Chapter 1 - The Experiment Ends
“Then why are you?” Russell asked.
I looked through the conference-room window at the Chicago River moving beneath the rain.
“Because I wanted one moment he could never explain away.”
Russell closed the evidence file.
“You already have seven years of fraud.”
“Fraud can be blamed on pressure.”
“Affairs can be blamed on loneliness.”
“Cruel words can be blamed on anger.”
I touched the forged authorization bearing my hidden legal name.
“But if Victor looks directly at a woman he believes has nothing and chooses to destroy her, then I will never again wonder whether I misunderstood him.”
Russell’s expression softened.
“You are still hoping he stops.”
“Yes.”
“That is not an experiment, Olivia.”
“What is it?”
“Grief arriving early.”
I left the conference room at six-thirty.
The rain had already begun striking the windows sideways.
Victor did not know I was coming home.
He believed I was spending the night with a former coworker in Milwaukee.
When I entered the penthouse, Kendra was sitting in my chair wearing one of my silk robes.
Victor stood near the bar with champagne in his hand.
Eleanor sat on the sofa as though she had been invited to supervise my replacement.
No one looked ashamed.
Kendra smiled first.
“Oh.”
“The wife came home.”
Victor placed his glass down.
“You were supposed to be gone until tomorrow.”
“This is my home.”
Eleanor laughed softly.
“Victor was just explaining that the marriage has run its course.”
Kendra crossed one leg over the other.
“She should know before the building staff does.”
I looked at Victor.
“Is that why she is wearing my robe?”
“You always make things ugly.”
“You brought your mistress into our bed.”
“Our marriage has been dead for years.”
“Then why did you continue using my bank account?”
His eyes narrowed.
“You have no bank account.”
“I give you an allowance.”
That was the moment I knew Russell had been right.
Victor did not see me as a wife.
He saw me as a dependent object he had purchased cheaply.
I walked toward the bedroom.
“I will collect my things.”
He caught my arm.
“You are leaving with what I say belongs to you.”
“Let go.”
Kendra rose.
“Victor, don’t let her make a scene.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Women like Olivia become dangerous when they realize kindness is over.”
I pulled my arm free.
Victor slapped me.
The sound echoed through the penthouse.
For one second, all four of us remained still.
Then Victor opened the door and shoved me into the hallway.
“Go back to whatever gutter I found you in.”
The door closed.
I stood barefoot beneath the cold stairwell draft.
Then I called my father.
Three minutes later, Russell stepped from the elevator with two security officers.
He looked at the red mark on my cheek.
“The experiment is over,” he said.
May you like
I nodded.
“End everything.”
