“Mia. Oh, God. Mia.”
Alex’s voice carried the perfect note of panic as he rushed to my side. I felt his hands on my shoulders, shaking me gently.
ke up. Come on, wake up.”
His performance was flawless. If I hadn’t been pretending, I would have believed every word. Alex checked my pulse, his fingers pressing against my wrist with practiced ease. Then I heard him stand up, his footsteps moving away from me. There was a pause, and then the sound I’d been dreading and hoping for at the same time, his phone dialing.
“It’s me,” Alex said, his voice completely different now. Gone was the worried husband. This voice was cold, business-like. “She’s out. Took a little longer tonight, but the dose worked perfectly.”
My blood turned to ice. Every muscle in my body wanted to tense, but I forced myself to remain limp, lifeless.
“Yeah, I know the presentation is tomorrow,” Alex continued, and I could hear him pacing. “That’s exactly why tonight is perfect. She’ll be unconscious for at least 4 hours. I can get everything we need from her laptop.”
The presentation. My presentation. The campaign I’d been working on for 6 months. The one that could secure the biggest client in our company’s history. The project that had consumed my life, that I’d stayed up countless nights perfecting. The files are all on her personal laptop in the home office, Alex said. “She’s been so paranoid about security lately, she won’t even use the company network for the final drafts. Makes our job easier.”
Actually, our job. There was someone else involved. Someone who had been paying my husband to drug me, to steal my work, to destroy everything I’d built.
“Listen, I need to know the transfer goes through tonight.” Alex’s voice grew sharper. “I’ve been doing this for 3 months. 3 months of watching her stumble around like a zombie. Of pretending to be concerned while she slowly fell apart. The money better be in my account by morning or I’m done.”
3 months. That’s exactly when the dizziness had started. Right after my promotion. Right after I’d been chosen to lead the Morrison Industries campaign. The biggest opportunity of my career. and Alex had been systematically sabotaging me from the very beginning.
“No, she doesn’t suspect anything,” he said. And I heard him moving closer to where I lay. “She thinks she’s sick. Been to the doctor twice, convinced something’s wrong with her health. It’s actually pretty pathetic.”
Pathetic. The word hit me like a physical blow. This man who had held me while I cried about my failing health, who had cooked me special meals to help me feel better, who had suggested I take time off work because I seemed so unwell. He thought I was pathetic.
“I’ll have the files copied within the hour,” Alex said. “Morrison Industries will never know what hit them. Their biggest campaign handed right to your company before they can even present it.”
The call ended and I heard Alex’s footsteps approaching again. I felt him kneel beside me, his hand touching my forehead with fake tenderness.
“Sleep tight, baby,” he whispered. “Tomorrow’s going to be a very interesting day.”
As his footsteps retreated toward the home office, I finally allowed myself to breathe. But I couldn’t move yet. I had to wait until I was sure he was distracted, until I could figure out how to escape this nightmare. Because now I knew the truth, and everything depended on what I did next. Three months earlier, I had been on top of the world. The promotion to senior marketing director came with a corner office, a substantial raise, and the responsibility I’d been craving for years. When my boss, Mr. Harrison, called me into his office that Tuesday morning in June, I thought I was in trouble for something. Instead, he offered me the opportunity of a lifetime. Mia, we’re putting you in charge of the Morrison Industries campaign, he’d said, sliding a thick folder across his mahogany desk. This could be worth 15 million to us if we land it. It’s the biggest pitch we’ve ever attempted.
I remember calling Alex immediately after the meeting, practically bouncing with excitement as I stood in the hallway outside Harrison’s office. Alex had been between jobs for 2 months at that point, and I thought the news would lift his spirits.
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