Too Late to Beg My Vengeance Is My Goodbye

For the ninety-ninth time since I escaped that world, Quinn Delgado found me again.

He sent his message through the System.

"Mistress, the male lead says Virginia Henson's depression is acting up. She wants to eat the chicken curry you make, and he wants you to come back right now and cook it for her."

The Virginia the System spoke of was the female lead of that world.

"The male lead says if you don't come back, he'll send your child to the children's home."

The same excuse. I'd heard it ninety-nine times now.

For my son's sake, I gave in again.

When I got back to the mansion, Quinn was watching a movie with Virginia in his arms.

I walked into the kitchen, and half an hour later carried out a bowl of chicken curry.

Quinn looked at me. "Ginny doesn't sleep well at night, so I have to keep an eye on her. You sleep in the guest room for a few days."

I nodded and said all right.

"She keeps having nightmares. Lend her your good-luck charm again."

I reached out and pressed the charm into Virginia's hand.

Watching me obey so easily, Quinn paused.

"Since when did you get so reasonable?"

"What, still thinking about leaving?"

He let out a soft laugh. "Why put yourself through all this? You know perfectly well that as long as the child is here, you'll always come back."

Quinn was certain I would never leave him.

But what he didn't know was that I'd already found a way to take my son and escape with me.

Once I saved up another three hundred points, I would never come back again.

…

I didn't argue with him. I kept my eyes down, my voice flat.

"Anything else? If not, I'll go pack my things in the master bedroom."

Quinn stared at me, fixed.

After a long silence, he suddenly laughed under his breath.

"Narelle Mason, where's that spirit of yours?"

His tone came slow, flippant and pressing at once.

"You used to fight over everything. You'd throw a fit every single time. How did you get so obedient now?"

Inside I felt nothing. Not the slightest ripple.

It wasn't that I had never cried or made a scene.

But what had it gotten me?

Quinn always found some way to make me give in.

The cruelest time was when my father suddenly died.

I had just given birth then.

My body was weak. Even sitting up was a struggle.

All I could do was beg Quinn, beg him to help me handle the funeral.

He agreed without hesitation at the time.

But when it came down to it, Virginia tossed out one light little line, that her beloved cat had gone missing and she was too frightened to sleep.

Quinn didn't say a word. He turned and went off to look for the cat with her.

He cast away all my pleading like worn-out rags.

That day the rain came down in sheets. I forced my weak body upright and drove a thousand miles.

I brought my father's body home alone, carried the whole funeral on my own.

My father was the person closest to me.

I cried until I had nothing left, fainted, and was taken to the hospital.

Severe postpartum depression pressed down on me until I couldn't breathe.

There were countless times I even wanted to die.

That was also the first time I escaped that world.

But that same night, Quinn found me.

He said if I insisted on not going back, he would dig up my father's grave.

My father was my only family in that world.

In my original world I had been an orphan, with no one to lean on.

It was the father in that world who let me feel what warmth was.

For his sake, in the end I still bowed my head.

"Quinn, this chicken curry seems a little spicy."

"My stomach's been bothering me lately. I can't eat anything spicy."

Virginia's voice cut through my thoughts.

She pouted, tugging gently at Quinn as she complained.

I kept my eyes lowered, perfectly clear inside.

I knew the dish I'd made didn't have a single bit of chili in it.

The flavor was as mild as it could be.

After all, this wasn't the first time she'd framed me.

I opened my mouth, wanting to argue back.