Chapter 7 - The Final Breath
The monitor began to wail,
a long,
continuous tone that signaled the end.
My lungs felt like they were filled with lead,
and the light in the room began to dim.
David didn't move toward me.
He didn't try to hold my hand or say goodbye.
He was too busy staring at the lawyer,
his mind racing to find a way out of the legal cage.
"This is a mistake,"
David hissed,
stepping toward Mr. Sterling.
"I am her husband. I have rights to this house and every cent in those accounts."
"You had rights,"
Mr. Sterling corrected,
his voice as cold as a gavel.
"Until you violated the terms of your marriage."
"Until you brought your mistress into this bedroom to measure the windows while your wife was still alive."
Jessica stepped back,
her face twisted in a mixture of fear and rage.
"You can't prove anything!"
she screamed.
Mr. Sterling pointed to the monitor.
"The eye-tracking system records more than just text,
Jessica."
"It records video. It records audio. It records everything that happens in the line of sight of the screen."
"And since you were kind enough to lean directly over Eliza to measure the windows,
we have a very clear view of your face,
your actions,
and your conversation."
I felt a strange sense of peace as the darkness began to take me.
I had done it.
I had protected my legacy.
I had ensured that the man who broke my heart would never profit from my death.
I looked at David one last time.
He looked small.
He looked pathetic.
He looked like a man who had gambled everything on a lie and lost.
The darkness grew heavier,
pressing down on my eyelids.
I saw my father’s face in the mist.
I saw the buildings I had designed,
rising into a clear blue sky.
I felt the weight of the illness lifting,
my soul finally breaking free from the broken architecture of my body.
With one last,
shaky breath,
I let go.
The long beep of the monitor became a flat line.
In the room,
chaos erupted.
David was screaming at the lawyer.
Jessica was sobbing,
trying to tear the jewelry from her neck as if it were burning her skin.
But I was no longer there to hear it.
I was a spirit on the wind,
watching from above as the house I loved became a prison for the people who had betrayed me.
The morning sun broke through the clouds,
shining on the windows Jessica had measured.
They would never belong to her.
They would never belong to David.
By noon,
they would be escorted from the property by the police.
By evening,
David’s bank accounts would be frozen.
By morning,
the world would know exactly who they were.
I had designed many things in my life,
but this was my masterpiece.
May you like
A perfect,
symmetrical revenge.
