Chapter 4After the Ice Melts

The week flew by. I submitted three different endings. Every single one was rejected.

My stomach was in knots. I hadn't eaten a proper meal all week. Watching Isabelle bring Jack delicious, home-cooked lunches every day made my takeout taste like ash. I was desperate to finish the script, but Jack kept stonewalling me. The more pressure I felt, the worse my mood became, and the less I ate. The less I ate, the more my stomach hurt.

In just one week, I’d lost ten pounds.

It felt like a white-hot poker was being twisted in my gut. A cold sweat broke out across my skin. My fingers were trembling so badly I could barely type. I was curled in my chair, shaking, about to reach for my pills, when my chair was violently spun around.

Jack was crouching in front of me, his brow knitted in a deep frown. He roughly grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"Mia, what the hell is wrong with you?"

I wanted to tell him to fuck off. I wanted to slap his hands away. But when I opened my mouth, my teeth chattered with pain, and I couldn't even lift my arm.

The next thing I knew, the world tilted. When my head cleared, Jack was carrying me out of the office.

At the hospital, a doctor gave me a quick examination. He looked worried and wanted to run a full panel of tests.

I refused. "You don't have to, Doctor. I know what it is. It's terminal stomach cancer."

The kind doctor was at a loss for words, unable to find the right platitude.

"Doctor," I pleaded, "this is my private medical information. Please, help me keep it a secret. Especially from the man outside."

He agreed. He told Jack exactly what I’d asked him to: that I just had a bad case of gastritis.

Jack was skeptical. "Gastritis makes someone hurt that badly?"

The doctor hesitated. I seized the moment, playfully slapping Jack's arm.

"What, are you worried about me?"

That did it. His face froze over. He turned on his heel and walked away.

As I was slowly making my way out of the hospital, a luxury car pulled up beside me.

"Mrs. Godley. It's been a long time."

Inside was Jack's mother, my former employer.

"Have you forgotten the promise you made when you took my money and left?"

"I haven't forgotten. To never appear in front of Jack again for the rest of my life."

She glanced at me, her eyes dripping with a familiar scorn.

"We met by chance, through work. Don't worry, he can't stand the sight of me. What you're worried about will never happen." I hated being looked at like I was trash, but she had given me the money that saved a life. I owed her that much.

"See that it doesn't. Finish your work and get away from my son."

When I went back to the office the next day, I heard Jack was on a business trip. He'd be gone for two weeks. With the boss away, the administrative staff relaxed.

"Why is the boss gone for so long this time?"

"Oh, you don't know? He's not just there for business. He's scouting maternity hospitals for Ms. Isabelle."

"No wonder! They have the best obstetricians in the country there. He really cares about her, doesn't he?"

I didn't hear the rest. I just got up and walked out.

Back home, I opened my laptop and created a new, blank document.

I knew what kind of ending Jack wanted.

I was just greedy. I had gambled on the foolish hope that he might show me a sliver of mercy.

It was time to give up.

When the snow melts, there will be nothing left between us. In life and in death, we will never meet again.

He approved this ending. The single word "Approved" glowed on my phone screen. A hot, coppery taste filled my mouth, and I coughed, spraying blood across the screen.

Darkness closed in. A bitter smile touched my lips.

My ending, it seemed, was finally here.