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+25 Bonus
FREYA POV
“Good morning, Mom.”
“I’m in the kitchen, baby!” I called out, wiping my hands on a dish towel. I forced a bright, warm smile onto my face. “I made your favorite! Blueberry pancakes are waiting.”.
But I noticed the footsteps didn’t move toward the stairs. Instead, I heard her whispering.
A cold prickle of intuition moved down my spine. I set the orange juice carton on the counter and walked toward the hallway. I crept to the base of the stairs and looked up. Luna was sitting on the top step, her back to me. She was holding something small and sleek-a pink-cased smartphone I had never seen before.
“I missed you too,” Luna whispered into the screen. She giggled, and the sound made my heart stop.
I didn’t think before I moved, clearing the stairs in three strides. Luna jumped as my shadow fell over her, her eyes widening in guilt as she tried to shove the phone behind her back.
“Luna,” I said, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to keep it steady. “Who are you talking to?”
“No one,” she squeaked, her lip wobbling.
“Give me the phone, honey.”
“But Daddy said I should not-”
“Give. Me. The. Phone.”
Reluctantly, she pulled it from behind her back and handed it over. It was a brand-new iPhone, top-of-the-line. I looked at the screen. The video call was still active. I raised the phone to my face, and for a second, the world went gray at the edges.
It was Lila.
She was sitting in what looked like a sun-drenched bedroom, wearing a silk robe. When she saw my face instead of Luna’s, her smug expression didn’t falter. She didn’t even look ashamed. She just tilted her head and offered a sharp, cat-like smile.
“Morning, Freya,” Lila purred.
“How dare you,” I breathed, my grip tightening on the phone until I thought the glass might crack. “How dare you talk to my daughter behind my back?”
“Relax, Freya. Mark just wanted her to have a way to reach her favorite mu-auntie. That shouldn’t be a big deal, right?” Lila laughed, a sound jarringly similar to the jagged laugh Mark had given me last night.
“Are you okay?” I asked, barely holding back my rage.
“Freya, you don’t have to be so dramatic. You’re always spiraling, just like Mark says.”
“Just like Mark says?” I muttered,
They were talking about me behind my back, and worse, they were using my daughter as a bridge for their sick game.
“Stay away from my child, you bitch,” I hissed.
“Or what?” Lila’s eyes turned cold. “Can’t you use your brain? You’re the one being replaced, Freya. Legally, emotionally… and soon, physically.”
She ended the call. The screen went black, leaving me staring at my own reflection-eyes bloodshot, hair messy, looking every bit the “spiraling” woman they wanted me to be.
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I looked down at Luna. She was staring at me with huge, frightened eyes.
“The phone!” Luna’s voice rose, shrill and panicked. “Give it back!”
I stared at the screen, my blood turning to ice. Lila was gone, but her smug face felt burned into my retinas. This intruder was inside my house through a four-inch screen, whispering poison into my daughter’s ears.
“You are not using this phone, Luna. Come downstairs for breakfast,” I said, turning to walk away.
“Daddy said I have to keep it hidden! It’s our secret!” Luna reached for the pink phone, her small hands clawing at my arm. Auntie Lila says you’re mean! Give it back!”
The sound of my daughter-my soul, the person I had sacrificed everything for-defending her snapped something inside me.
“Secrets?” I whispered, my voice trembling with a terrifying heat. “In this house?”
In one blurred motion, I raised the phone high and hurled it against the hardwood floor with every ounce of strength I had.
CRUNCH.
The screen shattered into a thousand jagged diamonds. Luna let out a piercing, blood-curdling scream. It was a sound of pure terror, as if I had just killed a pet in front of her. She recoiled from me, her eyes wide with a horror I had never seen directed at me before.
“Luna, baby, hey… I’m sorry-“I reached out, my heart breaking at the sight of her fear. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just-”
“I HATE YOU!” she shrieked, backing away. “I want Aunt Lila! She’s nice! She doesn’t break things! I want my other mommy!”
The words felt like a physical blade through my chest. Other mommy.
“What the hell is going on?” Mark’s voice boomed.
He rushed out of his office, looking disheveled but instantly alert. He saw the shattered phone, then looked at Luna, who was sobbing hysterically.
“She broke it!” Luna wailed, throwing herself at Mark’s legs. “Mommy’s being scary! Take me away from her! Please, Daddy, I want to go to Lila’s house!”
Mark picked her up, his eyes meeting mine with a terrifying, triumphant coldness. He didn’t just look angry; he looked like he was finally done with me.
“See, Freya?” he said softly, patting Luna’s back. “Even the child sees it. You’re unstable. You’re a danger to this family,”
“You bought her a secret phone, Mark,” I choked out. “You let that woman talk to our daughter! You did this!”
Mark stepped closer, leaning in so only I could hear his voice over Luna’s muffled sobs.
“Maybe divorce isn’t even the best option anymore; I thought I was wrong,” he whispered, his eyes dark and hollow. “Maybe you should just disappear. Even your own daughter despises you. Look at her. She doesn’t even want you to touch her.”
He turned and walked out the front door, Luna’s small arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She didn’t look back. Not once.
I collapsed. My knees hit the floor right next to the shattered glass. I just stared at the wall, my mind a static hum of nothingness. I was a shadow.
I don’t remember driving. I just found myself standing at the entrance of the gym. My hair was a mess, my eyes were swollen, and I was still in the outfit I’d pulled on that morning.
Across the floor, Steve was training a woman on the squat rack. He looked focused and steady-until he looked up. His eyes locked onto mine, and his entire posture changed. He dropped the clipboard in his hand.
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“Freya?” 1
Ignoring everyone else, I walked toward him.
“I’m only here for a workout,” I said, my voice sounding like it was coming from underwater.
I walked past him, heading straight for the treadmill at the end of the row. I hit the manual start and cranked the speed. 6.0… S.O… 10.0. I didn’t warm up. I just started sprinting. My lungs burned, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the sound of Luna saying she hated me.
“Freya, stop! You’re going to hurt yourself!” Steve rushed closer, his hand reaching for the emergency stop.
“Get away from me!” I shoved his hand away. “Don’t touch me! I need to move! I need to-”
The whole gym had stopped to stare.
“That’s enough,” Steve growled.
He held me back this time, hit the stop button, and before I could stumble, he swept my legs out from under me. He hoisted me up in a bridal carry, his grip like iron.
“Let me go! Steve, put me down!” I thrashed, my fists hitting his chest as I broke into a sob.
He didn’t say a word. He carried me past the prying eyes and into the small private room in the back. He kicked the door shut and set me down on the edge of the massage table.
I tried to stand up immediately, but the world spun. “I thought I would be fine!” I screamed at him. “I thought I could handle it! But I’m not! And you-you just come around to tease my life! To show me what I’m missing while my husband takes my daughter to her!”
I was hysterical. I started hitting him again-not to hurt him, but because he was the only thing solid in my crumbling world.
“She called her Mommy! She said she hated me!” I sobbed. “I have nothing! I am nothing!”
I kept swinging, my small fists thudding against his rock-hard chest. I was spitting out every bit of pain, every year of silence, every ounce of Mark’s abuse. Steve didn’t move. He didn’t flinch.
“It’s time to rest, Freya,” he muttered softly.
“I don’t want to rest! I want to-
Before I could finish, I felt a sharp, precise pressure on the side of my neck. My nervous system simply shut off. The room went dark, the scream died in my throat, and the last thing I felt was Steve’s strong arms catching me before I hit the floor.
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