Bound by Hatred, Lost in Love

I stared at my right leg. The wound was slowly scabbing over, a reminder etched into my skin of everything that had happened.

Two silhouettes walking side by side flashed through my mind, squeezing my heart like a fist.

I didn't sleep that night.

The next morning, my doorbell rang.

Mason. Again.

"Bridget, how's your leg? Let me take you to the hospital."

I looked at that handsome face, and the pain twisted through me so sharply I could barely breathe. I turned away from him and staggered into a chair.

Everything from yesterday flooded back.

A dull, creeping ache coiled through my body.

My eyes burned red. I ground the word out through clenched teeth: "Get out."

Mason acted like he hadn't heard. He walked toward me, reaching down as if to pick me up.

I recoiled from him in an instant, scrambling free. My whole body shook beyond my control as I stared at him. There was nothing left in my eyes but hatred and pain.

"Mason, I'll say it one more time. You feel guilty? You want to make amends? Then go die. That's the best thing you could do for me."

I glared at him, then added:

"I never want to see you again!"

After that day, Mason didn't come back.

Time seemed to crawl. Cold air settled over Ashford City like a slow frost.

I found out about Mason and Melody's engagement from a billboard on the street.

The photo showed a perfect couple, as if they'd been made for each other.

That night, I received a text message.

The contact name was Melody Fox.

"I know everything about what happened between you two back then. You've always been a thorn in Mason's side. Name your price and leave Ashford City."

"Only when you're gone will any of this be over," the next message read.

I stared at the screen, expression blank, and blocked her number.

One day, I was walking down the street as usual when a car pulled up beside me.

The window rolled down.

"Well, well. Bridget Simmons. It really is you. Long time no see."

"You've gotten so thin."

I turned toward the voice. Cedric Finch. Mason's business partner.

"Why are you still hanging around Ashford City?"

I frowned, my voice cold as ice:

"My home is in Ashford City."

Cedric let out a short laugh.

"Home? Isn't your mother dead? What home do you have?"

The words hit me like a slap. I froze where I stood, my eyes flooding red, and I fixed him with a stare so savage he might as well have been looking at something rabid. I didn't blink. I didn't move.

Cedric shifted in his seat, unnerved. He rolled the window up and sped off.