Should I Quietly Walk Away

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Everyone in New York knew that Keith Gilbert, the eldest son of the Gilbert family, had a fiance with no self-respect.

That fiance was me.

He kept one kept woman after another, and I never asked a single question.

Then he fell for the family tutor, Brenda Pruitt, and threw himself into a very public pursuit.

Brenda had a hard edge. She turned him down to his face.

"So you've got a little money. Why should I have to be with you?"

"I hate women who cling to men. I've got two hands and two feet, I can make my own money."

But that was exactly Keith's weakness.

When a man harassed her, he broke both the man's hands.

When she mentioned in passing that she wanted the congee from the South Side, he drove halfway across the city in the middle of the night to get it.

When she lost her temper and smashed things, he picked them up with a smile and said she'd done well, as long as it made her feel better.

For a whole year he cradled her in his palm, coaxing and doting, and in the end he won her.

I thought I'd long since gotten used to it. I thought my heart had stopped hurting a long time ago.

Until Brenda's birthday, when she pointed at the jade pendant around my neck in front of everyone.

It was the only thing my mother left me.

"I don't want any birthday present. I only want that jade pendant."

"And the clothes Miss Dickerson is wearing. I like those too."

Keith looked at me, his voice flat.

"Take off your clothes, and give her the pendant."

In that moment, it hit me.

This engagement had been mine to hold onto, foolishly, all along, and mine alone.

I thought, it was time I let go.

Keith's thin lips parted.

"Why aren't you undressing yet?"

Over the years, the humiliations he'd handed me were too many to count.

I thought I'd gone numb long ago, but the sting still cut through my chest.

With trembling fingers I took off my coat and my blouse.

Only a thin slip was left, bared to everyone's eyes.

My fingers slid to the zipper of my dress.

Keith suddenly barked out,

"Everyone, out!"

The guests, used to scenes like this, drifted out into the courtyard.

Only the three of us were left in the empty hall.

Brenda stood at Keith's side, wrapped in the coat I'd just taken off.

She pointed at my neck.

"There's still the pendant"

I gripped the silk cord of the pendant, my knuckles stiff.

It was the only thing my mother had left me.

Keith swirled the glass in his hand.

"What, can't bear to part with that worthless piece of jade?"

I gave a bitter little laugh, untied the knot, and handed the pendant to Brenda.

Brenda hooked the pendant on her fingertip and spun it a few times, then her hand gave a sudden jerk.

The pendant hit the floor and broke in two.

My face changed.

"What are you doing!"

Tears welled up in Brenda's eyes at once.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I've been copying scriptures to pray for Keith's sister lately, my eyes aren't so good, I just couldn't see clearly"

Keith pulled her into his arms and looked at me coldly.

"Brenda's timid. What are you shouting for? It's just a worthless piece of jade."

Brenda leaned against his chest and sniffled.

"Give her a coat, at least. It's so embarrassing for her, bare like that."

Keith lifted his chin at a servant.

"Bring Miss Dickerson a blanket."

Then he tossed something at my feet.

I looked down. It was a watch.

Keith raised an eyebrow.

"A watch suits a whore just fine."

"For your pendant."

Brenda tugged at his sleeve, her tone earnest.

"Keith, don't talk like that. Miss Dickerson comes from a good family, after all"

"Honestly, her background is far nobler than mine."

Keith gave a cold laugh.

"Brenda, you saved my sister's life. You're the benefactor of the whole Gilbert family. What does she have to compare with you?"

He turned his head toward me.

"Aren't you going to get out?"

I pulled the blanket tight, swallowed the sourness clogging my throat, and turned back to my room.

The room I lived in was really a maid's room.

A bed board, a wardrobe, and nothing else.

After Keith so publicly won Brenda over, she said she wanted the room that used to be mine.

Keith didn't say a word before driving me out here.

I changed into my nightgown and lay down under the covers, cold all over.

Three years ago, a fire left Keith's sister in a vegetative state.

Keith laid all the blame on me.

From that day on, he became a different person.

He wouldn't break off the engagement, and he wouldn't marry.

He just stayed by my side, tormenting me one day at a time.

"You're still living just fine, but my sister will lie in that hospital bed forever!"

I closed my eyes, and the tears slid down from the corners into the pillow.

Late that night, my phone suddenly buzzed like mad.

I jolted awake. Keith's name flashed on the screen.

I answered. His voice was hoarse.

"Come up."

I went upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door.

Warm yellow light leaked through the crack, along with Brenda's soft laughter.

Keith opened the door, faint red marks on his neck.

He lit a cigarette without a thought.

"Go to the convenience store and buy me some condoms."

I had just turned to go downstairs when he called after me.

"One more thing."

I stopped.

He blew out a stream of smoke.

"Buy a few extra boxes. We go through them fast."

I rubbed my eyes and bit my lip.

"Understood."

Night wind slipped down my collar as I walked into the convenience store.

Ten boxes of condoms stacked on the counter. The cashier glanced at me over and over, the surprise plain on his face.

I paid without a word, took the bag, and walked back to the villa.

Keith took the bag and tossed it onto the nightstand.

The door wasn't shut all the way. From inside came the sound of Brenda's breathing.

I was about to leave when Keith's voice drifted out.

"Wait."

"The maid's off today. Come in later and clean up."

I stood outside the door, listening to the sounds inside that made my face burn and my heart pound.

My hand clenched, nails digging into my palm.

It wasn't until the small hours that the room finally went quiet.

I pushed the door open to change the sheets.

The air was thick with a heavy, suggestive smell, the bedding rumpled into a heap.

Keith walked out in his robe. He passed right by me without so much as a glance.

Brenda sat down at the vanity.

I bent to pick up the condoms off the floor.

She spoke lazily.

"Laurel, sometimes I really do admire you."

"Hated this much by a man and you still won't leave. Your skin's thicker than a fortress wall."

I said nothing and kept picking them up.

Then she threw something. It hit the back of my head.

It was the underwear she'd just taken off.

"You're cleaning anyway. Wash these while you're at it."

I held the wad of fabric, my throat closing up.

She picked up her phone and sent a message.

"Keith, my period's almost here. I want Laurel to do my laundry."

A few seconds later, his reply popped up.

"Let her wash them."

I stood up with the underwear in hand and had just turned around.

Brenda stuck out her foot and tripped me.

I went down hard, my knee cracking against the foot of the bed.

The pain blacked out my vision in waves.

She drew her foot back slowly.

"Oops. Not really thinking."

I pushed myself up on my hands. My knee was red with blood.

Gritting my teeth, I walked out of the bedroom one step at a time, back to the maid's room.

I curled up on the cold board of the bed, my forehead burning.

I don't know how long it was before cold water splashed across my face.

My eyes snapped open.

Keith stood by the bed, the cup in his hand still dripping.

Brenda stood behind him in a pink dress, a mocking smile on her face.

"Laurel, we're going to see Keith's sister today, and you've still got the nerve to sleep in?"

Keith set the cup on the nightstand, his voice cold as ice.

"Polly Gilbert's been lying there three years, and you sleep just fine."

I dragged my burning body up and changed clothes.

The woman in the mirror was frighteningly pale.

I pulled on long pants to cover the wound and followed them out to the car.

The car was full of a sweet, cloying scent.

The passenger seat had a pale pink blanket spread over it, a stuffed toy and a diffuser hanging from it.

Everything Brenda liked.

Keith leaned over and fastened her seatbelt for her.

Something bitter rose up in me.

Once, Keith had told me, "The passenger seat will only ever be yours."

I sat in the back and said nothing.

At the nursing home, the ward held only the sound of machines.

Polly lay on the hospital bed, her lips without a trace of color.

Keith stood behind me, his voice cold.

"Kneel."

Every time we came to see Polly these past years, Keith made me kneel for an hour.

Then only I was left in the ward.

I held Polly's hand gently, my voice trembling.

"Polly, I don't think I can keep the promise I made you."

"Every single day now, I'm in pain."

"I don't think... I can hold on much longer."

Three years ago, before Polly slipped into the coma, she'd held my hand.

"Laurel, you have to wait for me to get better, so I can come to your wedding with my brother, okay?"

I nodded and said yes.

But in these three years, everything changed.

My family went completely bankrupt, my mother passed, and my father never stood again after his stroke.

Keith was no longer gentle, and the women beside him changed one after another.

I was like a lamp burning down to nothing, its last bit of light about to go out.

Then someone came to the door.

Brenda leaned against the frame, looking at me on my knees, and curled her lips.

"Laurel, right now you really do look like a stray dog nobody wants."

I lowered my eyes and didn't answer.

She folded her arms and walked over to stand in front of me.

"If I were you, I'd have crawled off far away by now. Why keep asking for it?"

I slowly lifted my head and looked at her.

"Brenda, if I were you, I wouldn't be so smug."

"He can treat me like this. One day he'll treat you the same way."

Brenda's face flushed red in an instant, and she snapped in fury.

"I'm nothing like you!"

Then she smiled. From somewhere she pulled out a dagger.

"Just you wait."

The next second she suddenly seized my hand and shoved it forward.

My foot slipped, and she dragged me down onto the bed with her.

The dagger sank into Polly's calf.

Blood came pouring out.

I froze where I was, my hand still gripping the knife.

Brenda let go at once, backed away, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Ahh"

"Laurel! What are you doing! Don't be rash!"

The door slammed open, and Keith burst in with his people.

He saw the blood on Polly's bed and kicked me square in the chest.

I heard my own rib snap, the pain choking off every word.

Keith threw himself down at the bedside.

"Doctor! Someone, hurry!"

The ward was chaos in a heartbeat.

The doctors and nurses all crowded around that bed. No one paid any attention to me in the corner.

I curled up on the floor, gasping, my vision blacking out in waves.

Brenda huddled in Keith's arms, her voice thick with tears.

"Keith, you've been so cold to Miss Dickerson, she must have taken it all out on Polly..."

"She's so terrifying..."

Only then did Keith turn his eyes to me.

He crouched down, his gaze full of disgust.

"Laurel, seems I've been too kind to you lately."

He took out his phone.

My heart clenched all at once, a huge, crushing fear washing over me.

The call connected.

Keith's voice was cold.

"Pull the ventilator on Laurel's father."

I went white with terror, threw myself down at Keith's feet, and clutched at his trouser leg with everything I had.

"Keith! Don't! I'm begging you, don't!"

"He's the only family I have left! Please! I was wrong, I was wrong!"

Keith kicked me away.

"Get off me!"

"Laurel Dickerson, you don't have a cent to your name. Every dollar keeping your father's ventilator running comes from me."

"If you'd just kept your head down, I could have bought him a little more time. I didn't think you'd be this ungrateful."

I lay on the floor, and the words dried up in my throat.

He was right.

Two hundred thousand a month. He paid all of it.

My father's life had been in his hands the whole time.

Fighting through the tearing pain in my ribs, I pushed myself up and knelt at his feet,

knocking my forehead against the floor, again and again.

"Please... please..."

"Punish me however you want... just spare my father..."

My vision started to blur. Blood from my forehead ran into my eyes.

Everything went black, and I collapsed on the floor.

When I woke, I was lying on the bed in the maid's room, wrapped in bandages.

I bolted upright, my ribs screaming like they were being split apart.

But I couldn't stop for that. I ran out barefoot and grabbed the maid in the living room.

"Where's Keith? Where is he!"

My red eyes startled her.

"Mr.... Mr. Gilbert's in the study."

I rushed to the study. The door was ajar.

Brenda's voice drifted out.

"The look on her face today... she really did seem to be in pain..."

Keith let out a cold laugh.

"What right does she have to be in pain?"

"When my sister was trapped in that fire, she heard the cries for help and turned and walked away."

"If you hadn't run in and saved my sister, she'd have been dead long ago."

"A woman as selfish as Laurel Dickerson, don't you think she deserves to be punished?"

Brenda gave a soft sigh.

"But you set up her family's bankruptcy, then arranged the car crash that hurt her parents... and now her father's dead too. She's already been punished."

Every drop of blood in me froze in that instant.

Dad... was dead after all.

My legs gave out, and I nearly dropped to my knees. I threw out a hand and gripped the wall to keep from falling.

Keith's voice climbed sharply.

"No! Nowhere near enough!"

"My sister had just gotten into a top school. Her whole future was bright, and now all she can do is lie in that bed!"

The crash, the bankruptcy, the deaths...

All the accidents I'd believed in had been engineered by his hand.

The taste of blood surged up in my throat.

I staggered back, clamped a hand over my mouth, turned, and ran.

I ran straight out into the late-night street.

I don't know how long I'd been running when a sharp pain exploded at the back of my head.

My whole body went limp.

When I came to again, I was tied up in a run-down factory.

A few masked men stood around me.

One of them crouched down and yanked a fistful of my hair.

"Call Keith Gilbert. Tell him we want ten million."

The call went through and was picked up on the first ring.

"Laurel Dickerson! Where are you?"

"The maid's off today, and there's laundry waiting for you. Get back here now!"

I opened my mouth, but my throat felt stuffed with cotton.

One of the kidnappers shoved me, and the phone nearly slipped from my hand.

Before I could get a word out, Keith spoke again.

"What happened to your father that's on you"

"There won't be a next time."

The next second, the line went dead.

I sat frozen, the phone still in my hand.

The kidnapper redialed. No one answered.

He tried again. Still nothing.

His face went darker by the second.

I sat on the ground with my head bowed, and somehow I almost wanted to laugh.

Keith didn't care whether I lived or died.

So how could he ever hand over ten million for me?

Three days later, the kidnappers ran out of patience entirely.

Slap after slap landed across my face.

It burned.

"Damn it! You said you were his fiance. Why won't he even pick up?"

My cheek pressed against the dusty ground, and my tears ran down and soaked into the dirt.

I curled up there, shaking all over.

The kidnapper threw the phone down.

"Boss, we just dug something up. Turns out this Keith guy has a mistress. That's the one he actually wants."

"This fiance? He couldn't care less about her!"

"Then let's just finish her off."

A knife drove into my stomach.

Blood surged out of me and soaked through my clothes.

My mind blurred bit by bit, my eyelids growing heavier.

The smell of gunpowder drifted through the air.

I lost consciousness completely.

"BOOM"

The blast sent thick smoke rolling up.

A few days later.

Keith sat in his office, his mood souring by the minute.

"Still no word from Laurel Dickerson?"

His assistant looked a little awkward.

"Mr. Gilbert, Miss Dickerson called you several times before."

Keith's face darkened.

"She's been gone more than a week. A few calls, then nothing. Looks like she has no intention of coming back."

Brenda walked in carrying a bowl of soup, her smile gentle.

"Maybe she left for good."

"Maybe there's another man"

Keith slammed the desk.

"She wouldn't dare!"

The words had barely left him when a wave of startled cries broke out beyond the office.

The staff were all gathered in front of the television.

Keith frowned and stepped out.

"What's going on out here?"

An employee pointed at the news on the wall-mounted TV.

"Mr. Gilbert, there's been a kidnapping in New York!"

Keith looked at the screen.

"Reports say that a week ago, a renowned New York painter surnamed Abbott was kidnapped, and a small explosion occurred at the scene"

"The painter was killed on the spot."