But never, not once, did I imagine he would use my mother's life as a bargaining chip. That he would weaponize the only vulnerability I had left, just to make Victoria happy.
My fists clenched so tight my nails carved crescents into my palms. The pain didn't register. It was nothing compared to what was tearing through my chest.
Despair pressed down on me like a hand over my mouth. I couldn't breathe. I closed my eyes, and tears rolled silently down my cheeks.
When I opened them again, everything inside me had gone quiet. Dead quiet.
"Fine," I whispered. "I'll apologize."
Anthony looked at me with satisfaction, snapped his fingers, and his assistant placed a sheet of paper covered in text on the hospital bed.
"Read it exactly as written. Don't skip a single word."
I picked up the paper. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Every line on that page turned the truth inside out. It pinned all the blame on me, claimed I had slandered Victoria out of jealousy and spite. It even stated that Anthony's faked death was a delusion, a product of my own psychological breakdown.
But I had no way out. None. So I swallowed everything I was feeling, read the script he'd prepared, recorded the video, and posted it.
When it was done, my whole body was ice cold, drenched in a thin sheen of sweat.
Anthony glanced at the wound on my neck. He pulled a checkbook and pen from his pocket, scrawled a string of zeros, and pressed the check into my hand.
He let out a long sigh.
"There's a million dollars here. Consider it compensation."
"Transfer to another hospital as soon as you can. Victoria shouldn't have to see you. It upsets her."
Then he turned and walked out.
I checked out of the hospital on unsteady legs. The moment I stepped outside, my phone rang.
It was my boss.
"Nora, the company is going through a restructuring. Your termination notice has been sent to your email, and the severance has already been deposited into your account."
I stood there, stunned, before I managed a few hollow words.
"Thank you for the opportunity. I understand."
After I hung up, I scrolled through my phone. The apology video I had just recorded was already trending at number one. Every negative story about Victoria had been scrubbed clean, wiped away without a trace, as if none of it had ever existed.
A string of messages popped up on my phone, one after another.
They were from Victoria.