Chapter 9
Kimberly’s POV
Katie appeared in the doorway, catching my question. Her lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Oh, that little doll? When I cut my hand the other day, Cedric was absolutely beside himself with worry,” she said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. “He gave me that trinket as a comfort gift–said it would protect me.”
“He mentioned it reminded him of me–sweet but with character.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “He said it was one of his most treasured possessions. Imagine that.”
She tilted her head, studying my reaction. “Though between us, Kimberley, do I really look anything like that homely little thing? I think we both know who’s the upgrade here…”
The room seemed to tilt as her words registered. Not just a doll–but the physical embodiment of my mother’s blessing, of a time when Cedric and I had been everything to each other. He had given away the last thread connecting us to what we once were.
I turned to Cedric, my voice trembling with rage. “What gives you the right to give away something that was never yours to begin with?”
“My mother had that blessed for me in Venice. It was the last gift she ever gave me. What the hell were you thinking?”
He leaned back in his chair, a calculated smirk playing at his lips. “That little rag doll was so important to you? Sorry, must have slipped my mind. Looked like worthless junk collecting dust…”
Something snapped inside me. I grabbed the heavy crystal ashtray from his desk and hurled it at his head with every ounce of strength I had left.
Cedric didn’t even try to dodge. The crystal struck his forehead with a sickening crack, opening a gash that immediately began weeping blood.
Katie shrieked, “Are you completely psychotic? You could have killed him over a stupid doll!”
She stormed out, returning moments later clutching my triangolo between her manicured fingers like it was contaminated.
“Here’s your precious treasure!” She flung it at my feet with deliberate force. “Take it and get out!”
“It’s just cheap tourist trash nobody would miss. Did you honestly think I wanted your hand–me–downs?”
“Just take your garbage and go before I call security, you deranged bitch!”
The delicate cloth doll hit the hardwood floor and split open along its seams. The tiny scroll with my name and birthdate tore into pieces–just like my life, just like my future. Broken beyond repair.
In that moment, the full weight of my mortality crashed down on me. This wasn’t just a doll being destroyed–it was the last connection to my mother, to the girl I once was, to the love Cedric and I had shared.
I wasn’t ready to die. I hadn’t said goodbye to my mother.
The thought of her waiting eternally for a daughter who would never arrive broke something fundamental inside me.
I crossed the space between us and slapped Katie so hard my palm stung. “That was my mother’s!” I screamed, my voice raw with grief. “She’s dead! I’m dying! And you just destroyed the only thing I had left of her!”
Tears blinded me as I lunged for her throat, but Cedric caught my wrist mid–air, restraining me against his chest.
I stared up at him through burning tears that quickly dissolved into hysterical laughter. All these years of coldness, and this was what it had come to.
“You know I’m dying,” I whispered, “and you’re still finding ways to hurt me. Congratulations, Cedric. Mission accomplished.”
He reached up to wipe my tears, his expression unreadable. “First the cake, now this dying act. You’ve always known exactly how to play me, haven’t you, Kim?”
“Save your performances. They don’t work on me anymore-”
His words cut off abruptly as a warm drop splashed onto the back of his hand.
Chapter 9
Then another. And another.
Blood poured from my nose in a steady stream, worse than any episode before.
My vision tunneled as pain radiated through my body like electricity. My legs buckled beneath me.
As I fell, a strange calm washed over me. Maybe this was it. Maybe I’d finally see my mother again, tell her how right she’d been about everything.
Tell her how I’d tried to be strong.
The last thing I saw was Cedric’s face transforming from contempt to terror as he lunged to catch me, shouting over his shoulder: “CALL AN
AMBULANCE! NOW!”
His arms closed around me as darkness claimed my consciousness, his pristine white shirt turning scarlet with my blood.
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