Page 29 of Due Process
Lies. They were all lies. I never could have known that his promises had an expiry date.
Tears built in my lash line and trickled down my cheeks in frustration.Too late. Far too late.
For the first time in forever, he was perceptive enough to catch my pain. “Why are you crying, babe?”
Felix turned me until he was wiping away my tears, sporting an amused expression. “We haven’t even got to the best part yet. It’s one minute till midnight.”
“That’s why I’m crying…”
His brow perked, but before he could question further, fireworks erupted into the starry sky, igniting a spark that had already burnt out long before.
Felix pushed closer, his breath skating across my face. “Happy anniversary, wife. We made it to ten years,” he whispered before he pressed his lips to mine.
I hesitated for a split second, then returned the kiss tenfold—for the ten years of love, for the decade of memories.This is a cleansing. This is closure. This is goodbye.
Sirens broke out in the distance, and I used that alarm as a trigger to bolster my cold indifference.
Felix could sense the sudden shift. He pulled back, eyes sweeping over my mask.
“You’re a thief, Felix Johnson,” I said as my fingers raised to trace across his face.That lying, cowardly face.“You stole my heart, claimed my soul… but you didn’t fulfil your oath, husband.”
His expression morphed into confusion as the sirens grew closer, red and blue lights flashing in the dark.
“Stella?”
“I’m taking them back,” I said, pure power lacing my tone.
His eyes bored into mine, trying to decipher the deep-seated carnage he had left behind.
Two police vehicles entered the carpark, screeching to a halt beside us.
Felix’s head snapped from left to right, taking in the scene. I placed my palms on either side of his cheeks, regaining his focus and attention.
Then I pressed my lips to his as a final promise—the kiss of death. “Happy ten-year anniversary, husband.”
“Felix Johnson?” a gruff voice called from the officer who approached us.
“Yeah, that’s me,” he replied, puzzled.
The officer unclipped a set of handcuffs from his waist. “Turn around and place your hands behind your back.”
“What?! What is this? I haven’t done shit!”
The officer ignored his pleas, spinning Felix so he could secure his wrists at the base of his spine.
I stood frozen, completely impassive and unattached. Felix read that as fear, like I was shutting down from worry.
“Sweetheart! Don’t panic! Call a lawyer. There’s been a misunderstanding!”I am a lawyer… and there is no misunderstanding.
“You have a right to remain silent—”
“Did you not just hear me, asshole?!” he struggled. “I just said there’s been a misunderstanding!”
The officer continued to read my husband his Miranda Rights as he was shoved into the back of the cop car.
Felix’s shouts of frustration continued as they pulled away. Then, he spared me one look through the window. One last glance of desperation andhope. There was none left to give.
I was unsure how long I stood there, stuck in a trance, blindly staring down the empty, winding road in which they had disappeared. Until a warm hand slipped into mine—sure, steady fingers lacing with my own.
