My Madness, His Million-Dollar Hit

Locked in a psychiatric hospital for four years after my husband diagnosed me, I returned home to changed locks. I buzzed for ten minutes before a strange woman answered, wearing my silk robe and diamond necklace. She smirked, calling Victor. Babe, a crazy womans here. Victor approached, eyeing me like a stray dog. Out? Ill have the driver take you to a motel.

I ignored him, searching for my daughter. Four-year-old Lucy read in the living room. At my call, she flinched, hiding behind the woman. Mommy, shes scary, she whispered. Victor stepped between us, voice hardening. Dont frighten her. Lawyers tomorrow.

Numb, I walked into freezing rain. A nearby billboard flashed a movie trailer. The poster showed me, hair wild, strapped to a bed, screaming. The film, Madwoman, had grossed millions with rave reviews. The directors credit revealed Victors name. Shaking, I dialed a number saved for four years. It rang twice. You finally called, a voice said.

...

"Dominic."

The name tasted like ash and blood as it forced its way past my lips.

The line went dead silent for a fraction of a second.

Then came the sharp screech of a chair dragging across a floor, followed by hushed whispers in the background.

"Kathy?"

His voice was deep, thick with sudden tension, traveling across thousands of miles of ocean to strike my eardrums.

"It's me."

I stared blankly at the massive billboard of Madwoman. The woman on the screen looked like a raving lunatic, and Victor's name underneath felt like a rusted nail driven straight into my skull.

"Are you out?" Dominic's voice wavered, carrying a trace of a tremor.

"Yes." I closed my eyes, letting the freezing rain wash over my face.

"Wait for me," he said, his tone instantly shifting to cold authority. "Three days. I'll tie up my business here in London and catch the first flight back."

"Okay."

I hung up, and the screen went black. Through the downpour, a black Maybach beeped its horn.

It was our driver, Frank. Four years ago, he had treated me with absolute deference. Now, he didn't even bother to roll his window down all the way, leaving only a tiny crack.

"Ma'am, Mr. Creston ordered me to pick you up. He booked a room for you at the budget motel on the south side of town."

A cheap motel.

I looked down at my bare ankles, purple from the biting cold, and let out a dry, hollow laugh.

I, Kathy Barrett, had brought a massive family fortune into my marriage with Victor. He had used my inheritance to build his entire empire, only to throw me into an asylum for four long years. And now, on my first night of freedom, he expected me to sleep in a fifty-dollar-a-night motel.

"No need."

I turned my back on the Maybach and stepped into the rain, hailing a passing taxi.

"Take me to the Crestview estate."

Frank kept honking behind me, but I didn't look back.

Thirty minutes later, I stood outside the iron gates of what used to be my home. The main digital lock had been reprogrammed, but I knew that inside the ventilation shaft near the garage lay a physical spare key. It was a failsafe I had hidden during the renovation because I was notoriously forgetful.

The lock turned with a heavy click.

The heavy wooden door swung open.

The living room was dark, save for the flickering orange glow of the fireplace. Sienna's sweet, high-pitched laughter floated over the back of the sofa.

"Victor, is that crazy bitch really gone? What if she comes back with a knife to slit my throat?"

Victor's deep, smooth voice followed, laced with lazy arrogance.

"She wouldn't dare. After all the electroshock therapy she endured at Havenwood, her spine is completely broken."

"But Lucy looked so frightened. I should take her to a child psychologist tomorrow. What if she inherited that crazy woman's genes?"

"Thank you, Sienna. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without you raising Lucy as your own these past four years."

I stood in the shadows of the foyer, looking at the high heels and men's leather belts discarded carelessly on the floor. My stomach turned.

Four years ago, Victor had knelt in the pouring rain, begging me to save his failing company. Eight months pregnant, I sold the last piece of land my mother had left me to clear his debts.

In return, he bribed a team of doctors, pumped me full of hallucinogens, and had me dragged into an unmarked van.

"If you're so terrified of my genes, why are you still living in my house?"

I stepped out of the shadows, my voice echoing through the vaulted ceiling.

The two on the sofa bolted upright.

Sienna frantically pulled up the slipping silk robe, which happened to be mine.

Victor's face instantly darkened. He grabbed a throw blanket and tossed it over Sienna's bare legs.

"Kathy! Who the hell let you in?"

He marched toward me, his eyes filled with the viciousness he would reserve for an armed intruder.

"This is my house," I said, staring him down. "My name is on the deed. Why shouldn't I be here?"

Sienna shrunk behind Victor, her eyes red, trembling like a frightened rabbit.

"Kathy, please don't start acting up. Victor did this for your own good. You just got discharged, and you need a quiet place to heal..."

"Shut up."

I reached out and grabbed a porcelain vase resting on the foyer cabinet. It was a rare piece Victor had bid three hundred thousand dollars on at an auction, presenting it to me as a birthday gift.

A loud crash echoed through the room.

The vase shattered into a million pieces right at Victor's feet. Shards flew, slicing through the fabric of his trousers.

"Who gave you permission to speak to me?"

Sienna shrieked, wrapping her arms tightly around Victor's waist. "Victor! She's trying to kill us! She's having another episode!"

The door to the second-floor bedroom suddenly opened. Lucy, wearing a pink nightgown, rubbed her eyes and stepped onto the landing. Seeing the chaos below, she burst into tears.

"Mommy! I'm scared!"

Hearing her call out "Mommy" shattered whatever resolve I had left.

"Lucy, come to Mommy." I dropped the remaining shards and moved toward the stairs.

But Lucy stumbled down the steps, bypassing my outstretched arms entirely, and threw herself into Sienna's embrace.

"Mama Sienna, the bad lady is breaking things again! She's crazy! Get her out of here!"

I froze. My hands hovered in the air, my fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

Mama Sienna.

The bad lady.

Crazy.

Sienna pulled Lucy close, stroking her back with maternal tenderness. "It's okay, sweetie. Mama Sienna is here. No one's going to hurt you."

Victor turned back to me, the disgust in his eyes practically overflowing.

"Kathy, have you had enough? Is this your idea of motherly love? You come back and immediately start terrorizing our child!"

"I'm terrorizing her?" I pointed at Sienna, my voice cracking with hysteria. "You brainwashed my daughter to love this woman, you stole my home, and you made a fortune selling videos of my torture! Are you even human, Victor?"

I lunged forward, desperate to pry Lucy from Sienna's arms. "Give me my daughter!"

The moment my fingers brushed Lucy's arm, Victor grabbed my wrist and twisted it with brutal force.

A sickening crack echoed, followed by a blinding wave of agony. I gasped, and Victor threw me hard onto the hardwood floor.

I landed amid the broken porcelain. Shards sliced deep into my palms and knees, and blood immediately began to seep through my thin hospital uniform.

"Daddy is beating the bad guy! Kill the crazy lady!" Lucy cheered, clapping her hands from the safety of Sienna's arms.

My tears mingled with the blood pooling beneath me. Victor looked down at me, pulling a tissue from his pocket to wipe his hands, as if he had touched something vile.

"Frank, get in here."

The front door pushed open, and the driver entered with two burly security guards.

"Sir."

Victor pointed at my bleeding form on the floor. "Throw this lunatic out. If she ever sets foot on this property again, break her legs and ship her straight back to Havenwood."

The storm raged on.

I was dumped like a sack of trash onto the wet asphalt outside the gated community. My wrist hung at a sickening, twisted angle. Blood from my knees mingled with the rain, creating a crimson stream on the pavement.

"You should face reality, ma'am."

Frank stood over me, holding a black umbrella, his eyes filled with cold pity.

"Mr. Creston is worth billions now, and Ms. Sienna is pregnant with their second child. A certified lunatic like you stands no chance against them."

Their second child.

Those words hit me like a physical blow. They were having another child.

I lay in the puddle, watching the Maybach's taillights disappear into the dark. The pain was overwhelming, and my vision began to blur.

During my four years at Havenwood, they had injected me with heavy doses of chlorpromazine every week just to make me look like a real psycho. The drugs had wrecked my nervous system, leaving me barely able to stand.

I lay in the rain all night.

At dawn, a street sweeper found me. The kind woman helped me to a nearby bus shelter and called an ambulance.

In the emergency room, the doctor reset my dislocated wrist and picked the porcelain shards out of my knees.

"Where is your family? How did you end up like this?" the doctor asked, frowning.

"They're dead," I whispered, staring at the sterile white ceiling.

After my wounds were bandaged, I checked my bank account. I still had the emergency fund Dominic had forced me to take four years ago. I checked into a quiet, low-key hotel, changed into clean clothes, and bought a baseball cap and a face mask.

Today was the parent-child sports day at St. Mary's Prep, the prestigious academy Lucy attended.

For four years, the memory of my daughter's face was the only thing that kept me sane in that hellhole. I couldn't leave her with those monsters.

Outside St. Mary's, luxury cars lined the streets. I blended into the crowd of parents, peering through the iron gates.

I spotted Victor and Sienna instantly. They were wearing matching custom designer outfits, and Sienna was smiling brightly, holding Lucy's hand.

A group of wealthy mothers surrounded Sienna, showering her with compliments.

"Sienna, you look absolutely radiant! This baby must be a boy."

"And Lucy is so well-behaved. You've done a wonderful job raising her, unlike her previous..."

"Shh, keep it down. I heard that woman was eating filth in Havenwood. How disgusting."

Sienna giggled, patting Lucy's head. "Please, don't say that. Kathy is a tragic soul. But for Lucy's sake, Victor and I had to make the hard choice."

I stood behind a tree, my nails digging deep into my palms. Sienna was living in my house, sleeping in my bed, raising my daughter, and basking in the glory built on my suffering.

The events began. The first was the three-legged race.

Victor stepped aside to take a call. Sienna pulled Lucy to the starting line and knelt to tie the ribbon around their ankles.

Thinking no one was watching, Sienna suddenly pinched the inside of Lucy's thigh with brutal force.

"Ow!" Lucy cried out, tears instantly welling in her eyes.

"Stop crying! Hold it in!"

Sienna's sweet expression vanished, replaced by a snarling whisper. "If it weren't for playing the perfect mother in front of your father, do you think I'd touch a useless brat like you? Run fast. If we lose, you're sleeping in the dark closet tonight!"

Lucy trembled, biting her lip to keep from crying out.

Something inside me snapped.

To hell with waiting. To hell with being cautious.

I shoved through the crowd, kicked open the side gate, and charged onto the field. "Sienna, I will kill you!"

I tackled her to the ground, grabbing a handful of her hair, and began raining slaps down on her face.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

Her lip split, blood smearing her face. "You dare hurt my daughter! You wretched snake!"

The teachers and parents were too stunned to react.

"Help! The crazy woman is killing me! Victor, save me!" Sienna screamed, trying to protect her stomach.

"Kathy! Stop!"

Victor's roar echoed across the field. Before I could strike again, a powerful grip yanked me back by my collar and slammed me onto the track.

My head hit the ground hard, and black spots danced across my eyes.

Victor rushed to Sienna, checking her frantically. "Sienna, are you okay? The baby?"

Sienna clung to him, weeping. "Victor, I'm so scared. She wanted to kill me and our baby..."

Victor turned to me, his eyes bloodshot with rage. "Kathy, you psychotic bitch! How dare you lay a hand on her!"

I struggled to sit up, pointing a trembling finger at Lucy. "Ask her! Ask your precious wife what she did to Lucy! She pinched her! She abuses her when you aren't looking!"

Victor frowned, looking at Lucy. Lucy shrank back, her hand covering her thigh.

Sienna immediately pulled Lucy into her arms. "Lucy, sweetheart, Mama Sienna was just tying your shoes, right? Tell Daddy, did Mama Sienna hurt you?"

Lucy looked at Sienna's threatening glare, then at me, covered in dirt and blood.

She burst into tears. "No! Mama Sienna didn't hurt me! It's the bad lady! She's crazy, she beat Mama Sienna! Daddy, make her go away!"

My heart stopped. It felt as though someone had ripped it from my chest and crushed it underfoot.

"Lucy... I'm your mommy..."

Victor kicked my hand away. "You heard her. Even a child knows you're insane."

He pulled out his phone and dialed. "Yes, police? We have an emergency at St. Mary's Prep. A mentally unstable woman just assaulted a pregnant woman. Yes, she was recently discharged from Havenwood. She's highly violent. Send officers immediately."

He hung up and looked down at me with a cruel smirk. "I gave you a chance, Kathy. Since you love being crazy so much, you can rot in Havenwood for the rest of your life."

Siren wails sliced through the schoolyard air. Two uniformed officers pushed through the crowd.

"Who reported the incident?"

Victor stepped forward, his face a mask of weary distress. "Officer, I did. This is my ex-wife. She suffers from severe schizophrenia and was recently released from Havenwood. She just assaulted my pregnant fiance and almost harmed our child."

Sienna whimpered, leaning heavily on Victor. "My stomach hurts so much... She kept kicking me..."

The other parents chimed in. "Yes, we saw it! She attacked like a rabid dog! Lock her up before she hurts our kids!"

The officer turned to me.

I struggled to my feet, my dislocated wrist throbbing with fresh agony. I pulled a crumpled, blood-stained paper from my pocket. "I am not sick. This is my discharge paper from Havenwood. I attacked her because she was abusing my daughter! Check the school's security cameras!"

The officer took the paper. Victor stepped close and whispered a few words. The officer's expression shifted to one of deference. "Mr. Creston, we'll handle this according to protocol."

He turned back to me, his tone icy. "We need to verify the authenticity of this document. Right now, you're being detained for assault and disturbing the peace. Come with us."

He clicked a pair of handcuffs around my functional wrist.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" I screamed, but the other officer shoved me toward the police cruiser. "Save it. Even crazy people have to face the law."

As the doors slammed shut, I looked through the tinted glass. Victor was kissing Sienna's forehead, and Sienna peeked over his shoulder, flashing me a triumphant, mocking smile. Her lips formed the words: You lose.

In the interrogation room, there were no windows, just a blinding overhead light. It triggered memories of the isolation rooms at Havenwood, and panic gripped me.

"Name."

"Kathy Barrett."

"Why did you assault Sienna?"

"I told you, she was abusing my daughter! Did you check the cameras?"

The detective flipped a page. "We checked. It was a blind spot. Nothing was recorded. Meanwhile, the victim's medical report shows a concussion and soft tissue damage. Mr. Creston's lawyer is prepared to file charges of felony assault. If you don't sign this settlement agreement and promise to stay away from them forever, they will prosecute. Given your psychiatric history, you'll likely be committed to a high-security asylum indefinitely."

Indefinitely.

The word crushed me. I looked at the photos of Sienna's bruised face and laughed until tears ran down my cheeks. Of course. Victor was practically untouchable in Riverford now. Erasing a security tape was child's play for him.

I spent forty-eight hours in a holding cell. No food, only cold tap water. My untreated wrist swelled to twice its size. Just when I thought they were going to cart me off to a state asylum, the heavy steel door opened. A lawyer in an expensive suit walked in. "Ms. Barrett, Mr. Creston has decided to drop the charges. You're free to go."

I was stunned. Victor, showing mercy?

When I stepped outside the station, a black Rolls-Royce was idling at the curb. The window rolled down to reveal Victor smoking a cigar. "Get in."

I hesitated, wary.

"Don't worry, I'm not taking you back to the asylum," he said, flicking the ash. "But if you don't get in, I guarantee you will never see your father alive again."

My blood ran cold. "My father? You told me he died in the ICU four years ago!"

"If you want the truth, get in."

I gritted my teeth and got in. The car smelled of Sienna's perfume. We drove to a private hospital's VIP wing. Victor led me to a sterile room. Through the glass, I saw a frail, skeletal man hooked up to a ventilator. My father. Once a prominent real estate mogul, now reduced to a living corpse.

"He's alive?" Tears spilled over. "You lied to me!"

"If you knew he was alive, you wouldn't have lost all hope and stayed quiet in Havenwood for four years," Victor said coldly. "I've spent hundreds of thousands keeping him alive on experimental drugs. But the family company's remaining shares are now in Sienna's name. Except for the last five percent of original shares. Sign them over to me, or I pull his plug today."

I gripped the pen so hard my knuckles turned white. "Victor, you stripped my father of everything he built. Must you steal his very last breath?"

I grabbed his lapels, wanting to tear him apart. He merely adjusted his cuffs with supreme arrogance.

"Kathy, remember who holds the cards here. Sienna's baby is coming, and I need these shares to finalize the restructuring of the company as a gift to my new wife." He grabbed my jaw, his grip agonizingly tight. "Sign, and the old man breathes a little longer. Refuse, and I stop his medication right now."

The heart monitor's steady beeps sounded like a countdown. Looking at my dying father, I sobbed. For four years, he had kept me in the dark, and now he wanted me to humiliate myself for his mistress.

"I'll sign."

But as I reached for the paper, Victor pulled it away.

"Not so fast. Sienna is hosting a yacht party tonight to celebrate the success of Madwoman and her birthday. She's been having nightmares since you showed up. Look at yourself. Go there, kneel, and beg for her forgiveness. If she's happy, I'll take the shares. If not, no deal."

The humiliation was overwhelming. "You want me to kneel to her?"

"Is the great Kathy Barrett too proud?" he mocked, reaching for his phone. "Then let's see how long your father survives."

"Fine! I'll do it!"

Two hours later, dressed in a cheap, revealing slip dress provided by Victor's men, I was forced onto the deck of The Empress, a luxury yacht anchored in international waters.

The thumping bass and bright lights of the party hit me instantly. The city's elite were all there. On the massive screens, scenes from Madwoman played on a loop. It was me, screaming, strapped to an asylum bed, being electrocuted until I soiled myself. My real, living nightmare, turned into public entertainment.

"Look who's here!" someone jeered.

Every eye turned to me. Sienna, wearing a white haute couture gown and my anniversary necklace, stepped forward on Victor's arm. "Kathy, you made it! I bought that dress from a thrift store for ten dollars. It fits you perfectly!"

Laughter erupted around us. "Is that the crazy ex-wife? She looks pathetic."

Victor stared at me coldly. "Well? Kneel and apologize to Sienna."

I clenched my fists and walked toward her. As I began to bend my knees, Sienna took a step back. She was holding a pink stuffed rabbit, Lucy's favorite comfort toy.

"Oops, my hand slipped," Sienna squealed as the toy plummeted into the dark, freezing ocean.

"Oh dear, Lucy can't sleep without that. You love her so much, Kathy. Go get it. Do that, and Victor will pay for your father's medical bills."

The November sea was freezing. Jumping in was suicide.

"Sienna, don't push me!" I snarled.

Victor stepped between us. "Take it or leave it, Kathy."

The crowd chanted, "Jump! Jump!"

I looked at the black water, then thought of my father and my daughter. I had no choice. I climbed over the railing.

"Remember what you look like right now, Kathy. Like a dog begging for a bone," Victor sneered.

Splash!

I plunged into the icy water. The cold stole my breath instantly. I swam frantically until my fingers snagged the soggy toy. But as I swam back and reached for the yacht's ladder, a high heel slammed down onto my fingers.

Sienna looked down at me, her face twisted in malice. "Die, you crazy bitch. Once you're gone, everything is mine."

She kicked my hand. I lost my grip and slipped back into the dark depths. Cold water filled my lungs, and my consciousness began to fade.

Just as darkness claimed me, a deafening roar shook the air. Searchlights illuminated the sea like daylight. A black military helicopter hovered overhead, and heavy speedboats surrounded the yacht. A tall, imposing figure descended from the chopper, his black trench coat whipping in the wind. Without a second thought, he dove into the freezing water.

A powerful arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back to the surface.