Page 35 of Bittersweet Revenge

The doctor’s face eased with obvious relief. Was it for my health or the tedious task it would have been to put me on suicide-watch? But whatever the reason, he’d bought it and that was all that mattered.

“Ah,” he nodded. “I understand. Say no more. Just take it easy for the next few days. You might also develop a cough due to the drowning if bacteria develops in your lungs.” He rested a card on my night table. “This is my direct number. Should you feel any discomfort, call me day or night.”

I looked down at the card. Being rich was a perk I still hadn’t gotten used to. I thought back on the times Luke and I had had to wait hours in overcrowded, understaffed free clinics whenever I’d been sick.

“Money really buys it all, doesn't it?” I asked no one in particular, my voice full of weariness.

Dr. Willis’s eyes softened. “You take care.” He patted my arm before nodding toward Archie and exiting the room.

Archie gestured me toward the vanity and the platter filled with cereal, fresh fruits, toast…

“I’m only one person, you know,” I joked, sitting down and reaching for a slice of buttered toast.

“I know. I’ll share.” He gave me a boyish grin that reminded me of Luke and sat on the bed with a piece of toast too. I didn't think he would like to know that there was some Luke in him - or maybe he would. He was the spitting image of our uncle. I’d thought he’d looked a bit like him when we’d first met, but I could see more in him now. Maybe it was because I also knew his soul was not as dark as I had anticipated. Perhaps it was because I loved him.

“You just lied to that doctor; it came out so smoothly.” He sighed. “I didn't expect that.”

“Impressed?” I asked, my mouth still full of food.

“I’m not sure,” he replied, meeting my eyes in the mirror. Sorrow was set deep inside them.

I sighed. “I’m still the same girl, Archie.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re not, and that’s okay. Just don’t let this life stain you. Don’t let me or him stain you.”

I opened my mouth to tell him he was mistaken, but he wasn’t. I knew it. I had become more calculating, warier. “I promise the essence of me is still here, Archie. I need to adapt for now, but I'm still me.”

“Yeah,” he said with a nod, but I could see the doubt on his face – doubts I couldn't ease because I had them too.

“So, tell me everything now. Because, not to side with Caleb, but why would anyone leave you a bottle of wine to kill you?”

“Ah yes, that.” I took a sip of coffee. I twirled around on my seat to look at him for when I told him the beautiful way I’d fucked up. But as I finally concentrated on him again, I noticed little details that worried me. While he was still impeccably dressed, his blue dress shirt was creased and untucked from his black dress pants. The dark hair he usually styled to perfection was a mess on top of his head. His eyes were shadowed with dark circles. His face carried a stubble I'd never seen before.

“Areyouokay?” I leaned toward him.

He looked away and ran his hand through his hair. “What do you want me to say, Esme? Because I felt it.” He tapped the center of his chest. “I woke up with the irrational fear that something was wrong without knowing what. Then we got the call about your accident... I felt like I’d died, Esme. My heart stopped, but I had to keep my face smooth even though all I’d wanted to do was vomit. So yeah, I was scared.”

“Archie...” I sat beside him on the bed, resting my head on his shoulder. “I didn't mean for anything like that to happen...ever.”

He sighed and kissed the crown of my head. “Now tell me what you did so I can get mad instead of sad.”

I chuckled at that, grateful for my brother's playfulness. I stood up and began to pace the room.

“Okay, so you've read mom's journal and you noticed pages were missing, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, the pages you left for me in my safe place.”

I grimaced, cocking my head to the side. “Well... Yeah, but I also took a few extra pages, five to be exact, and sent them to someone else.”

I threw him a quick look. His face was now set in a scowl.

“Do I dare to guess who you sent the pages to?”

I winced. “I just couldn't bear the idea of him hating me, Archie!” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I thought if I showed him our mother was not the homewrecker he thought she was, maybe –”

“Maybe what?” he asked, standing up too now, visibly agitated by my revelation, and I couldn't blame him; it had been a mistake.

I thought that maybe he would forgive me for my betrayal.I shook my head. “It doesn't matter what I thought because he never received the pages. Somebody intercepted the mail.”

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