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.We passed the fourth floor, then the fifth, sixth, seventh.More.Where would it stop? There were fifty floors at Landseer Tower and I passed by most of them before the elevator finally came to a halt.I didn't remember which floor I'd just gone past.I didn't know what floor I was on.I looked up to check the blinking red sign above the elevator doors to see where I was.The sign flashed at me, over and over.No numbers, nothing that made sense, nothing good at all.WHORE.WHORE.WHORE.Over and over, accusing me of infidelity, accusing me of immorality, accusing me of everything.The doors to the elevator opened and an invisible force pushed me forward, sending me crashing into the halls.My knees scraped against the rug and I scrambled to stand and climb to my feet but something or someone kept forcing me down.Trying to get away, crawling on hands and knees, I stumbled down the hallway.Doors opened as I crawled past them.Every door, every single one, and employees of Landseer Enterprises stood there, watching me struggle.I looked at them, or I tried to, and they laughed.I couldn't see their faces; I didn't know if they had faces.I couldn't lift my eyes above their waists, couldn't see anything more than the shoes of men and women staring at me, laughing at me.They shouted.The doors in front of me opened.I didn't know if the doorways themselves or the people standing in them were berating me.Some laughed, and others screamed.Accusations echoed through the halls, clamoring against shouts and shrieks and laughs."Whore!""Slut!""Homewrecker!""Gold digger!"I didn't know who said what or where the shouts were coming from.Everywhere, from everyone.They sounded far off and quiet, then up close and right in my ear.I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks and falling to the floor.Cuts and scrapes on my knees pressed against the salt of my tears on the rug, sending stinging pain through my legs.Up ahead, I saw the door to Asher's office.Gold light pointed the way towards my sanctuary, towards freedom from this harassment, and I tried.I tried so hard to get there, but it didn't matter.Someone opened the door to Asher's office.It was Asher, my husband.He looked towards me and smiled.He was coming for me, he was coming to help me, to save me.I kept crawling, wanting to bridge the gap between us sooner rather than later.He stepped towards me, tall and purposeful.And then he walked past me.He didn't look at me.He said nothing.I tried to turn my head to stare after him but I couldn't.My mouth refused to open, no words or shouts or screams could escape.I could do nothing but stay there on my hands and knees, crying, while everyone around me berated me for being a whore.Or, I could move forward, to nothing.What was the point, though?***I shivered as I woke, cold trembling through my body.It wasn't real cold, just a memory of coldness; the thought of it.When I realized I was awake, my mind settled and my body followed suit, falling into forced relaxation.What a horrible dream.I didn't know what to think about it.I was Jessika Landseer, wife to billionaire CEO Asher Landseer, powerful in my own right even if I didn't feel like it all that much.None of that made me immune to nightmares, though.If anything, I supposed I was more prone to them now.Where was I? This seemed like my dream, but different.I expected to wake up in my bed, at home, with Asher, but some of that was missing.This wasn't my home, first off, and this definitely wasn't my bed.Asher lay behind me, spooning with me.That part was correct, at least.My chilled body warmed to the heat of the room and the blankets covering me and Asher laying behind me, his breath soft against the back of my neck.Suddenly, I remembered.Oh.Just like that, it all came back to me.The hospital.I wasn't sick, nor was Asher, but he'd taken me here last night after I had a panic attack on the front lawn.Which parts were a dream and which weren't? I sorted through the memories in my head, trying to figure it out.Part of me worried and my heartbeat thumped hard against my chest, making me worry even more.Elise and Lucent were.dead?No, no, they weren't [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]