Chapter 3 - The Lion's Den
I walked out of the hospital doors leaning heavily on Julian’s arm, projecting a fake aura of exhaustion and deep apology.
I told him the stress of the pregnancy had made me completely paranoid and delusional.
He smiled his charming, perfectly practiced smile and kissed my forehead with cold, lifeless lips.
"It is okay, my darling, I will always take perfect care of you," he murmured as he opened the car door.
The drive back to our sprawling, isolated mansion was filled with a suffocating, heavy silence.
When we finally walked through the front door, the beautiful house felt exactly like a massive, lavish tomb.
Julian insisted I go upstairs to rest while he prepared my evening chamomile tea in the kitchen.
I walked into our master bathroom, my heart pounding so loudly I thought it might completely burst through my chest.
I poured the contents of my prenatal vitamin capsule down the sink and replaced it with a harmless sugar pill.
When Julian brought the steaming mug of poisoned tea to my bedside, I smiled sweetly and thanked him.
I waited until he turned his back to adjust the heavy velvet curtains before pouring the entire mug into a potted fern.
I feigned a deep, heavy sleep within twenty minutes, listening carefully as Julian’s footsteps retreated down the hallway.
Once the house was completely silent, I slipped out of bed, moving like a ghost over the plush carpets.
I knew Julian kept a hidden wall safe behind a large abstract painting in his private home office.
I had secretly watched him punch in the code months ago, never realizing the dark secrets it contained.
I crept into the pitch-black office, completely ignoring my shaking hands as I entered the six-digit combination.
The heavy steel door clicked open, revealing a neatly organized stack of terrifying, undeniable horrors.
There were three different passports with Julian’s face, each bearing a completely different, fabricated name.
Beneath the passports, I found a stack of life insurance policies taken out on his deceased second wife.
But the most chilling discovery was a small, velvet jewelry box tucked away in the very back corner of the safe.
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I opened it and found a delicate diamond wedding band that definitely did not belong to me.
It was a morbid trophy, plucked from the cold, dead hand of his very first victim.
