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Chapter 42
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2024-05-10 12:38:57[Atlas]
I have no choice but to call the police.
As soon as I tell Sydney this, she starts to cry.
“But Atlas, don’t you see? I did it for you!” she weeps as she grabs my knees, begging. “I did it for us.”
Disgusted. I stand, avoiding her grasping hands while I text my brother. She keeps calling my name as I pace back and forth. Seeing me otherwise occupied, she leaps to her feet and grabs a small bag from inside of the cleavage of her dress. Opening it, she tilts it above her mouth.
I move to grab it, but she takes a large step backward. The white po
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[Atlas] Cordelia falls limp in my arms, her body completely unresponsive as I call her name over and over again. “Somebody call the paramedics!” I shout into the crowd as I sweep her into my arms. “Hurry, please, I think she might have been poisoned!” At the word “poisoned” the people around me began to panic, worried more about their own safety than that of my wife. How did this happen? How did I let someone get close enough to hurt her s
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[Atlas] Pregnant. Cordelia is pregnant. I stop hearing what else she is saying because my mind is still reeling. How can she be pregnant? Remembering I am not alone, I take a breath and ask, “Two months?” “Around 10 weeks, give or take a day or two depending on when her last menstrual cycle was. The baby should be here by early summer…” she says with a bright smile. “Congratulations.” Our divorce was finalized two months ago. That would mean that she became pregnant just before we signed those papers. Give or take a few days. I think back to exactly when that pregnancy might have occurred. The night I found her drinking wine. Wine that was likely drugged by Sydney. The night she and I... Oh. No. It was only the one time. It’s not possible…I can’t…we can’t… “Mr. Steele,” the doctor calls my name. “Are you okay?” “I’m sorry, I just…It’s been a very long day,” I say to excuse my behavior. “Can I see her?” “As long as you do not disturb her,” the doct
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[Cordelia] Someone is holding my hand. Opening my eyes just a crack, I see Atlas’ blond hair glowing in the nearby lamplight. He looks softer than he usually does with his hair askew and his shirt unbuttoned with cuffs rolled up to his elbows. He is always so crisply dressed, so cold and distant in the way he presents himself to the world–especially to me. Yet at this moment as he sits here holding my hand he looks soft, gentle, and warm. I gasp, my chest pounding as I moan in agony. My entire body feels abused and tender. “Cordelia,” he whispers, hearing me gasp, sitting up a bit str
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[Atlas]She looked so tired when she asked me to leave, that I agreed to give her enough space to rest. I didn’t want to admit that I needed rest too. I was willing to watch over her sleeping form until I knew she was well enough to travel. I wanted to bring her home with me, but she refused. “I want to go slow,” she insisted. “Last time I was forced into your world. This time, I’d like to invite you into mine.”So I went home. Climbing into bed, I couldn’t sleep, haunted by memories of her and me together. Not just the unforgettable passion of that night when our child was conceived, but every kiss, every fight, and every interaction since. This time will be different because this time, we are coming together because we choose to, not because we are told to. Eventually, I gave up on sleeping.I won’t feel comfortable until I’ve seen her safely return to her home. Climbing out of bed, I wash, eat, and rush back to the hospital. When I get there, I don’t stop to check in but go dire
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[Clark] "Come on. Dad!" My daughters pull me along by my arms. I've never been able to deny them anything they wanted but tonight they are asking too much. "It's only a blind date!" "Girls," I admonish, "What have I said, I'm not ready to let someone new into my heart. Your mother was more than enough for me." Cassie stares up at me with her starlight eyes, as deep and black as her mother's, and doesn't relent. "You promised you'd let us have anything we want for our birthday. Grandma helped us pick her out. You have to try, Dad. For us!" "Grandma Suzanna or Grandma Jenny?" I grump, "Who do I need to send a thank you note." "Both!" the girls giggle. "You owe us, Dad," Cassie counters. Her red curls bounce as she stomps her foot. "Do you know how weird it is to look on a DATING AP for potential girlfriends for our father? It's so gross. You should be grateful" "Yeah," Maddie chimes in, swinging her hair over her shoulder as she twists her lips just like Tilly used to, her hand
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[Cordelia]"Wally?" Holding my hand above his head, I pause, hesitating. Just a moment before I was about to take this man's life without even the smallest shred of remorse. It was necessary to protect my family. My children and my husband. "Cordelia," He blinks, his eyes roving my face and the surroundings like a caged animal. Licking his dry, salty lips, his body is otherwise completely still. "I don't have much time. He's fighting me...I..."Wally's muscles spasm, shaking Atlas as well as he holds him in place. Closing his eyes, his body stills, as if the effort of keeping still is so great that he cannot do anything else at the same time. He whispers something that I can't quite make out, so I lean in, trying to capture his words.As my hair brushes his cheek, he repeats himself. "You need to end this, Cordelia. Don't let him escape to harm another. His other mind is gone, Suzanna saw to it, but he can still jump to someone else.""Wally, what are you saying," I shake my head. "No
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[Cordelia]Atlas and I raced down the hall to the exit, soldiers moving out of our way as we passed, nobody bothering to stop us as my husband's icy glare and dominant aura kept them pinned in place. Magnus is dead and I have never been more terrified in my life. The door to the outside pushes open and we are instantly blinded by the overhead sunshine that covers the beach with an oddly bright gray that stings the eyes. It is warmer than it had been earlier, the wind having died down, trapping the moisture of impending rain, held in place by the gathering storm. "Jasper," I call out gently, scanning the beach. "Wally?""Atlas do you see Jasper?" I grab my husband's arm. His pulse is rapid beneath my fingertips as we move forward as one and find the abandoned picnic blanket and Jasper's little galoshes next to a much larger pair. "Wally!" I scream out towards the waves and find him standing in the water, at the far edge of the beach. There is no sign of my son. None. It's as if the
