Mom's Nurse, His Mistress, My Revenge - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

"Noel, please... just give me back the watch." My voice broke as I swallowed my pride. Three years of marriage, and this was the first time I'd ever begged him for anything.
A smug smile played on his lips as he stroked Brianna's hair. "Well? Are you happy now?"
Brianna nodded sweetly, taking the watch before sauntering toward me. "Oh Nellie, why make such a fuss? Noel loves you. If you'd just behave, he wouldn't have to treat you this way."
She crouched down until her face was inches from mine, flashing a smile only I could see—that perfect, poisonous smirk. Then suddenly she gasped, stumbling back with wide, innocent eyes. "Nellie! I was only trying to help! How could you say something so cruel?"
"Cordelia!" Noel's voice cut through the room like a whip. "You're really going to act like this right in front of me?" He snatched the watch from Brianna and hurled it to the floor with a snarl. "I gave you a chance!"
My breath caught as I stared at the shattered pieces. I dropped to my knees, scrambling to collect them as hot tears blurred my vision. "This was Mom's! The only thing she left me—the only thing!"
"You're still on about this?" Noel scoffed. "What, because we were gone a few days, you're trying to guilt-trip me with your dead mom? Some daughter you are. Disgusting."
"Exactly," Brianna chimed in, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "When we left, Auntie even joked about chest pains. Probably just wanted attention. Honestly, I wouldn't put it past you to put her up to it."
"My mother had a heart condition!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face. "She called you for help! And you ignored her! By the time I got there—God—she was already gone!"
The security footage burned in my mind—Mom's weak cries for help behind a locked door, her nails broken from clawing at the floor. My husband and Brianna had locked my disabled mother in that room to die, all for some stupid childhood promise.
"Do you have any idea what Brianna sacrificed caring for your mom?" Noel's voice was ice. "I took her away for two damn days, and you break down doors? You expect me to believe this bullshit?" He barked a bitter laugh. "You and your mom—both liars! Brianna told me she was faking her paralysis. How long were you planning to keep scamming me?"
I'd heard this before. Last time, I'd begged him to call doctors, to believe me. His response still echoed: "Why would I believe you over Brianna? She's a nurse! You'd say anything to keep milking me for your mom."
Now? I didn't even have the strength to fight.
How pathetic. How utterly heartbreaking.
Silently, I pocketed the watch fragments and turned toward the bedroom to pack. Three years of gaslighting, three years of fighting—over. Mom was gone. Nothing tied me here anymore.
Brianna appeared in the doorway, her sickly-sweet voice laced with venom. "Cornelia? Where's Auntie? She's still my patient."
I kept packing.
Then suddenly she was on her knees, fake tears welling in her eyes. "Please, Cornelia! Auntie's safety matters! You wouldn't... hide her somewhere, would you?" Her voice trembled with manufactured panic. "What if something happens to her?"