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I jump when the doorbell rings that evening, I rush to open it without even checking the keyhole.
Only to be met with a gun in my face.
“I was hoping it would be you,” a saccharine voice sings. At first, I don’t recognize it. I’m not focusing on much besides the metal in my face.
Much of my brain is still in shock due to the barrel of a gun not even three inches from my eyes.
But then my gaze flickers up and I recognize the perfect coils of blonde hair and the bubblegum pink lipstick.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t really clear up much of what is happening.
“What are you doing?” I blurt out because it's the first thing my confused brain can think of to say.
Maddox's ex's smile widens. “What does it look like? I’m here to kill you.”
“Huh?” It’s not making sense. I’ve never had a gun pulled on me before and even as the panic is beating at the back of my brain, I can’t help but to ask, “Why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’?” She shakes her head. “You knew this was coming when you went after him.”
“After who?”
“My man. Maddox. Or did you think you could just seduce him and get away with it?”
I’m frozen in surprise and she rolls her eyes like all this should be obvious to me. “Look. It’s pretty simple. You tried to take something that wasn’t yours. And now I’m going to kill you for it.”
And to prove it, she cocks the gun and takes the safety off.
The little click is enough to jog me out of my shock. My first thought is to scream or run, but I know she’ll shoot me if I move and that will be the end of it. Heck, she’ll probably shoot me anyway. But I need to give myself a fighting chance, or at least try to mitigate the damage.
“Okay, look. How about we talk about this outside?” I say. I want to walk us to the backyard, so at the very least if she manages to kill me, Maddox and Mimi won’t happen on my dead body in the entryway. I don’t want my daughter to see me like that.
I also need to end this quickly, before Mimi wakes up. Because the last thing I want is for this dangerous woman to see Mimi and continue this crazed, misguided revenge plan on my daughter.
The woman considers my request for a minute and then shakes her head. “No. I want to end this right here.”
Fuck. I need come up with something else.
Distract her.
“Okay, but can you please give me a chance to explain?” I say, trying to keep my voice calm amidst the madness happening. “Because I’m not really Maddox's girlfriend.”
The woman's eyes narrow suspiciously. “You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not. He’s having me pretend to be his girlfriend to get the parents off his back.” My mind is scrambling, thinking fast. “I can even show you the relationship contract if you want. It stipulates that we have to fulfill certain relationship duties on the outside, to be convincing. He made me sign it and I keep a copy in my bedroom drawer. All this is for show.”
“I don’t believe you.” Although the hope is there in her eyes. The gun lowers an inch. “I thought he would get tired of you already, but he’s still around. And I see the way he looks at you. He has feelings for you.”
“No, he’s just a good actor,” I try, pleading internally for any deity to intervene on my behalf. “Please, I’m telling you the truth. Just let me get the contract and show you. You can even come with me.”
Please please, please. God. Don’t let me die like this.
But once again, the woman shakes her head.
“No,” she says, and the gun comes right back up. “I think I’d rather kill you.”
This is it.I shut my eyes and wait for it, silently grieving for my little girl who’s going to see her mom’s dead body on the floor. I grieve for Maddox too, who’s never going to forgive himself for this.
I grieve for the life we almost had.
