Promise Me Another Life

1
While my husband was on his deathbed, his kidneys failing, I fell in love with his half-brother.
When he recovered, he found a younger woman as his revenge.
He paraded her at family dinners, forcing me to kneel and wipe her shoes. He had roses flown in from across the world for her, promising a love that would never die. He let her break into my safe and shatter the jade bracelet my mother had left me.
I knew I was at fault, so I endured it all.
But then, for her sake, he stole the appointment I had moved heaven and earth to get for his brother with a world-renowned specialist.
His brother died because of the delayed treatment.
That’s when I finally understood. Endurance was useless. Adrian and I were broken beyond repair. We were destined to spend the rest of our lives torturing each other.
We were each other's karma.
…
I watched, numb, as Liam’s body slid into the incinerator's searing heat, reduced to a box of ash.
I buried him myself. Staring at the brilliant, carefree smile etched on his headstone, the grief I had suppressed for so long finally broke free, a tidal wave threatening to drown me. I knelt before his grave, tears falling like broken pearls, each one a tiny hammer blow against the cold stone. I traced the outline of his face on the photograph, staying there from dawn until the sky bled into a bruised purple.
“Liam, I have to go now,” I whispered, my voice raw. “Someone has to pay for what they did to you. Don’t go too far. Wait for me. Once I’ve had my revenge, I’m coming to find you.”
I left the cemetery, my heart a cold, hard stone in my chest. Revenge. I would have it, no matter the cost.
The sorrow had curdled into a white-hot rage. Liam didn't have to die. I had practically crawled on my knees to get him that appointment with Dr. Kingston, the one man who could have saved him. But Adrian had used his right as my husband to cancel it, giving the spot to his precious little girlfriend for a common cold.
By the time I found out, Dr. Kingston had already left the country in a fury. All I could do was hold Liam in my arms as he took his last breath.
I slammed the accelerator to the floor, the car screaming down the highway like a soul fleeing hell.
I dialed Adrian’s number. He answered instantly. “Clara, are you finally ready to crawl back and beg? If you get on your knees, I might just find it in me to forgive you. I might even help that bastard brother of mine.”
His mocking voice crackled through the speaker, followed by a chorus of laughter from his friends.
“Is the ice queen finally melting? See, what’s the point of being so stubborn? Just say you’re sorry. We’ll all be witnesses!”
“Yeah, Clara! And bring a case of the good stuff. Show us you’re serious!”
“And don’t forget a gift for Janice! You need to apologize properly if you want Adrian to lift a finger for that short-lived bastard Liam.”
The last embers of my sanity burned away at the mention of his name.
“Fine,” I rasped. “Give me the address.”
I hung up, the roar of the engine a counterpoint to the frantic drumming of my heart. I screeched to a halt in front of the private club, snatched a security baton from the guard post, and stormed inside.
I kicked the door of the private room off its hinges. Adrian looked up, his eyes filled with a lazy, arrogant amusement.
“Well, well, Clara. Where’s the gift for Janice?” Marcus, the one who’d called Liam a bastard on the phone, sauntered toward me with a smirk.
I swung the baton.
A sickening crack, and blood erupted from the gash on his head.
“Clara, you’re insane!” he shrieked.

2
Before anyone else could react, I grabbed Janice, who was standing there with a smug little smile on her face. I brought the baton down hard on her stomach. She let out a piercing scream, and Adrian finally snapped out of his stupor.
He shoved me away, gathering Janice protectively in his arms. “Clara! Have you lost your mind? You’re like a rabid dog, biting anyone in your path!” he snarled, his face a mask of disgust.
I walked toward him, my knuckles white on the baton. “Yes, Adrian, I’m insane. I went insane the moment you and this little tramp stole Liam’s only chance to live!”
He scoffed. “Is it that spineless parasite again? Did he run crying to you? He really has mastered the art of—”
I slapped him, the sound echoing in the silent room. “You don’t get to say his name. You murderer.”
The slap ignited his fury. He stood up, jabbing a finger into my shoulder. “He was a nobody, a mistake. Why can’t I say his name? And don’t you forget, Clara, you are still my wife!”
His eyes were filled with a cold violence. He grabbed me and forced me to the floor. “Now, my dear wife, apologize to my beloved Janice. If you’re good, I might be in a generous enough mood to help that half-breed live a few more days.”
I struggled, but he was too strong, pinning me in front of her like an animal.
I smiled up at him, a chilling, empty thing. “Fine. If you can save Liam, I’ll get on my knees and beg.”
His face darkened for a second before the sneer returned. “Alright. Let’s see just how far you’ll go for him.”
The moment he let go, I lunged like a starving wolf, tackling Janice to the ground. I sank my teeth into the soft flesh of her neck, wanting to tear out her throat.
Adrian roared with rage and threw me across the room. My head hit the floor, but I felt nothing but a wild, exhilarating release. I started to laugh, a low, guttural sound, as Janice shrieked in terror, blood streaming down her neck.
Adrian stormed over and hauled me to my feet by my collar. His eyes were chips of ice. “Clara, you push your luck! Get naked. Kneel on the floor and beg Janice for her forgiveness!”
“Or what?” I wiped the blood from my lips, my gaze unflinching. I grabbed his tie, pulling his face close to mine. “Or you’ll kill me?” I whispered in his ear.
Rage flashed in his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace Liam had given me, dangling it in front of my face.
My breath caught. I reached for it, but he clamped a hand around my throat, using the necklace to toy with me like a dog with a treat. “You want this? Then do as I say,” he purred, his voice a venomous whisper.
“Are you so pathetic now that you have to resort to being a thief, Adrian?” I sneered. I had torn the house apart looking for it, blaming myself for losing the one precious thing Liam had left me.
“We’re married, my love. It’s not stealing,” he said, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “Just take off your clothes and apologize to Janice, and I’ll give it back to you. Simple.”
I closed my eyes. “Fine,” I whispered. “I’ll do it.”
He sat back on the sofa, watching me with an unreadable expression. As I walked towards Janice, I stripped off my shirt, the cold air hitting my bare skin. I hesitated for a second, then unzipped my pants and let them fall.
A chorus of jeers and lewd comments erupted from his friends.
“Damn, Clara’s lost it, but look at that body…”
“If she wasn’t Mrs. Thorne, I’d…”
The words washed over me, meaningless. My hand went to the last piece of clothing, but just as I was about to remove it, Adrian shot to his feet.
“That’s enough!” He strode over, grabbing my face, his voice laced with venom. “You make me sick.”
“Apologize to her like that. Your body is disgusting to me.”
He threw me to the ground. I crawled to my knees in front of Janice. “I’m sorry,” I choked out, my nails digging into my palms. The humiliation of apologizing to my love’s murderer was a physical agony.
“Adrian, I’m scared,” Janice whimpered, trembling like a delicate flower.
“Louder! And bow your head!” Adrian roared at me.
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and slammed my forehead against the floor. “Janice, I’m sorry!”
When I looked up, Adrian was staring at me with dark, glittering eyes. “You really do love that bastard, don’t you, Clara?”
“You know what? I don’t think I want to give this back to you after all.” And with that, he threw the necklace out the eleventh-story window.
“NO!” I screamed, a raw, primal sound, and lunged for the window like a moth drawn to a fatal flame.
“Clara!”

3
The chain grazed my fingertips, but just as a flicker of hope ignited, Adrian yanked me back.
I watched it fall, disappearing into the night, just like Liam had slipped through my fingers.
“No! My necklace! Give it back!” I thrashed in his arms like a madwoman, trying to throw myself out the window after it.
He dragged me back again and slapped me hard across the face. “What is this pathetic act, Clara? Playing the heartbroken lover for me?” he seethed, his face inches from mine.
The sting on my cheek was nothing compared to the crushing weight of despair. I slid down the wall, a broken, sobbing mess.
A hand touched my shoulder, and Adrian’s voice, suddenly stiff, broke through my grief. “Clara… stop crying. It was just a necklace. I’ll buy you another one.”
I looked up, my eyes red and swollen, and grabbed the front of his shirt. “You think it’s that easy? We were supposed to leave each other alone, Adrian! Why did you have to interfere? Why did you have to take his life away?”
“Why?” I wailed, a caged animal’s mournful cry.
“I am your husband, Clara, have you forgotten?” he shot back, his own eyes turning red. “You humbled yourself for that parasite, you came back covered in bruises from begging for him. Where was my honor? What about my pride?”
“My husband? You have some nerve! What about her? You bought out entire auctions for her! You paraded your affair in front of the whole world and used my dignity as your doormat! What about my pride then?”
We were two warring nations, locked in a battle with no end.
“Janice is different,” he said through gritted teeth.
“So was Liam!”
“Don’t you dare compare that trash to her!”
“He wasn’t trash! He was your brother! Your own flesh and blood!”
“Enough, Clara!” he yelled, ripping my hands off him. “It was a stupid necklace. If you don’t want my money, then go ask that bastard to get you a new one.” He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, his hands trembling as he tried to light it.
I stumbled to my feet, tears streaming down my face. “He’s dead.”
“He can’t give me anything ever again.”
Adrian froze. The lighter clicked four times before a flame finally caught. “Dead?” he said, his voice strangely hollow through the smoke. “Good. Better that way. Cleaner.”
A wave of pure, unadulterated hatred washed over me. I didn’t want his casual dismissal. I wanted him to hurt, to feel the same gut-wrenching pain I felt.
I walked through the smoke and stood before him, a terrifying smile on my lips. I gently placed a hand on his abdomen. “Did you know? The kidney that’s keeping you alive right now… it was Liam’s.”
“He was afraid you’d feel guilty, so he never told you. The man you despised most in the world gave you his life.”
I stared into his eyes, watching his face go blank, then contort through disbelief, landing finally on a mask of pure agony. My smile widened. His pain was my only pleasure.
“Why don’t you go thank him in person?” I whispered, my voice the devil’s own temptation.
He just stared at me, his eyes a dead, bottomless pool.
“Adrian, don’t listen to her!” Janice rushed to his side, clinging to his arm. “It wasn’t Liam! If it was, why didn’t he say anything that day, when you… when you had him beaten?”
Her words were a steel blade, twisting in my already bleeding heart. “What did you say?” I rasped.
Adrian moved Janice behind him, shielding her from my view.
I went feral, pounding on his chest with my fists. “He saved you! How could you beat him? He was dying, and you wouldn’t even leave him in peace!”
“Why aren’t you dead? You should be in hell! You both should be in hell!”
I screamed and clawed and bit at him, and he just stood there, taking it all, his face a stony mask. Finally, exhausted, I slumped to the floor, my heart a hollow, aching void.
“Adrian, I’m scared,” Janice whimpered.
“I’ll take you home,” he said, his eyes lingering on me for a moment before he turned and left with her.
The room, once filled with noise and people, was now silent, empty except for me. I staggered to my feet. What was the point of living? But how could I die, when my enemies were still breathing?
I ran after them, getting to my car first.
The moment Adrian’s engine started, I floored it, ramming my car straight into his.
I just wanted them to die.

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