chapter 12: WALKING DEAD

ADRIAN

Well am not into Vanessa, and remember you both are my step mom and sister, you don't make any rule in my life.

Note it was the stupid decision that your husband made that got me in the stupid situation, Adrian said and angrily walked away.

But stopped half way

Your punishment is over, he didn't turn, he just continued walking before he was out of sight.

DAYS ON

Kimberley's POV

I can't seem to find a reason to smile, to even lift my head from the pillow.

I've lost everything.

And yet, I still feel this strange, throbbing hope that somehow things will get better, but deep down, I know they won't.

Alexander hasn't looked at me the same way since everything went down.

He hasn't said a word to me. In fact, we don't even speak.

I'm stuck in this house, this cage of silence, just waiting for something, anything to change.

But it never does.

Every time I close my eyes, I see that video, see the lies, and hear the voices of everyone.

That I am the villain.

I wish it were all just a nightmare, but every time I open my eyes, reality slaps me harder than the last.

It's another afternoon.

I should be doing something, but every action feels too heavy.

I can't focus. I'm not even sure how much time has passed.

I should've been preparing lunch, but I forgot to even check the time.

I forgot again.

My hand trembles as I reach for a glass of water, but I spill it all over myself.

The cold water seeps into my clothes, but it doesn't matter. Nothing matters.

The tears come without warning, and soon I'm crying, sobbing uncontrollably, but I can't even understand why.

Life in my father's house is much better than her, even with Emily and her mother's maltreatment.

I think it's much better that this hell of a prison called my husband's house.

Damon's POV

I had to step away. I couldn't stand it anymore.

Kimberley was a mess. She hadn't been the same since the day she came back.

Her eyes were distant, her skin pale, and she looked like a ghost of the person I once knew.

I had watched her for a while, trying to make sense of it all.

There's something wrong here. I know it. I could see it in her eyes.

She wasn't just the girl from before. She wasn't the same person.

I hated her, yet, I couldn't ignore how much she was suffering.

Crying.

Constantly crying. She could never stop crying.

I found her in the hallway, standing in the corner like she was in a trance, her hands trembling as she held a small flower in her hand.

She didn't even notice me standing there.

It was as if she was in another world, a world where she was drowning in her own pain.

And if nothing is done, she might die..

I admit I never liked her, but everyone deserves justice.

I like the fights between her and Alex, the constant teasing and exchanging of words.

And come to think of it, the whole Vanessa story doesn't add up.

I need to do something.

Kimberley's POV

I woke up that morning with the same emptiness inside me that I've felt for days now.

I had gotten used to the quietness. The stillness. The moments where my thoughts consume me completely.

Today felt like another one of those days where everything was going to slip through my fingers.

where I would forget something, something small, and yet something important.

But when I was standing in the kitchen, chopping vegetables, something went wrong.

My knife clattered to the floor, and it took me a moment to realize I hadn't been paying attention.

I had nearly cut my finger, but I didn't even feel the pain. The sting of the wound didn't register at first.

I just stood there, staring at my blood on the knife, wondering how I had come to this place.

How had I allowed myself to get here?

Alexander's POV

I couldn't stand it. I couldn't look at her anymore.

Her absence-mindedness, her constant crying, it was too much. I wanted her to snap her out of it, to get her together, but she didn't. Every time I saw her, she was lost in her own thoughts, distant, broken, like she was already dead inside.

The punishments had stopped. The silence had become our form of punishment, but it felt worse than anything physical.

I've never seen someone so consumed by their own self-pity.

I can't even bring myself to look at her anymore. It disgusts me. Everything disgusts me.

I look at her from across the room one afternoon and notice how she's sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room. Her hands are in her lap, and she's just staring at the wall.

She hasn't said a word for hours. She doesn't even seem to care that I'm standing here.

I'm tired of it. I'm tired of the way she keeps torturing herself, the way she keeps crying, like she's hoping I'll change.

But I won't, I don't know why what she did hurts me so badly.

But still, part of me can't ignore the sick feeling that twists my stomach. She's not even fighting anymore. And it angers me.

Vanessa's POV

I saw it. I saw the tension. I saw the way Alexander was acting.

I knew he was getting tired of pretending with Kimberley.

He was really getting tired of it, and I knew it wouldn't take long before they would get back together.

And I won't let that happen.

THE GOSSIPING MAIDS

"Have you seen Kimberley today?" one of the maids whispered to another.

"No, but I heard she's been crying again. She's not eating much either," the other replied, glancing at Kimberley from across the hallway. "Poor thing. I heard she's been acting like a lost puppy in a new mansion."

"The poor girl doesn't even seem to care about herself anymore," the first maid continued. "She's lost everything. She'll never be the same."

"I don't know why Alexander puts up with her. He should just get rid of her, either let her go and be with the guy she wanted to run away with, or give her the respect she deserves as a wife.

What a mess."one said, shaking her head.

She's living like a prisoner in her own castle.

Every day, she always makes a mistake. Either she will fall, break something or injure herself.

Ohhh poor her.

Vanessa is now acting like a princess, well I just hope justice is served right, one of them said walking away.

I would get back to my work, another one said and left.

They all dispatched and went back to their duties.