Chapter 4

Almeda Hughes POV:

Gladys looked from Hector' s stern face to mine, her expression filled with a weary sort of pleading. "Almeda, for Jacob's sake. He needs stability. You promised..."

"My promise is fulfilled, Gladys," I said, my voice even. "Six years. I gave you six years."

She flinched, the guilt plain on her face. She knew the terms of our arrangement. She knew I had held up my end of the bargain. "I know, dear, but Helene... that woman is not a suitable mother figure. Hector is blind."

Hector' s jaw tightened at the mention of Helene. "This has nothing to do with Helene. This is about Almeda' s irrational behavior. She destroyed thousands of dollars of property and terrified my son."

I remained silent, letting him believe his own narrative. He thought this was about a tantrum. He thought this was about money. He stood there, so confident, so certain that Gladys's presence would be enough to cow me back into submission. He had no idea that I had already emotionally checked out of this marriage, this house, this life. He was arguing with a ghost.

My gaze drifted to the lawn where Buddy was happily chasing a butterfly. In that moment, he was the only thing in this world that mattered. The only part of this life that was truly mine.

Suddenly, a piercing yelp of pain cut through the air.

My head snapped up.

Jacob had come out of the house, a small garden trowel in his hand. He was standing over Buddy, who was whining and trying to crawl away. Jacob raised the trowel and brought it down again, hard, on Buddy' s back leg.

"Bad dog!" Jacob shrieked, his face twisted in a terrifying rage. "You love her! You're a bad dog!"

A primal roar of fury erupted from my chest. "BUDDY!"

I flew across the lawn, moving faster than I ever had in my life. I shoved Jacob away from my dog, sending him stumbling backward onto the grass. Buddy was whimpering, his leg bent at an unnatural angle.

"What is wrong with you?" I screamed, my voice raw with anguish as I knelt beside Buddy.

"He bit Helene!" Jacob wailed from the ground. "Buddy is a bad dog! He needs to be punished!"

Hector rushed over, pushing me aside to get to his son. "Are you okay, Jacob? Did she hurt you?" He glared at me, his eyes cold as ice. "First my property, now my son. You are out of control."

"He attacked my dog!" I cried, cradling Buddy' s head in my lap. "Look at his leg! It's broken!"

"He's not your son," I spat, the words tasting like poison. "You lost that right."

Buddy licked my hand, his tail giving a weak, pitiful thump. His eyes were filled with pain and confusion, but also with unwavering trust. In me.

"He scratched me," Helene said, suddenly appearing at the doorway. She held up her arm, displaying a faint red line on her skin, so shallow it was barely bleeding. She looked down at Buddy with a look of pure loathing. "He just lunged at me for no reason."

It was a lie. Buddy was the gentlest creature I had ever known. He wouldn' t hurt a fly.

Hector' s face hardened. He looked from Helene's "wound" to my trembling dog. His decision was made.

"That animal is a menace," he declared. "I'm calling animal control. They'll know what to do with a vicious dog."

My blood ran cold. "No," I whispered. "Hector, please. You can't. He's all I have left."

"He's a danger to my son and to Helene," Hector said, his voice void of any emotion. He pulled out his phone. The security team for our gated community also handled animal issues. They were known for their expediency.

I scrambled to my feet, placing myself between Hector and my dog. "I'm taking him with me. He's my dog. You have no right."

Before he could respond, two security guards in crisp uniforms emerged from the side of the house, clearly summoned by Hector.

"Mr. Porter, sir. We got your call about a dangerous animal."

Hector nodded towards Buddy. "That one. It attacked a guest and is a threat. Take it away."

"No!" I screamed, wrapping my arms around Buddy' s neck. "You can't!"

The guards hesitated, looking from me to Hector.

One of them took a step forward, a tranquilizer gun in his hand. "Ma'am, please step away from the animal."

Tears streamed down my face. I looked at Hector, my heart shattering into a million pieces. He stood there, impassive, watching as they prepared to take the last piece of my soul away from me. He was allowing this to happen. He was complicit.

And then, the worst happened. One guard moved to grab Buddy's collar. In a surge of pain and fear, Buddy snapped, his teeth barely grazing the man's gloved hand.

That was all the justification they needed.

The second guard didn't hesitate. He didn't use the tranquilizer. He pulled out his service pistol.

The sound of the gunshot echoed through the pristine morning air.

Buddy went limp in my arms.

A thick, dark silence descended. I stared down at the still form of my best friend, a crimson stain spreading across his golden fur. My mind went blank. The world dissolved into a meaningless blur of green grass and blue sky.

I held him, rocking back and forth, a keening sound tearing from my throat that wasn't human.

"Almeda..." Gladys's voice was a horrified whisper. She took a step towards me, her hand outstretched. In it, she was holding a sheaf of papers. A divorce agreement. She had brought it with her. She had known this was the end, even before I did.

Hector stared at the scene, a flicker of something-was it shock? regret?-in his eyes. But it was too little, too late.

"A divorce?" he asked, his voice rough with disbelief, as if the idea had never occurred to him. "You want a divorce over a dog?"

I slowly lifted my head, my eyes locking with his. The tears had stopped. There was nothing left inside me but a cold, desolate wasteland.

"Yes," I said, my voice empty and hollow. "I want a divorce. Now."