Enemy Beloved

42 | heartbreak land - part 2

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V A U G H N

some hours ago:

After the call with the Senator ends, I am left with a pounding headache. I feel like I just imagined the whole conversation. This couldn't be happening.

Why would someone want to kill Claire to hurt me? How is any of this related?

I am a mess of emotions as I check on Claire, tugging the sheets over her body tightly, my hands shaking as I observe her innocence in her deep sleep. She is oblivious to all this and I can't imagine having to tell her that our arrangement is the reason she is in danger.

I caress her cheekbones with my knuckles, feeling numb in my heart. We have gotten closer than I had expected. This feeling is strange; it is killing me.

I jerk my hand from her face as if I have been scalded. Or perhaps it is the thought that I might burn her. Perhaps I already have. I want to keep her safe and that urge — to protect her from every cruel thing in the world instills dread in me, both for myself and her.

Rubbing my face frantically in my nervousness, I get up from the bed, heading out of the room to get some fresh air. I can't even bear looking at her. I feel ashamed due to the fact that I haven't been able to protect her. I haven't been able to protect her from anything.

With my skull pounding and my heartbeats growing erratic in my chest, I start to walk lazily within the mansion, my mind clouded with doubts. I don't know where I am going even as I soak in the eerie silence of my home. Sometimes I just wish I could escape somewhere, away from my past, away from my enemies.

Enemies

How many do I have apart from Michael Hill? Sure, he is my father-in-law and a despicable human being to me but would he go to the extent of hurting his own daughter to get revenge on me?

No. It can't be him. He hates me but not his daughter. They might be distant from each other but I have seen Michael Hill love his kids like anything. He wouldn't go to that extent.

Who might it be then? One of my business rivals?

From what the Senator said, that doesn't seem possible either. The killer seems to have an emotional intention behind hurting me. He wants revenge and it somehow relates to my marriage with Claire.

Her ring. The killer said he despised her ring.

Is it Mason Holiday then? In that case, he should be in prison by now. I would make sure that he never manages to get out.

But Mason had been at the college the day the killer chased Claire in the warehouse. He had been present in the CCTV footage which had been scanned through. There was no sign of a masked man there.

Lost in thoughts, I find myself at the door of Mom's room. I stop there, looking up from my feet to find Mom sitting at the edge of her bed, sobbing silently.

She is dressed for heading to bed yet her door is left open. I lean against the door, watching her as her shoulders shake violently. Upon closer observation, I spot the picture frame she is holding in her hands.

It is of her and Dad on the day of their wedding.

I hitch a breath. The picture where my smiling father stands with his arm around Mom sends a twisted shiver down my gut. Mom has the picture clutched to her chest, her tears unstoppable. I want to reach out, want to comfort her but intruding on her privacy doesn't appear to be a good option.