behind.
A dull, crushing ache spread through my chest. Oh, Grandma, I thought. Look at us. We were both fooled by his act.
I forced the rage down, my voice tight. "Impossible."
Maya's smile widened, though she feigned an apologetic tone. "Don't be upset, Clara. It's just a house."
"I know you're still mad that Ken had to cancel on you to be with me at the studio," she cooed. "I'm so, so sorry about that."
"But it wasn't his fault. I accidentally got hurt by a prop, and he was taking care of me for hours. He was exhausted, that's why he"
Ken jumped in to defend her. "Exactly. She was hurt. She's my co-star. What's wrong with me looking after her?"
Maya was the industry's new darling, a rising star who had captivated everyone with her doe-eyed, vulnerable-yet-resilient persona. Shed caught Kens eye during a film they did together, and he'd been obsessed ever since.
He championed her, funneling prime resources and roles her way. When she was bullied on set, he was the first to rush to her defense. A video once went viral of him scooping her up into his arms in the middle of the set and storming off, his face a thundercloud of protective rage. After that, everyone knew she was under the golden boys protection.
Somewhere along the line, the days he spent with her had started to outnumber the days he spent with me.
I'd fought with him about it.
But he always had an excuse. He just felt sorry for her, he'd say. She was so fragile, so much like me. He couldn't help but look out for her. That's all it was.
Thinking back on it now, I had to laugh at my own foolishness.
Look at that. I wasn't even dead yet, and hed already found my replacement.
"Since you care about her so much," I sneered, "why don't you two just get married? But right now, I need you to get the hell out of my house."
Kens voice turned cold with anger. "Clara! How many times do I have to tell you? Nothing is going on between me and Maya!"
"This is a professional obligation! Why are you being so petty and insecure?"
"If you keep this up, I think I think Im going to have to fire you."
The threat of firing me hung in the air, heavy and deliberate.
I met his gaze, my own eyes like chips of ice. "You don't have to, Ken. I already quit."
"And if you two aren't gone in the next ten seconds, I'm calling the police."
His face was a dark mask of fury, but he didn't say anything else. After a long moment, he rubbed his temples, a flicker of exhaustion crossing his features. "Clara, does it really have to be like this?"
I spotted a bucket of water by the door. Without a second thought, I grabbed it and hurled its contents at him.
"You think?" I screamed, the words finally pouring out. "Ken, you have no idea what it feels like to watch the man you love build a world with another woman, all under the guise of 'work.'"
"You never once considered my feelings. I was just a toy to you. Something to pick up when you were happy and toss aside when you were bored."
"The moment you walked in here with her and said you were giving her my grandmother's house that's when I knew I wanted to do this."
"You're pathetic."
Water dripped from his hair, his expensive clothes soaked through. He wiped his face, his eyes blazing with incandescent rage. "Clara! This is not the time or place for your tantrums! Have I spoiled you rotten?"
A flash of malicious glee crossed Mayas face, but she quickly hid it behind a pained smile. "Ken, I'm so sorry I've caused this between you and Clara. Really. And Clara please, don't worry. This is the last project Ken and I will do together. After this, I'm going to announce my retirement. I won't get in your way anymore."
Ken whipped his head toward her, his expression a mixture of anger and raw concern. "What are you apologizing to her for? Your mother is sick! How are you supposed to pay her medical bills if you retire?"
He turned back to me, his gaze glacial. "Clara. Apologize to Maya. Now."
A hysterical giggle escaped my lips. "Ken, I haven't even done anything yet. You want an apology for nothing? Fine. Get on your knees and beg me."
Maya's eyes instantly filled with tears. "Clara, I already said I was sorry. Why do you have to be so cruel?"
"Clara, don't push me into breaking up with you!" Ken roared.
I took a step forward.
"Go ahead. Didn't we already?"
He instinctively pulled Maya behind him, as if I were some kind of monster about to attack. "Clara, I'm warning you. If you dare lay a hand on Maya, I will never"
I cut him off, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're overthinking it. With Hollywood's shining knight here to protect her, what could I possibly do? I was just reaching for the broom."
My bitter tone clearly irritated him, but he also seemed to relax slightly. "Alright, Clara. Stop being jealous. I'll make it up to you later, but right now, we"
It was always the same script.
He knew. He knew every time he was with Maya, it twisted a knife in my gut.
But he would never change. He would just offer up a series of flimsy excuses like this, sidestepping the real issue.
He knew I was easy to please, easy to pacify. If that didn't work, he'd just give me the silent treatment. Eventually, I'd always break. I'd be the one to crawl back to him.
Because I was terrified that if I pushed too hard, I'd lose him. My surrender was his free pass to let the whole thing blow over.
What Ken didn't know was that this time, watching his lips move, hearing the same old empty words, only filled me with a profound, bone-deep exhaustion.
"Shut up," I said, my voice flat with revulsion.
"Kiss her. Sleep with her. I don't care anymore. It has nothing to do with me."
"Now take your little project and get out."
He seemed to finally see the genuine disgust in my eyes, and he froze. It was as if hed never considered that my patience had a limit.
Then, as if remembering something, his posture shifted, becoming softer. "Clara, how is your grandma doing?"
I nodded slowly. "She's fine."
She's waiting for me on the other side.
My placid response seemed to ease his tension. "See? I told you she was tough. She'll pull through. Just tell her to hang on for a few more days. I'll take you back on a private jet to get her."
"Now, stop making a scene."
Tough. The word was a slap in the face.
He saw my lack of reaction. "Well?"
"Are you going to get out, or do I have to call the police?" I asked calmly.
His face darkened instantly. He wrapped a protective arm around Maya's shoulders and turned to leave.
"Let's see how long you can keep this up, Clara."
As the door closed behind them, I let out a shaky breath, my back sliding down the wall until I was huddled on the floor. The emotional storm had drained every last ounce of my strength.
I couldn't decipher the look in his eyes as he left.
Suddenly, I was thrown back to the day I first met him. I was interviewing for a job as an actor's assistant. Ken had a reputation for being difficult. He'd already chewed through a dozen assistants before me. They gave me the job simply because I looked like a pushover.
But I was observant and efficient, and I quickly learned to anticipate his needs. I made his life easier, and in turn, my life became easier. No more yelling. He even praised me once. "Clara, you're a hell of a lot more useful than those other idiots."
The truth was, I worked my ass off because I couldn't afford to lose a job that paid so well.
Everything changed after he wrapped a movie one year. At the cast party, a drunk producer started getting handsy with me. Ken saw it. Without a word, he grabbed a platter of food from the table and smashed it over the man's face.
The fallout was catastrophic. The studio shelved the film, and he was hit with a massive breach of contract fine. But he didn't seem to care about any of that. He just turned to me, his eyes full of regret, and apologized. "Clara, I'm so sorry. I should have protected you."
In that instant, my heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. Tears streamed down my face.
It was the first time in my life anyone had ever stood up for me.
I never knew my parents. My grandma found me, abandoned, and raised me as her own. But the world is not kind to the weak. If you're vulnerable, people will find a way to hurt you. As much as my grandma loved me, I couldn't escape the other kids in town, their taunts of "bastard" and "orphan" following me everywhere.

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