When He Kneels Begging My Forgiveness, I've Already Fled Far Away

Rosamond's voice was ice-cold.

"Then I'll have no choice but to call the police."

Olympia laughed, sliding the bracelet off her wrist as she did.

"Oh, right. How could I forget? You're the famous Attorney Henson. Getting a little bracelet back can't be that hard for you."

"But then again..."

She glanced at Rosamond, then slowly extended the hand holding the bracelet out over the swimming pool.

"What if this bracelet just... disappeared? Calling the police wouldn't do you much good then, would it?"

Rosamond's eyes locked onto Olympia's hand, every muscle in her face pulled taut.

"You wouldn't dare."

Olympia's expression twisted with malice.

"Wouldn't I? It's just a bracelet. Your own husband gave it to me. Even if I accidentally broke it, what are they going to do, throw me in jail?"

Her fingers began to loosen.

Rosamond lunged forward and grabbed her arm.

"Don't!"

"Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. Just give me the bracelet back!"

It was the last thing she had of her grandmother's. She would not stand by and watch it be destroyed.

Olympia's smile widened, bright and vicious.

"That's more like it. When you're begging someone, you should act like it."

"Now get on your knees. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll give it back."

Rosamond stared at her, stunned. She hadn't imagined Olympia would stoop to this.

When Rosamond didn't move, Olympia raised the bracelet over the water again.

"I'll count to three. If you're not on your knees, it goes in."

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"I'll kneel!"

Rosamond clenched her jaw, stripped herself of every shred of dignity, and sank to her knees on the cold tile.

Olympia burst out laughing.

"Oh my God, I never thought I'd see the day. The great Attorney Henson, so proud, so untouchable, kneeling at my feet like a dog."

"Rosamond, I told you a long time ago. I'd take everything from you. Do you believe me now?"

"Your husband, your career, all mine. And now your dignity is under my heel. What do you have left to be proud of?"

"If you know what's good for you, you'll crawl away from Bryce and never come back. Otherwise, I'll make things so much worse."

Grief, humiliation, and fury crashed through Rosamond all at once. She forced herself to hold still, to not fight back.

"Fine. Now can I have the bracelet?"

Olympia held the bracelet out to Rosamond with a careless flick of her wrist.

Rosamond's eyes lit up. She reached for it.

The next second, Olympia yanked her hand back and flung the bracelet into the pool.

It hit the water with a small splash, sending ripples fanning outward.

Rosamond froze for half a heartbeat, then threw herself in after it.

She'd forgotten she couldn't swim.

Olympia watched Rosamond thrashing in the water and turned to leave.

But a shout rang out from somewhere behind her. Her eyes darted, calculating, and she jumped in after her.

The freezing water swallowed Rosamond inch by inch. Just as her lungs were about to give out, someone hauled her to the surface.

She barely had time to gasp before Bryce's palm cracked across her face.

"Rosamond, you've gone too far! You know Olympia can't swim, and you pushed her in? Are you trying to kill her?!"

Olympia sobbed in Bryce's arms, her voice thin and trembling.

"Bryce, please don't blame Attorney Henson. It's my fault. I shouldn't have shown my face around her and upset her..."

Cold seeped through every cell in Rosamond's body. She was shaking so hard she could barely form words.

"I didn't push her. She threw my grandmother's bracelet into the pool. I went in to find it."

"I don't know why she ended up in the water."

Before she could finish, Olympia cut in.

"Attorney Henson, I know you don't like me, but you can't just make things up like this."

"Bryce already promised to return the bracelet to you. Why would I throw it away right in front of you?"

The crowd was buying every word. Rosamond pressed on, desperate.

"She really threw it in. Send someone down to look. If it's not there, I'll apologize to her on the spot."

She turned to find a staff member.

Bryce stopped her.

"Rosamond, when did you become such a liar?"

Something cracked inside her. Even someone as strong as Rosamond felt the sting of being accused again and again of things she hadn't done.

"Bryce, I have never lied. If you don't believe me, just wait until I get the bracelet out of the water..."

The words died on her lips. She stood frozen, staring, the shock plain on her face.

Because Bryce had just pulled her grandmother's bracelet from his jacket pocket.

He looked at her, his expression heavy with disgust.

"This is your grandmother's bracelet, isn't it?"

"Olympia gave it to me before the party even started. Asked me to return it to you. I didn't think I'd need it as evidence."

"Rosamond, you keep saying your grandmother loved you more than anyone. But now you're using her bracelet as a prop to frame Olympia."

"You are a complete disappointment. Since you care so little about this bracelet, let's put it out of its misery. At least then you can't use it to hurt anyone else."

Something dark and final crossed his face. He hurled the bracelet at the ground.

It shattered into pieces, just like her heart.

"No!"

Rosamond dropped to her knees, scrambling across the ground like a woman possessed, gathering every fragment she could find.

Bryce glanced down at her with flat, empty eyes.

"Pathetic."

Then he gathered Olympia in his arms and walked away.

Rosamond clutched the broken pieces to her chest and wept. She wept until she couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't feel the shards slicing her palms open, blood running between her fingers.

"I'm sorry, Grandma. I'm so sorry..."

"It's all my fault. I couldn't even protect the one thing you left me..."

In the darkness, her phone screen flickered to life. A message from her mother.

Rosamond, your immigration paperwork is finalized. Your father and I will be waiting for you at the airport the morning after next.

Something stirred in the numb wasteland of her chest.

She could finally leave.