“You orchestrated everything. Even your disappearance.” Jade whispered. She stared at him, unsurprised, seeing dark spots in her vision. She placed a hand against the wall, leaning on it as she was about to faint, but somehow managed to remain on her feet.

He gave a smile, a solemn curl of his lips.


"A man has to adapt, Jade. Reinvent himself. And when the opportunity came to shed a heavy skin… well, who was I to turn it down?"


His eyes blazed as he glared at her.


Arms enveloped her waist. Randall held her roughly against his body. She gasps, her eyes widening and filled with panic. Her eyes swept over to the kitchen: to the stout butcher block underneath which a set of knives gleamed in the soft under-cabinet light. Escape. Her only choice. But how? He was bigger, stronger, crazed and worst of all, he was angry.


He ran his hand through her hair, as if he was trying to reassure her.


“Don’t be mean, darling. You wouldn’t hurt your own husband, would you? You wouldn’t want to do anything rash…I mean, I’d hate to tell the authorities about how you planned this entire dead husband scheme for a little cash.” His finger caused a tickle as it trailed down her cheek.


“What do you mean my plan?! This was all you! I didn’t even know about this until you showed up at my doorstep.” She attempted to shove him away, but in response, she shrieked as she was thrown against the wall. Her head bouncing off while she snapped her eyes shut and grit her teeth.


Her hands were raised above her head, while Randall's hips pinned her against the wall. He now leaned in close toward her face, pants heavy and ragged. Those sharp exhalations hit her cheeks, a combination of adrenaline and goosebumps she had never felt before. She shivered as her back hit the wall, the coldness chilling her body, and that further escalated her fear.


One hand held her wrists above her head, while the other grabs her chin roughly, forcing Jade to look in his eyes. She squirmed uncomfortably, but couldn’t move. It took everything in her not scream, panic and alert the neighbors. The last thing she wanted was someone getting hurt because of her.


So, she stopped struggling and relaxed. Even though everything in her was screaming to run and disappear forever. Randall pressed his lips on hers possessively, bruising her mouth. She swallows a scream feeling his teeth bite her. He chuckles, his face dropping close to her ear.


“So, my dearest wife,” He starts, his voice dropping to a low, menacing purr, “now that I’m back, what do you suppose we do about our little situation?”


She remained silent, not wanting to answer him.


His hand came towards her and brushed her cheek, making her flinch in response. Jade has realized that Randall was no longer the same man…not entirely. He seems to have returned more sinister and colder than before. Maybe he was already this way and she had chosen not to see it.


It didn’t matter anymore though. She was stronger now.


His reappearance had no doubt, shook her and caught her off guard, but unlike the past five years, she had not spent them weeping with pity, scared and confining herself to a solitary existence. She had learned, and she had evolved into something else.


She was a new woman. This time she has to be smarter than him. Play the game…but change the rules. Her ex-husband wasn’t going to go away easy this time. That didn’t mean she was going to let him take control…No, she was going to give him the illusion of control.


And as her mother once told her, men are not complicated. They want to be fed, fucked and appreciated.


Plain and simple.


Right next door, Damon was in his own apartment, pressing his ear to the shared apartment wall as his heart thumped heavily in his chest. He'd heard the knocking at first, the faint murmur of two different voices, then casting his mind back, there came Randall's voice, perfectly clear through the thin wall.


Damon had always believed that her ex-husband was a monster, and he had the sight to see how Randall subtly dimmed Jade's light through all those years. And Damon had loved Jade from way back in high school, a powerful, yet secretive love she knew nothing about. Damon watched her from afar, wanting to protect her and make her smile but never did try because he respected her marriage, even to a man he despised.


He remembered her since their high school days. Jade was a straight-A student, always away from trouble. She was a force of spirit who refused to be bullied and stood up for anyone else who was. She was strong-willed, her determination unmatched. Everyone had respect for her; she could have easily commanded the whole school if she had so wished.


Damon chuckled.


The cheerleaders, especially Nadine, the head cheerleader, pleaded with Jade to join them. Jade would politely decline each time, much to Nadine's frustration. He also remembered that Nadine was Randall's former mistress…or still is.


Damon shook his head.


When Randall died, a surge of relief ran through him at the thought that Jade was free at last. That that was the end of it all. But all of that relief now changed into a stone-cold dread. He heard the trembling voice of Jade and later Randall's chilling laughter. She was in danger…not without his help. But he could not just barge in there.


Randall was clever, scheming and probably quite dangerous. Damon had to be the smarter one. He pulled out his cellphone and hovered his finger above the keypad, ready to dial 911, but he stopped. No…Not yet. Not until he devised a plan to get Jade out without alerting Randall that he was there, or that he was aware of the incident. He had to be cool. He had to be calm.


He listened closely, putting pieces of the fragmented conversations together. Randall wanted something: revenge, money, control. Jade was scared, yet, she remained defiant. That was his Jade. She was kind, smart, sassy, and independent. The strong woman he had always adored. It took some time but Jade had healed and found herself again.


He wondered though, if that was about to change?


Damon looked at his toolbox in the corner of the living room. A cold, determined smile spread across his face. An idea struck him. Sheer risk, but it might buy the time needed for Jade to get away. He had to create a distraction, a disturbance loud enough for Randall to come and investigate... even momentarily.


Just enough time for Jade to get out.