Eighty-Eight Betrayals, One Escape

My fiancé stood me up for the 88th time, leaving me at the courthouse to rush to his adopted sister' s side.

I went home and overheard their twisted plan: they wanted me to get sterilized so I could raise their secret love child.

When his sister later tried to poison me, he screamed at me to apologize. He even locked me in the basement, knowing my severe claustrophobia, to punish me for "upsetting her."

The man I loved was a monster, and I had been his fool.

After he left on a business trip, I packed my bags, accepted a dream job across the country, and sent him one last text.

"We are over."

Chapter 1

Jody POV:

The eighty-eighth time my fiancé left me stranded was the last.

The air in the city courthouse was thick and stale, smelling of old paper and cheap disinfectant. I sat on a hard wooden bench, my fingers tracing the cold, intricate metal of the engagement ring Arthur had placed there six months ago. The diamond glittered under the fluorescent lights, a promise that felt more like a lie with every passing minute.

Three hours. I' d been waiting for three hours.

"Jody Campbell and Arthur Lowery?" a clerk called out, her voice flat with boredom.

I stood up, my legs stiff. "He' s on his way," I said, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. It was the same excuse I' d given her an hour ago.

She gave me a look that was a mixture of pity and annoyance before calling the next name on her list.

My phone buzzed in my hand. Arthur' s name flashed across the screen. Relief, weak and pathetic, washed over me for a split second before the familiar dread settled back in.

"Arthur, where are you? They' ve called our names twice."

"I' m so sorry, baby," his voice was a low, apologetic murmur that used to make my heart melt. Now it just made my stomach clench. "Something' s come up."

Something always came up. And that something was always named Claudia.

"What is it this time?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet. I already knew. I always knew.

"Claudia' s not feeling well. She says she has a headache and she' s feeling dizzy. I have to take her to the hospital."

A headache. He was abandoning our appointment for a marriage license-our third rescheduled appointment-for a headache.

The week before, he' d missed my graduation dinner because Claudia had a nightmare. The month before that, he' d cancelled our vacation because Claudia felt lonely. Eighty-eight times. I' d kept a tally on a hidden app on my phone. Eighty-eight plans cancelled, eighty-eight promises broken, eighty-eight times I was told I was less important than his adopted sister.

"Jody? Baby, are you there?"

I stared at the peeling paint on the opposite wall. "She has her own car, Arthur. She has a driver. She can call a doctor to the house."

"You don' t understand," he said, his voice laced with that familiar, frustrated guilt. "She needs me. She saved my life, Jody. I owe her everything."

The story was his shield, the one he hid behind every time he chose her. When they were kids, Claudia had supposedly pushed him out of the way of a speeding car, breaking her own leg in the process. It was the foundation of their toxic, co-dependent bond, the debt he felt he could never repay.

"I have to go, baby. I' ll make it up to you, I promise. We' ll go tomorrow."

He didn' t wait for my response. The line went dead.

I stood there, the phone pressed to my ear, listening to the dial tone. The muffled sounds of the courthouse faded into a dull roar. It felt like the world was underwater, and I was sinking.

Slowly, I lowered the phone. With numb fingers, I twisted the diamond ring. It slid off my finger easily, leaving a pale, indented mark on my skin. I looked at the brilliant stone, a symbol of a future that would never happen. A future where I would always come second.

I walked over to the trash can by the exit, its metal lid slightly ajar. Without a second thought, I opened my hand and let the ring drop. It made a small, unsatisfying clink as it hit the bottom, lost amongst discarded coffee cups and crumpled papers.

"Ma' am?" The security guard by the door was looking at me, his brow furrowed. "You just... did you just throw that ring away?"

I didn't answer him. What was there to say?

He seemed to understand. He shook his head slowly. "He' s not worth it, kid. Any guy who stands you up at the marriage license office isn' t gonna show up for the real thing."

His words struck a chord deep inside me, a truth I had been refusing to see. Everyone saw it but me. My friends, my family, even a stranger at the courthouse. I was the fool who kept believing in his empty promises.

The memory of our first meeting felt like a scene from a different life. I was a junior chemical engineering student, tutoring to make ends meet. He was Arthur Lowery, the charismatic heir to a tech empire, who' d burst into the campus library like a storm, charming and brilliant and utterly captivated by me. He pursued me relentlessly, with helicopter rides over the city and private concerts and a thousand whispered promises of forever. He' d even bought the building my favorite struggling bookstore was in, just to keep it from closing. He' d made me believe in fairy tales.

Then, a year into our relationship, Claudia had returned from studying abroad.

At first, it was subtle. A dinner he had to cut short because Claudia called, crying about an exam. A weekend trip postponed because Claudia had the flu. But the intrusions grew more frequent, more demanding. My life began to revolve around her needs, her whims, her manufactured crises.

Arthur always had an excuse. "She' s just fragile, Jody. She' s been through a lot."

I had tried to be patient, to be understanding. I loved him. I believed in the man he was when she wasn' t around. But today, standing in this soulless courthouse, I finally understood. He would never be that man for me. Not really. He belonged to Claudia.

I walked out into the harsh afternoon sun, feeling hollowed out. The drive back to the sprawling mansion we shared was a blur. I parked my car and walked through the front door, the silence of the house pressing in on me. It was a house filled with beautiful, expensive things, but it had never felt like a home.

As I reached the top of the grand staircase, I heard their voices coming from the master bedroom-our bedroom. My hand froze on the doorknob.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Arthur?" It was Claudia, her voice sickly sweet. "What if she says no?"

"She won' t," Arthur' s voice was firm, confident. "Jody loves me. She' ll do anything for me. For us."

My blood ran cold.

"It' s the perfect plan," Claudia continued, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "She undergoes the tubal ligation, we get married, and she raises my baby as her own. No one will ever know the child isn' t hers. It will be our perfect little family."

The words hit me like a physical blow. Tubal ligation. Sterilization. They wanted me to give up my ability to have children, to raise Claudia' s baby-conceived with another man, I assumed-as my own.

My baby. A child I would never have.

"And the baby?" Arthur asked. "You' re sure... you' re okay giving him up?"

"Of course," Claudia purred. "He' s your baby, Arthur. It' s only right that he grows up with his father. And Jody will be the perfect mother. After all, she won' t be able to have any of her own to compete."

My breath hitched in my throat. I couldn' t feel my hands, my feet. A roar started in my ears, drowning out everything else.

I shoved the door open.

They were standing by the window, Arthur' s arm wrapped around Claudia' s shoulders. They turned, their faces a mixture of shock and guilt.

"Jody," Arthur started, taking a step toward me.

"What baby?" I asked, my voice a raw whisper. "Whose baby are you talking about?"

Claudia stepped forward, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. She placed a protective hand on her still-flat stomach. "Mine, of course. And Arthur' s."

The world tilted on its axis. Arthur' s baby.

I looked at Arthur, my heart shattering into a million pieces. His face was pale, his eyes pleading. "Jody, let me explain. It' s not what you think. It was one night, I was drunk, it was a mistake..."

"A mistake?" I repeated, a bitter, hysterical laugh bubbling up from my chest. "You want me to undergo surgery, to become sterile, so I can raise the child you had with your sister? You call that a mistake?"

"It' s for the best, Jody," Claudia said, her voice smooth as silk. "This way, we can all be together. Arthur won' t have to choose. You get to be a mother. It' s what you' ve always wanted, isn' t it?"

I stared at her, at the man I thought I loved, and I felt nothing but a bone-deep, chilling cold. The love I had felt for him, the patience, the hope-it all evaporated, leaving behind a vast, empty wasteland.

I turned my gaze to Arthur, searching his face for any sign of the man I fell in love with. I found none. "Is this what you want, Arthur? Is this really your plan for us?"

He wouldn' t meet my eyes. He reached for me, his hand trembling. "Jody, please. We can make this work. I love you."

I flinched away from his touch as if he were on fire. The words "I love you" from his lips were the most obscene thing I had ever heard.

Without another word, I turned and walked out of the room. I went to my own room, the guest room I' d been sleeping in for months, and locked the door. I sank to the floor, my body shaking uncontrollably. The sobs came then, violent, wracking things that tore through me, leaving me breathless and raw.

I cried for the woman I used to be, the one who believed in love and fairy tales. I cried for the future I had lost.

As the tears subsided, leaving me empty and exhausted, my phone rang. It was a number I hadn' t seen in a while. Dr. Evans Chaney, my former professor and mentor.

"Jody," he said, his voice warm and familiar. "I hope I' m not calling at a bad time."

"No, Dr. Chaney. It' s fine." My voice was hoarse.

"Listen, I know you turned down the R&D position at Sterling Innovations last year, but the lead researcher spot just opened up. The project is groundbreaking, a new polymer synthesis that could change everything. It' s your work, Jody. Your theories from grad school are the foundation. I thought of you immediately. The job is yours if you want it."

Sterling Innovations. A prestigious research firm on the other side of the country. A dream job. A job I had turned down for Arthur.

A new life. An escape.

A wave of clarity washed over me, sharp and absolute.

"Yes," I said, my voice clear and steady for the first time all day. "I' ll take it."

"That' s wonderful news! When can you start?"

I looked around the opulent, sterile room that had been my prison. "I' m on my way."

I hung up the phone. I stood up, walked to my closet, and pulled out a suitcase. It was over. The fairy tale was dead.

And I was finally, blessedly, free.

---

Jody POV:

That night, Arthur knocked on my door. He was holding a glass of warm milk, something he used to do when I couldn' t sleep. The gesture felt like a mockery now.

"Can I come in?" he asked, his voice soft.

I stayed silent, blocking the doorway.

He took my silence as permission and tried to step inside, but I didn' t move. His eyes, full of a counterfeit sorrow, met mine. "Jody, have you thought about what Claudia and I said?"

"You mean the proposal where I get sterilized to raise your love child?" The words were acid on my tongue.

He winced. "It' s not like that. It' s the best solution for everyone. For our family."

Our family. The words were a joke.

"And what if I say no?" I asked, my voice flat.

His face hardened, the soft pleading replaced by a flicker of the ruthless businessman he was. "Then we can' t get married, Jody. I can' t abandon my child. You wouldn' t ask me to do that."

There it was. The ultimatum. My future in exchange for his convenience. A cold, sharp pain lanced through my chest, so intense it made me gasp. He was willing to throw away everything we had, everything I thought we had, for this... this grotesque arrangement.

"I' ll think about it," I said, the lie slipping easily from my lips. I needed time. I needed him to leave me alone so I could finish packing.

Relief washed over his features. He thought he' d won. He always won. "I knew you' d understand, baby." He leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my head, and his lips brushed against my hair. "I know this is hard, but it' s the only way. Claudia is my sister. My responsibility. You and I... we' re different. We' re going to be husband and wife."

Husband and wife. The words meant nothing.

"I' m tired, Arthur," I said, my voice hollow. "I want to sleep."

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he just nodded, placing the glass of milk on the nightstand. "Okay. We' ll talk more tomorrow."

He left, closing the door softly behind him. I stared at the glass of milk, a symbol of a care that was never real. I wanted to smash it against the wall. Instead, I just left it there, untouched.

A few minutes later, there was another, softer knock. My heart sank. I thought it was Arthur, back for another round of manipulation.

I opened the door to find Claudia standing there, a smug little smile on her face.

"Arthur told me you' re considering our proposal," she said, her eyes glinting. "I knew you were a smart girl."

I just stared at her. "What do you want, Claudia?"

She leaned against the doorframe, her hand drifting down to her stomach again. "I just wanted to make sure you understood the situation clearly. You see, this baby..." she paused, letting the silence hang in the air. "This baby might be Arthur' s, but it was conceived because he was thinking of me."

The implication hung in the air, vile and suffocating. A wave of nausea rolled over me. It felt like a physical punch to the gut, stealing the air from my lungs.

"You' re lying," I whispered, though a cold part of me knew she wasn' t.

Her smile widened. "Am I? Ask yourself, Jody. Who does he come home to? Who does he cancel his life for? You' re just a placeholder. A convenient, pretty little placeholder until he realized who he really wanted." She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Do you have the guts to ask him, Jody? To ask him who he was thinking of that night?"

"Get out," I said, my voice shaking with a rage so profound it felt like it would tear me apart. "Get out of my room."

She laughed, a light, tinkling sound that grated on my nerves. "Of course." She sauntered away, her hips swaying, leaving me standing in the doorway, trembling.

I slammed the door shut, my back pressed against the wood. The lie I had been telling myself for years crumbled around me. The late-night calls he' d take in another room. The way his arm would linger around her waist a second too long. The shared glances across a dinner table that held a world of meaning I was never privy to.

I had explained it all away. They were siblings. They were close. I was being paranoid.

But it wasn' t paranoia. It was the truth, staring me in the face all along. A truth so ugly, so twisted, I hadn' t allowed myself to see it. Thinking of them together, in that way... a vile, physical revulsion rose in my throat.

Just then, the door burst open again. Arthur stood there, his face contorted in anger. "What did you say to Claudia? She' s downstairs crying, saying you threatened her!"

He didn' t even ask for my side. He never did.

I looked at him, at his handsome, furious face, and a strange calm settled over me. The pain was still there, a dull, throbbing ache, but it was distant now.

"You' re right, Arthur," I said, my voice even. "I' ll do it. I' ll agree to the surgery."

His anger vanished, replaced by a brilliant, relieved smile. "Oh, Jody. Baby. I knew it. I knew you loved me."

He rushed forward and pulled me into a hug. I stood stiffly in his arms, my body unresponsive.

"We can get married right away," he said, his voice giddy with his victory. "Tomorrow, no, the day after. We' ll finally be married."

He took my hand, his thumb stroking my knuckles. I subtly pulled my hand away. "We should wait," I said, my voice still eerily calm. "Claudia' s health is the most important thing right now. We shouldn' t rush things while she' s so fragile."

He looked at me, his eyes shining with adoration. He thought I was being selfless. He had no idea.

"You' re right," he said, kissing my hair again. That kiss, which once felt like a promise, now felt like a violation. "You' re always so thoughtful."

From the hallway, I could see Claudia peeking around the corner, her face a mask of shock. She hadn' t expected me to agree so easily. She had wanted a fight.

She quickly composed herself and walked over, clinging to Arthur' s arm. "Since Jody is feeling better, can we go shopping tomorrow? I need some new maternity clothes."

"Of course," Arthur said instantly, not even looking at me. "Jody, you' ll come with us. You can help Claudia pick some things out."

The idea of spending a day watching them play happy family was nauseating. But I nodded. I would play my part until I could escape.

The next day at the mall was a special kind of hell. They walked ahead of me, his arm around her, laughing and whispering like a real couple. I trailed behind them, an invisible ghost. We were supposed to be shopping for maternity clothes for her, but soon they were in a jewelry store, looking at baby bracelets.

This was the life he had planned for me. A life as a glorified nanny to their incestuous offspring. A life of quiet desperation, of watching the man I loved love someone else. A pain so sharp and sudden pierced my heart that I had to stop and press a hand to my chest, just to make sure it was still beating.

---

Jody POV:

The mall was decorated for the holidays, a giant, glittering Christmas tree dominating the central court. Tacky, oversized ornaments hung from the ceiling, swaying gently in the air-conditioned breeze.

"Oh, Arthur, let' s take a picture!" Claudia squealed, pulling him toward the tree. She shoved her phone into my hand. "Jody, be a dear and get a good one for us."

She posed, leaning into Arthur, her hand possessively on his chest. He smiled down at her, his arm instinctively wrapping around her waist, pulling her closer. They looked like a perfect, happy couple. A knife twisted in my gut.

I raised the phone, my hands trembling slightly. Through the screen, I saw them, a portrait of my own personal hell. My finger hovered over the capture button.

Then, there was a terrible creaking sound from above.

I looked up just in time to see one of the giant, glittering ornaments-a massive, ridiculous snowflake-break free from its cable. It swung wildly for a moment before plummeting directly towards us.

Everything happened in slow motion.

I saw the terror on Claudia's face. I saw Arthur's eyes widen. And I saw him react without a single thought.

He shoved Claudia out of the way, his body shielding hers, his only concern her safety.

He didn't even look at me.

I was standing right next to them, but it was as if I didn't exist. There was no time to move, no time to even scream. The world exploded in a shower of plastic, glitter, and excruciating pain as the massive decoration crashed down on top of me.

My leg buckled, a searing agony shooting up from my ankle. My head hit the polished marble floor with a sickening crack. The last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me was Arthur, kneeling beside a perfectly fine Claudia, his face etched with worry for her. Not for me.

Tears streamed from my eyes, hot against my cold skin. But I wasn't crying from the pain. I was crying because in that split second, I had my answer. He would never choose me. He would let me die to save her from a scratch.

My consciousness flickered. I remember the chaos, the shouting, the wail of a siren. I woke up briefly in the back of an ambulance, a paramedic trying to put an oxygen mask on my face.

"We need to get her to a VIP room immediately, severe concussion and a possible fracture," he was yelling into a radio.

"Negative," a voice crackled back. "The VIP floor is on lockdown. Mr. Lowery' s orders. His sister was frightened by the accident and needs absolute quiet to rest."

The irony was so thick I could have choked on it. I was lying in an ambulance, seriously injured, but I couldn' t get a room in the hospital-his hospital-because his precious Claudia was frightened.

The pain was a living thing, a monster clawing at me from the inside. I passed out again.

When I finally woke up for good, I was in a standard, crowded ward, the curtain around my bed offering little privacy. A dull, throbbing ache radiated from my head, and my leg was encased in a heavy cast.

Hours passed. Doctors and nurses came and went. But Arthur didn't appear.

It was nearly midnight when he finally walked in, his expensive suit slightly wrinkled. He rushed to my bedside, his face a mask of concern.

"Jody. Oh, god, Jody, are you okay?" he asked, reaching for my hand.

I pulled it away. "I' m fine," I said, my voice toneless.

"I' m so, so sorry. I was with Claudia. She was in shock. The doctors wanted to keep her for observation."

Of course. She was in shock. I was the one who got hit by a two-hundred-pound piece of plastic, but she was the one who needed him. I didn't have the energy to argue. I just stared at the ceiling.

A moment later, the curtain was pulled back and Claudia herself appeared. She looked perfectly fine, her cheeks rosy, holding a container of soup.

"I brought you something to eat," she said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "You must be starving."

She placed the soup on my bedside table. It was a creamy seafood chowder, the smell rich and inviting. It was my favorite. It also contained shellfish, which I was deathly allergic to. A single bite could send me into anaphylactic shock.

She knew. Of course, she knew. I remembered telling her about my allergy once, years ago, after a close call at a restaurant. She had looked at me with wide, innocent eyes and said she would never forget.

"I don' t want it," I said.

Claudia' s face fell into a perfect pout. "Oh, Jody. Don' t you like it? I had the chef make it especially for you."

"She' s just tired, Claudia," Arthur said, ever her defender. He picked up the spoon. "Come on, Jody. You need to eat something. Just one bite."

He scooped up a spoonful of the chowder and brought it to my lips. His eyes were pleading. He thought this was a romantic gesture, a sign of his care. He had no idea he was trying to poison me.

"No," I said, turning my head away.

"Jody, don' t be difficult," he insisted, his voice hardening. "Claudia went to a lot of trouble for this."

He held the spoon to my lips again, more forcefully this time. I had no choice. I opened my mouth and let the creamy, deadly liquid slide down my throat.

Immediately, my throat started to itch. My airway began to close. Panic seized me. I gasped for breath, shoving the bowl away. It flew from Arthur's hand, crashing to the floor and splattering soup everywhere.

A small ceramic shard flew up and nicked Claudia' s arm.

"Ow!" she cried out, clutching her arm as if she' d been stabbed. A tiny bead of blood welled up on her skin.

Arthur' s attention snapped to her instantly. "Claudia! Are you okay?" He cradled her arm, examining the minuscule cut with frantic concern. He then turned to me, his face a thundercloud of fury. His eyes were cold, devoid of any warmth, any love I had ever imagined was there.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Jody?" he roared, his voice echoing in the quiet ward. "Apologize to her. Now."

"She... she tried to..." I wheezed, my throat closing up, my skin breaking out in angry, red hives. I couldn' t get the words out.

"Don' t blame Jody, Arthur," Claudia whimpered, hiding behind him. "She didn' t mean it. She' s just upset."

"Upset? She could have seriously hurt you!" he bellowed. He pointed a trembling finger at me. "Apologize."

I tried to explain, to tell him about the allergy, but my voice was gone. All I could do was shake my head, tears of frustration and terror streaming down my face.

"I said, apologize!" he shouted again, his voice cracking with rage.

The injustice of it all was a physical weight, pressing down on me, crushing me. I was having a severe allergic reaction, and he was screaming at me to apologize for getting a drop of blood on the woman who had intentionally poisoned me.

With the last of my strength, I managed to croak out a single, broken word. "Sorry."

A tear escaped and traced a path through the red blotches on my cheek. The itching was unbearable. Black spots danced in my vision. The last thing I heard before I passed out was Arthur' s furious voice, still demanding I show his precious Claudia some respect.

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