Ivy rushed forward. "Bernard, I know where it is. I'll get it!"
Before she left, she paused at the small window and looked in at me.
The look on her face was pure, undisguised triumph. A grin so vicious it twisted her features.
After she left, Bernard stood rigid, brow knotted, glancing again and again through the window at me. I was barely breathing.
Minutes passed. When Ivy still hadn't returned, he erupted. "Where is she?! Someone go find out why that key isn't here yet!"
"And the rest of you, cut the power! Get an ambulance here NOW!"
He watched them scatter in every direction. Something flickered behind his eyes. Pain, maybe.
The power had barely been off a minute when Ivy came running back, tears streaming down her face. "Bernard, the key... the key is gone..."
The blood left his face entirely.
He staggered toward her, his voice threaded with ice. "How is the key gone. You'd better not be lying to me."
Ivy dropped to her knees with a thud. "This oven was custom-made. It only came with one key. When the maids were cleaning up, they must have thought it was junk and... thrown it away..."
I watched Bernard through half-closed eyes. The pathetic part was that he believed her. An excuse that flimsy, and he swallowed it whole.
He sent someone to get a replacement key made, then pressed his face close to the window. "Sharon, just hold on a little longer. I'm getting you out. Stay with me."
Watching the concern crease his brow, Ivy spoke up again. "Bernard, you brought all my relatives here today. You told them they'd witness your wife apologizing to me. They're all still waiting..."
"The power's off now anyway. Just think of it as giving everyone closure. All she has to do is say she's sorry. It doesn't even have to be sincere..."
Bernard looked at me. Then at Ivy, small and wronged and obedient. He rapped his knuckles against the little window.
"Sharon, no matter how you look at it, today was your fault. Just apologize. Keep it simple. Then I'll drop the whole thing. Alright?"
When I said nothing, his tone softened. "Be good. Everyone's waiting for you to say sorry. Once you do, I'll let you out. Ivy will take good care of you from now on. And I'll love you properly. I promise."
The searing heat and massive blood loss had already blurred my consciousness to almost nothing.