The Key That Failed

It was the seventh year we spent living separately after the marriage. I came to see Blake Shaw, and once again, my key broke and was stuck in the keyhole. I quickly called Blake. He said, "You probably got the wrong key again. Stay in a hotel. I'll come back and open the door." I looked at the sticker on the key and froze. The key was right. He changed the locks. Before I could think further, my father called, and he laughed heartily. "Of course he's out! He came over first thing in the morning, and he brought gifts! Then, my best friend's call came in. She was drunk from the sounds of it. "He's drinking with Zack. Your man's growing to be a good drinker." Then, my brother's call came. "He's a busy guy. Finally found the spare time to help me out with my investments." My mind was reeling. They had no idea I just asked the guard if this house's owner was home, and they said he was. I stopped asking questions. Instead, I called a locksmith. A strange curiosity took hold of me. I wanted to find out what secret my friends and family were keeping from me. Chapter 1 Betrayal The door creaked open, and Melinda Hampton, doing flower arrangement in the living room, looked at the entrance. The moment our eyes met, I felt my blood freeze over. This was the illegitimate daughter that made my mother so furious, it drove her to her death. My father and brother wanted to tear her apart, and my best friend nearly slashed her face to ribbons. Now, she was here, healthy and doing flower arrangement. "Is it your dad and the others?" A familiar voice spoke, and my heart sank. Blake came out of the kitchen. He was wearing an apron, and when our eyes met, he froze. "Helena? What are you doing here?" I didn't answer. Instead, my eyes rested on a sleeping cat lying in a corner. That was the only thing my mother left me. He told me the cat died of a sickness. No, the one who drove my mother to her grave had kept it. Blake quickly took his apron off and tried to hold my hand. "Helena, I can explain. She had nowhere else to go, so I took her in." I looked around. The slippers evidently belonged to two people. There were two toothbrushes too, and even the mugs were matching. Even their clothes were matching. I had never stepped foot in this place, and they'd turned it into their love nest. The door rattled. My father came in with Melinda's favorite brisket, my brother was holding a bouquet of flowers, and my best friend was holding a gigantic plushie. Their smiles were wiped off their faces the moment they saw me. "Helena…" Dead silence fell upon the living room. A sad smile curled my lips. "So, you're all covering up for the bastard girl, huh?" My phone was filled with texts they sent me earlier. "Come back home tomorrow. I'll make a feast for you, daughter!" "Girl, I want to go shopping. Come with me? It's the day after tomorrow." "I'm going to a concert. Come with me, sis!" I only had five days of annual leave every year, and I did all I could to come home as soon as I could just to see Blake. Every time I did, my family and best friend would drag me around for outings, trips, and a lot of other events that made me look like I was treasured. I thought they just missed me; they just wanted to give these two some space. Melinda cried and approached me. "They didn't mean it. They just took pity on me, Helena… Don't get mad at them." I thought these people were on my side, that they hated her guts as much as I did. No. The one who was locked out of their home had always been me. Tears spilled. I wiped them off and looked at the flustered Blake. "We're getting a divorce." Chapter 2 Nefarious Contract The silence that followed swallowed everything around us. Blake froze for a moment, then he pulled me into his arms. "I'll explain everything. Go home. We can talk after you calm down." I was going to get pushed out, then my father raised his voice. "You have no right to talk about divorce, Helena!" Blake pretended to stop him, but my agitated father continued, "All you do is work, work, work! Helena's the one taking care of me! She helped you take care of Blake! You haven't done a single day of your duty!" Something squeezed my heart, and the pain made it impossible to breathe. My father was calling me a failed daughter just to defend the bastard girl who drove my mother to her death. My best friend spoke up. "She's the one who stepped up when I was harassed. You were working and wouldn't even take the call. I was lucky she was there. You have no right to give her attitude." Even my most important friend wouldn't take my side. My brother pulled me. "Helena's taken care of us in your place. Just turn a blind eye, will you?" This was absurd, all of it. So, this was how it felt to be betrayed by those closest to you. "Enough! Everyone stop talking!" Blake wrapped his arms around my shoulders tightly, the edges of his eyes red. "We're not getting divorced, and stop bringing it up. Everything I did was to keep this family together." I laughed at myself. They wanted to get along with the one I hated most. I was never in the equation. Blake kept on persuading, "Now that you know the truth, you can make it up with Melinda, and we can all get along swimmingly." I stepped back, staggering and wobbling as I stared at this man whom I thought I knew well enough. My father was the one who brought his mistress and her child home. Furious and sorrowful, my mother jumped off a building. Blake promised he would get revenge for me and swore he would never become someone like my father. My father and brother cried their hearts out during the service, and they spoke of repentance until dawn broke. That was all an act. I was crying audibly, and I clenched my teeth. "Get along with her all you want, but leave me out of it!" I swiveled and went to the exit, refusing to spare them another moment. "Helena, I can explain!" Blake chased after me and was going to stop me, but someone in the living room gasped. "Melinda's having another low blood sugar episode!" Blake pulled his hand back without saying anything and quickly turned back. The momentum made me roll down two flights of stairs. My knee crashed against the steps, and parts of my bone jutted into the air. Blood trickled down my calf. None came out of that door again. I got up and hobbled right back to the bus station, then I took a bus to the hospital, which is located in the suburb on the other side of the city. I went to HR right away and declared, "I'll study abroad, Jessica. Go through the procedure." Surprised, Jessica teased, "Are you sure you can leave your husband behind? He loves you so much. The hospital knows of your story." A bitter smile tugged on my lips. This was ironic. Jessica helped me fill in the form, and she said, "This would've been trouble if that contract hadn't expired." My heart sank. "What contract?" "The one your husband came up with. He asked the director to keep you here and give you double the benefits. On one condition: you cannot be reassigned to any other hospital. Good thing it's expired, or you can't even leave." Chapter 3 She’s Pregnant Jessica noticed the shock on my face, and she quickly shut up. I looked at the stack of reassignment applications on the desk, and I laughed so hard, I cried. We'd been in a long distance relationship for seven years, and I did all I could to be reassigned to the hospital near our house. I came up with a whole stack of applications, but none of them were approved. And because I lived so far apart from my family, I hadn't been able to see Mom for the last time, and I couldn't visit her grave that frequently either. I thought I didn't clear the reassignment requirements, but in reality, it was that man who made sure I stayed far away from him. Jessica held up the stamp and asked one last time, "Are you sure you're going overseas? Once you do, you're there for at least five years." I nodded, finally letting go of what hope I had left for him. Right after coming out of the office, I heard the nurses talk among themselves. "That's Dr. Lampton's husband. Who's that pregnant woman he's holding?" I looked in the direction of their gaze and saw Blake holding Melinda, and they were holding a pregnancy report. Blake didn't even try to avoid me. "We came here to tell you that Melinda's pregnant." I froze, and my whole body went cold. He then softened his voice as if he was going to persuade a child into doing what she didn't want to. "You know you can't get pregnant now. Melinda will give birth to the baby. She's your sister, and her child is yours too." I was surprisingly calm even after that. I stared at the baby bump. "How many months along now?" Melinda looked away in humiliation. She didn't have the courage to look at me. Blake answered for her, "Three." "Three months…" I muttered again and again. Three months ago, I too was pregnant, and I ran into a car crash. The rainstorm washed away all the blood. I called him again and again. All he had for me was words of regret mixed with his sobs. "I can't leave. Besides, I can't get there in time anyway, but I'll call the cops for you." After that, the doctor said I could never have children of my own, while Blake got her pregnant at the same time. My hand found my belly. It was flat and decorated with a wound. The pain nearly made me curl. Melinda held me, and she was crying. "That was an accident! He got drunk and thought I was you. Please, don't get a divorce just because I'm pregnant." I leaned against the wall and flung her hand away. It wasn't even a powerful fling, but Blake panicked and grabbed my wrist. "Don't vent at her! She's pregnant!" His eyes were filled with rage. He had never gotten mad at me, not even once. Now he was, and for the one I hated most. I laughed bitterly and took out the divorce papers from my bag. "If you worry about her that much, then sign this." Blake froze. He frowned and was about to say something, but Melinda somehow had gotten a knife. She went on her knees and cried, "If you hate me and my baby that much, kill us!" She held my hand in a vice grip, and I couldn't break free. "Let go! Are you mad?" She held the knife through my hand and stabbed it right at her belly. Chapter 4 Punishment Blake shoved me away hard. "How dare you, Helena!" He was shivering. Melinda was lying in a pool of blood, clutching her belly. Her face was a mask of pain. "Of course she hates me. Of course she won't accept me, but I can't believe she attacked the baby…" Blake's eyes were filled with disappointment. "I can't believe I married a vile witch like you! Must've been blind!" He picked up Melinda and went straight to a doctor. People around us screamed, and some cursed. "That doctor tried to kill her!" "I can't believe it! She calls herself a doctor?" I was still holding the knife, and blood was splattered on my whole body. Fifteen minutes later, my phone was filled with insults and vitriol, while trash thrown from the mob hung on my coat. The first thing my father did after rushing to the hospital was slap me. "She's your sister! How could you?" My brother was glaring at me with red eyes. "You're not my sister! Melinda's the only sister I have!" My best friend glared at me and shouted about cutting all ties with me. I went back to my office. My seat was smeared with insults written in red ink. "Mistress", "murderer", and all kinds of names they could think of. My mother despised mistresses when she was alive. In a daze, I quickly posted a statement on the official website. "Melinda's the mistress, just like her mother! I'm innocent!" My father quickly refuted, posting his and Melinda's mother's marriage license under the post. "Melinda's mother is not a mistress." I stared at the stamp, stunned. So that license he had with my mother was a fake. My heart shattered. The graveyard's attendant suddenly called. "Someone crushed your mother's grave, Ms. Lampton! You have to come over now!" I arrived staggering and hobbling. The excavator was smashing my mother's grave again and again. "Stop! Don't smash it!" The excavator's roars drowned out my voice, and the rollers crushed my legs. My shrill screams pierced the clouds. I called Blake without thinking, but no one picked up. I called him again, but his phone was turned off. That took all my strength, and I lay in a pool of my own blood like a broken doll. A video from Melinda came to me. Blake kissed her lips deeply, and he said something through his sobs. "We'll have more children of our own. I'll have someone smash her mother's grave. I will not let you and your mother suffer." The video played again and again, and every time it did, my heart cooled further until it was frozen. Her texts came next, every single one challenging. "Your mother's a mistress, just like you." "Mistresses get put in their place! Tell your mother I said hi when you see her in hell!" Despair washed over me, and I closed my eyes. … Three hours later, Blake and his entourage arrived at the graveyard. He was going to get back at me for Melinda, but the moment he stepped into the graveyard, he wobbled, and his legs nearly buckled.