“Why did he kidnap Scarlet?” Oscar asks again. “You know, don’t you?” He hears Fiona taking a deep breath as she begins to speak.

“It was a while after she left Ben,” Fiona says softly, slowly lowering her gaze not wanting to look at her husband. “Ben was not in good shape as you can imagine and though Tom said everything would be alright, that we would get Ben back. I knew he was right and I just needed to be there for him, but then I saw…”

“Saw what?” Oscar asks curiously.

“She was so happy. Smiling and laughing without a care in the world.” Oscar could see Fiona’s pain. “We ran into each other, we talked normally. I did my best to be polite but she then asked me how Ben was doing. I was furious.” At that moment her expression and the way she spoke was like she was reliving a memory and Oscar was standing there witnessing it. “She knew how Ben was doing. She knew what she did and the impact it left on my brother. She just wanted me to admit how upset he was for the sake of her own twisted ego.”

“Ruby.”

“Let me finish!” Fiona shouts trying to maintain an ounce of composure. “I tried to tell myself that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t that bad. But when I lied and told her Ben was doing fine, she said ‘I didn’t expect that.’” Rage filled her voice as she continued. “She just wanted to hurt him; it was so obvious… how could I forgive someone like that.”

“And that was when you found Nicholas?” Oscar asks as Fiona takes her time to answer.

“It was more like he found me,” Fiona says as Oscar looks at her startled. “It’s true I did think of killing her but I did not have any plan for it. I was contemplating different ways to ruin her life, but one thing stopped me.” Fiona sighs. “I thought that if things went bad, she might run back to Ben.”

“You still didn’t answer my question,” Oscar says looking agitated.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Tom and I were out in a bar one day and we were talking about the whole Ben and Scarlet situation. I think he must have overheard us or something, I was waiting for a cab outside when he said ‘I can help you get rid of your problems.’ I thought he was drunk but, I got curious so I asked him what he meant.”

“So, your curiosity ended up killing Scarlet,” Oscar comments. “Let me guess you agreed immediately? Was it your idea to have her kidnapped? Tortured maybe?”

“Yes,” Fiona says softly as Oscar’s eyes widen as he is now in shock. “But I couldn’t, I saw her there unconscious and I couldn’t. I am not like him… please Oscar,” Fiona begs.

“Enough,” Oscar says in a tired voice. “I cannot take any more of this. It’s too much.”

“Don’t you understand, it was all for Ben. I would do anything for my brother. That woman was torturing him, every moment she lived happily. She did it to hurt him…”

“I know,” Oscar says and then pauses for a moment. Fiona looks at him with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, hoping he now understands. “Every time Ann defended Nicholas I thought about what a horrible man he was and how much he deserved to be punished. Not because he killed someone but because he somehow convinced my sister to defend him. He clearly has a grip on her that even I couldn’t break and I couldn’t stand it. To see her so weak, hurt and I was scared that she might put herself in danger to protect him and I couldn’t allow that. What hurts the most is that now, I realise, that it was because of you, my sister is the way she is.”

“Oscar…,” Fiona says softly in a heart-wrenching voice.

“I am her brother and you not only hurt me but her as well. And I will not put her in a place where she has to go through something like this again.”

“What are you saying, Oscar?” Fiona says desperately. “You love Ann the way I love Ben. You would do anything for her and you know it. Why is it that…”

“What you don’t understand the reason that monster came into her life in the first place was because of you! The reason Ben was suspected of murder because of you! That everything that happened was because of you!” Oscar’s voice trembles as his heart breaks with these words. “Leave Fiona….”

“Oscar please, I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Fiona says now sobbing. “It went wrong so quickly I didn’t know what to do.”

Oscar looks at her one final time with tears in his eyes as she realised, no matter what excuse she gave, he was right. She has nowhere to run; her back is against the wall as the consequences of everything she did has finally caught up with her. She now realises she has broken the hearts of many, but Fiona is not the only one face to face with a disastrous truth.