The Life: Sacrifice (The Life 3)

And where is Victoria while I’m out here suffering like this? I’d done it all for her, only for her to turn around and sell me out. Just wait; as soon as I get back on my feet, which I’m sure I will, I’ll take care of her. I’d done most of it for her after all. She’s the one who wanted to see Gia suffer; I’d only wanted a better life for us. A life without worry or fear of where our next meal was coming from.

I’m still young; I can always start over somewhere else. I raised my fingers to the bandages that wrapped around my head. I hadn’t even had the chance to see what that bitch Gia had done to me. Are my looks gone? I know I’d lost a few teeth, but how much damage had she really done? I couldn’t tell; I couldn’t feel anything through the bandages but pain.

My eyes started to drift closed, but I kept forcing them open with each sound. There was nowhere to hide if something did come after me, no weapon near to hand to defend myself. Just that thought alone was enough to make me wet myself, so I didn’t need my thoughts to drift to Adrienne, which they did.

I’ve never allowed myself to think about her before, so why now? It’s not like she was healthy with her whole life ahead of her when I helped her on her way to hell. I just put her out of her misery, is all. She would’ve wasted time and money trying to find a cure, selfish bitch. What’s so wrong with what I did? Anyone else would’ve done the same.

Her sickness had been like a gift. I’d been trying to find a way to get her out of the picture, anything short of murder, when that ripe plum fell into my lap. It was only after weeks of trying that I realized that her husband wasn’t the type to leave her for me. At first, I was going to seduce him, then use that as blackmail, but he never once gave me the time of day.

I was running out of options by then. The other women were already wary of me, so there was no way for me to set my sights on one of their men to work my magic, and just like an answer to a prayer, she’d fallen ill. I’d changed tact then and played the bereaved friend to the hilt, working my way closer to her. I’d even got her to distrust her friends, making sure she knew every time one of them said or did something against me.

I played the less privileged single mother who was down on her luck to the hilt because by then, I’d already peeped her game. She was one of those bleeding hearts who thought that giving back would help ease her guilt for being more privileged than most. She’s the main type of bitch I hate, those shrinking violet types who bemoan their wealth and the lifestyle it affords them, so they waste time and energy helping the less fortunate.

She didn’t know that while I sat by her bedside reading to her, running errands that she could no longer handle, that I was already spending her money and moving into her life. I wouldn’t have to get my hands dirty, which is something I’d already reserved myself to doing if it came to that. But it would be cleaner this way, easier.

I watched her dwindle away right before my eyes and knew that it was meant to be. That something or someone was making a way for me and my kid to finally have the life we deserved. Then the stupid bitch went hunting for a cure where there was supposed to be none. I didn’t have time to think of a plan. Otherwise, none of this would be happening.

If I’d been given more time, I would’ve made sure to get that nosy bitch out of the house before I did anything, but she was planning to leave for Europe in less than a day, so excited at the prospect of being cured. All I could see was my new life slipping away. I’d been working on Felix for weeks by that point, having learned that the way to his heart was by being there for his dying wife.

I’d spent countless hours taking care of her, putting in time and effort that I was sure would pay off in the end. The man who’d barely spared me a glance before was now smiling and chatting to me when he came home in the evenings, though it was always about her and what kind of day she’d had.

I didn’t mind, though, because I’d had it all planned out. By then, I’d ostracized the others in one way or another, keeping them away from the house. She was too sick to pay much attention to that, and each time they called, I made sure to get to the phone first with an excuse. I was the only one she saw, the only one she had to talk to.