Faking Paralysis to Test My Lover, I Was Set Up

My heart slammed against my ribs like a dying animal, and in an instant cold sweat soaked through the nightshirt clinging to my back. They knew each other. Not only did they know each other, they'd formed an alliance. My mind raced, trying to piece the truth together from every scrap of the past. I thought back to two weeks ago, not long after Nora joined the company, when she'd volunteered to take over making my coffee every morning. She always smiled, her eyes curving sweetly, and said, "Mr. Henson, this is a pour-over I went and learned specially. I added a little something to the syrup. Try it." That coffee did have a strange, rich aroma. Every time I finished it I'd feel oddly wired, and then, once that faded, by afternoon I'd sink into a deep exhaustion and headache. Back then I only thought I'd been running myself ragged. And Teresa. It must have started about three months ago, when she suddenly became intensely concerned about my health. She'd switched all my blood-pressure medication over to "imported specialty pills" that came in a clear little unlabeled case, saying she'd had someone buy them abroad at a high price. Every time she watched me swallow them, she'd give me that gentle smile. I'd fancied myself the hunter who controlled everything, treating Teresa as a docile house sparrow and Nora as a canary that came whenever I called. Who could have guessed the two of them had long since been in secret contact, weaving a poisoned net for me together inside this gorgeous cage. "All right, stop teasing him." Teresa's voice cut through my memory. I heard heels moving, and Teresa came around to the other side of the bed. Then a faintly cool hand settled on my forehead. That was Teresa's hand. These hands had made me soup countless times, ironed countless shirts, and yet now their touch felt like being stroked by death itself. "It's about time. We should feed our Mr. Henson his medicine." There was a condescending pity in Teresa's tone. "I'll help you, sis," Nora chimed in at once. I felt the two of them lift my upper body together and prop two high, soft pillows behind my back. Then two fingers pinched my chin hard, forcing my mouth open. "Come on, Julian, be good and take your medicine. Once you do, there'll be no more suffering." Teresa's voice was so soft it could have dripped water. My teeth stayed clenched shut. I couldn't take it. Absolutely not. There was something wrong with these pills. That curse—"turn him into a complete vegetable"—was still circling in my head. If I swallowed these pills, I really would spend the rest of my life flat on this bed, left to be carved up by these two vicious women. "Ugh, why is he clenching so hard?" Nora complained under her breath. "It's normal. A stroke patient's chewing muscles spasm sometimes." Teresa said it coldly, and then suddenly her fingers dug into the joint of my jaw and pressed down hard. Pain shot through me. I let out an involuntary grunt, and my mouth was forced open. Two pills, bitter with an overpowering harshness, were shoved roughly deep against the back of my tongue, and cold water poured in right after. Teresa's other hand clamped down hard over my nose. The instinct to survive made me desperate to spit the pills out, but I didn't dare open my eyes, still less put up any violent resistance. The moment I let slip that I could actually move, alone in this sealed room with two women scheming against me, I had no idea what more insane thing they might do. The water swirled the pills around in my throat, and I broke into a violent, choking cough, tears leaking from the corners of my shut eyes. Suffocating, all I could do was jam the tip of my tongue against those two pills, force them up into the crease between my palate and my gums, and then, along with the water, pretend to let my throat bob and swallow a big mouthful down. "Cough, cough… ugh…" A meaningless gurgle came out of my throat, my chest heaving hard, like a dead fish tossed up on the bank. "There, see, he swallowed it." Teresa let go of my nose and, with obvious disgust, wiped the water off my chin with a towel. Nora giggled beside her. "Sis, look at him now. Where's any of that swagger he used to have, chewing out the executives in meetings?" Teresa tossed the towel onto the nightstand, and it landed with a soft slap. "Enough. It'll take a little while for the drug to kick in. Let him sleep. Let's go to the living room and go over the company financial statements you copied yesterday. Let's see how much of our marital assets he's been quietly moving without telling me." The door opened and shut, and with a click of the lock the room fell back into a dead silence. I lay in the dark, made sure their footsteps had faded, and only then snapped my eyes open. I dragged great mouthfuls of air into my lungs. Shaking all over, I mustered every ounce of strength to turn my head and spat the two pills, gone soft and mushy from the water, into the crease at the edge of the pillow. The bitter taste of the medicine spread through my mouth. I stared hard at the elaborate pattern of the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, my eyes shot through with red. Moving assets? Financial statements? Nora had actually used her position to steal my business secrets and hand them to Teresa? These two bitches wanted to sideline me completely, take everything I'd worked so hard to build, and turn me into a real, actual vegetable. I couldn't just sit here and wait to die. I had to fight back.

The next morning, sunlight cut through the gap in the curtains and stabbed into the room. I hadn't slept a wink. Every time I closed my eyes, the image of Teresa and Nora scheming at the foot of my bed coiled around my neck like a snake. My body ached everywhere from being braced tight for so long, but with those two pills out of my system, I could feel it plainly now: two fingers on my right hand could bend freely again, and even my tongue, pinned down for so long, had regained a little of its old flexibility. It only confirmed what I'd suspected. That so-called "imported miracle drug" was nothing but poison, meant to waste my muscles and deaden my nerves. Footsteps came from outside the door. I shut my eyes at once, evened out my breathing, let the muscles in my face go slack, and even let a thin thread of saliva slip from the corner of my mouth. A flawless performance of a stroke victim stripped of all dignity. The door pushed open, and Teresa came in carrying a bowl of steaming chicken soup. Today she wore a robe, her long hair loosely gathered at the back of her neck, still looking every bit the gentle, devoted wife. "Julian, are you awake?" She walked to the bed and dabbed the drool from the corner of my mouth with a tissue, her eyes full of manufactured concern. I opened my eyes weakly and let a hoarse "Ah... ah..." rasp out of my throat. My gaze strained sideways toward the nightstand, where my phone sat. That was my lifeline. If I could just get my hands on it, I could reach my closest friend, Harold. Harold was with the police. One word from me about what was happening here, and he'd tear these two women's secrets wide open. Teresa followed my eyes to the nightstand. The smile on her face never wavered. She reached over and picked up the sleek black phone, the newest model. "Ah... ah!" I rolled my eyes desperately, straining to show how badly I wanted it. "Julian, you want to look at your phone?" Teresa asked softly, her finger drifting lightly across the screen. But she didn't hand it to me. Right in front of me, she pressed the power button. The screen lit, and the slide-to-power-off bar appeared. "The doctor said," Teresa murmured, looking into my eyes, a faint cold smile tugging at her lips, "your brain and nerves are very fragile right now. You absolutely can't be exposed to any radiation. The company's got the vice president watching it, and even if that weren't enough, you still have me. You just lie there and 'recover' in peace." Her finger swiped, and the screen went black in an instant. My heart sank to the bottom with it. Right in front of me, she pulled open the bottom drawer of the nightstand, the one with a combination lock, and tossed my phone inside. The click of the latch dropping into place landed on my heart like a hammer. I was cut off from the outside world completely. "Ah! Ahh!" The fear and rage boiling inside me finally broke loose. A violent howl tore out of my throat, and my whole body began to convulse on the bed, out of my control. Half of it was an act. Half of it was the real trembling of a man cornered with nowhere left to go. "Don't work yourself up, Julian." Teresa picked up the bowl of chicken soup, stirred it with the spoon, lifted a spoonful and blew on it, then brought it to my lips. "Anger wears the body down. What you need most right now is calm. Here, have a sip. I added your favorite... ginseng." She bit down hard on that word, ginseng. I knew there was more in that bowl than ginseng. I clamped my mouth shut and stared at her. This was a face I'd looked at for eight years. Once I'd thought it plain, dull, even a little slow. But now, in those eyes that had always dropped low and yielded to me, something glinted—sharp and hungry for control, cold enough to chill my blood. "What? No appetite?" Teresa sighed and knocked the bowl down hard onto the nightstand, splashing soup across the expensive wood surface. "Julian, didn't you always teach me that a person has to face reality? Look at the state you're in now. Who else besides me is going to wait on you? If you won't eat and drink like a good boy, your muscles will waste away faster, and by then... you really won't even make it out that door." Her voice dropped softer and softer, and it sounded exactly like some venomous curse. I gave in. Not out of fear, but to store up strength. I had to survive. I had to keep my body going. I opened my mouth and let her pour that soup, laced with God knew what, into me one spoonful at a time. Under the rich flavor of the chicken soup ran a faint trace of bitterness. I forced down the churning in my stomach and swallowed, mouthful by mouthful. Thankfully, the two pills this morning I'd handled the same way, tucked under my tongue. Once she left with the empty bowl, I spat the pills out again and pushed them along the edge of the sheet, deep into the gap between the mattress and the bed frame. Four white pills already lay quietly in that gap. They were my bargaining chips for striking back, and hard proof that these two were trying to murder me. The next three days were the longest and most humiliating of my life. Every day I repeated the same routine: play dead, get force-fed, painstakingly hide the pills, spit them out. Every time I hid one, it was like dancing on the edge of a knife.

More than once, the pill had half dissolved in my mouth, that nauseating bitterness spreading down my throat, and still I had to force out a stiff smile and pretend I'd swallowed it whole. Because I wasn't taking the medicine, my body was recovering at an unbelievable speed. The whole right side of my body was under my control now, and my left leg could bend a little. But I didn't dare show a hint of it. In front of them I played worse than before, more limp, more vacant, even letting my eyes go cloudy and unfocused. Every evening after work, Nora appeared in my bedroom right on schedule. She no longer bothered with the pretense she'd kept up that first day. Now she and Teresa discussed, right in front of me and without the slightest restraint, exactly how they would carve up my company piece by piece. "Sis, that old stubborn one in R&D was asking about Julian's condition again today. Says there's a twenty-million research fund that needs his signature." Nora sat on the edge of my bed, filing her nails, saying it as if it were nothing. "Tell him the chairman's condition has worsened and he's in a coma. As for the funds, I'll approve them in the meantime, as the chairman's wife." Teresa sat on the sofa with a glass of red wine in her hand, the swaying red glow playing across her face, making her look especially seductive. "You've got nerve. Aren't you worried those old foxes on the board will get suspicious?" Nora laughed softly. "So what if they do? Julian's 'gravely ill.' As his lawful wife, my managing the company is perfectly legitimate. Once next month's shareholders' meeting opens, and with those minority-share transfer papers you're holding, whether this company ends up a Henson company or a Pruitt one won't be up to them anymore." Teresa took a sip of wine, her gaze sweeping over me, cold. I lay on the bed while a storm tore through me. They'd even planned out next month's shareholders' meeting. That bitch. How dare she. Half my life I'd spent building this empire, and now it was going to be stolen from me by these two women, together, in this bedroom the daylight never reached? Just as I was about to lose the fight against my rage, about to lunge up and close my hand around Teresa's throat, the doorbell rang. "Ding-dong——" In this dead-silent house, the sound was like something from heaven. "Who's coming at this hour?" Teresa frowned, set down her glass, and went out. Nora put away the nail clippers too, stood, smoothed her skirt, and slipped back into the good little intern. A moment later, a rough male voice came from outside. "Teresa, how's Julian been these last few days? I just got back from a trip and came straight here to see him before I even went home!" It was Harold Armstrong. My brother, the one I'd trust with my life. Deputy captain of the city police criminal investigation unit. My heart slammed into a wild rhythm, all the blood in me rushing to my head. My savior was here. If Harold just walked into this room, if I could give him one sign, then with all his years of investigation work he'd catch what was wrong. There was no way he wouldn't. "Harold, you've come at a bad time." Teresa's voice sounded from beyond the door, carrying just the right amount of grief and exhaustion. "Julian... just took his medicine and fell asleep. The doctor says his brain and nerves are extremely fragile right now. He can't handle light, can't handle loud voices, they're afraid of anything that might set him off." "Is that so..." Harold's voice sounded hesitant. "Then I'll... I'll just look at him from the doorway. I won't go in and disturb him. Teresa, Julian's spent his whole life being strong and proud. Getting hit with this all of a sudden, you'll have to bear with him." "Harold, don't say that. I'm his wife. Taking care of him is my duty." The footsteps drew closer, and the bedroom door was eased open a crack. Light spilled in from the living room. Through half-shut eyes I saw, in that sliver of open door, Harold's familiar, stubbled face. He stood outside, looking in with worried eyes. This was my only chance. I drew in a breath and gathered every scrap of strength I'd been saving for three days into my right hand. I would lift my hand, I would knock over the lamp on the nightstand, I would make a noise and get his attention. But the instant my fingers curled, just as I was about to push, an ice-cold little hand clamped down over the back of my hand and pinned it to the mattress under the blanket. It was Nora. Somehow she'd moved without a sound to the shadow at the head of the bed. Her back was to Harold in the doorway, and on her face was the sweetest, most vicious smile, her eyes locked on mine. In a voice so low it was barely breath, one only I could hear, she said: "Julian. Behave." Outside, Harold looked at me lying motionless under the blanket and let out a long sigh. "Seeing Julian like this, it really tears me up. Teresa, Nora's here too? You two have it hard. Julian's lucky to have you both beside him." "Don't worry, Captain Armstrong. We'll take good care of the chairman." Nora turned her head, and her voice broke into something near tears in an instant. The speed of that change ran a chill down my spine. "All right, I won't intrude then. I'll come see him again in a few days. Teresa, whatever you need, call me anytime." The door closed again. Harold's footsteps grew fainter, until the front door shut with a bang. With that sound, whatever light was left in my eyes went out for good. The last thread of hope, strangled in the cradle by these two women, together. I understood then that counting on rescue from the outside was hopeless. In this cage, sealed tight as an iron drum, the only way out was to save myself. Night fell, and the whole city sank into sleep, but the air in my sickroom hung so thick it might have dripped water. Tonight, for once, Teresa and Nora didn't turn in early. Instead they opened a bottle of very good vintage Romanée-Conti in the living room. The faint clink of glasses and soft laughter drifted through the gap in the door, and every sound was like a saw dragging back and forth across my nerves. Five days straight now, I hadn't swallowed a single one of their pills. Though I still had to endure the hunger and the torment of that doctored chicken soup every day, my body had recovered most of the way, miraculously. My right side could bear my weight now, and though my left leg still dragged a little, crawling along the floor was no problem at all. I knew tonight was my last chance. Tomorrow was the end of the month Teresa had mentioned. The day after was the shareholders' meeting. If I couldn't get hold of a phone tonight and get out the four pills hidden in the gap of the bed, along with the recorded proof of what they'd said, then I was truly finished. I kept my eyes shut tight, straining to hear what was happening outside. "Sis, are you sure Harold didn't pick up on anything today?" Nora's voice carried a trace of wine, a little too excited.

"Relax. Harold's a straight arrow. Cracking cases is the only thing he's good at. All the little twists between women go right over his head. Right now he just thinks I'm a poor, devoted wife, and you're a loyal employee." There was a lofty arrogance in Teresa's voice. "Good... but I'm still a little worried, sis. That secret will Julian left at the company. If we can't find it, then even after we get the scattered shares, if he suddenly kicks off one day, the assets will still..." "Shut up!" Teresa's voice dropped hard, cutting Nora off. The living room went silent in an instant, nothing left but the soft trickle of wine into a glass. My heart clenched. A secret will? They even knew about the backup will I'd locked away in the bank safe deposit box? That was the highest secret I had, known only to my private attorney. "He wouldn't let where that will is slip out even talking in his sleep." Teresa lowered her voice, a cold edge threading through it. "But it doesn't matter. I've already found the way to pry his mouth open. Tonight, I'll make him talk for good." Pry my mouth open? What were they planning to do? The sheer sense of danger made it impossible to keep lying still in that bed. I had to know exactly what vicious method they were about to use on me. Slowly, with extreme care, I opened my eyes. The room was pitch black, nothing but that strip of light under the door, like a blade hanging in the dark. I drew in a breath and started to move my body. First I pressed my right hand, the one with feeling back in it, into the mattress and pushed my upper body up an inch at a time. An action that normally took no thought at all now drained every ounce of strength I had. Sweat broke from my forehead at once, sliding into my eyes, stinging beyond belief. Next I edged my right leg to the side of the bed and let it hang down. My left leg was like a heavy log. I could only move it with my hands. Every inch I shifted, the springs inside the Hästens mattress let out a faint creak. In that dead-silent room the sound was magnified without limit, like a bell tolling for me. Finally my feet touched the carpet. I tried to stand, but the muscles in both legs, unused for days, shook violently. My knees buckled, and I pitched forward with no control. Thud. I threw both hands out against the floor with everything I had, keeping my chin from cracking down and making a huge noise, but my heavy body still hit the carpet with a dull thump. I held my breath, staring hard at the light coming through the gap under the door. The talking in the living room paused for a second. "What was that?" Nora asked, sharp with suspicion. My heart shot into my throat, every hair on my body standing on end. If they pushed open the door now and saw me crawling on the floor, it would all be over. "Probably that Alaskan the Lees next door keep, banging into the wall again. Leave it." Teresa's voice was lazy, as if she hadn't given it a thought. I let out a long, foul breath, as though I'd just walked back from the gates of death. I couldn't stand up. Too dangerous. I could only crawl, like a dog with a broken spine, hands and knees together, edging toward the bedroom door. The expensive Persian carpet had become a bog dragging at me now, scraping my palms and knees, burning. But I couldn't spare any thought for that. My eyes were fixed on that lit gap under the door. That was the way out to the truth. Two meters... one meter... half a meter... At last I reached the door and pressed my ear tight against the cold solid wood. The voices outside came clear. "Sis, you said just now you'd found the way to pry his mouth open. What is it?" Nora's curiosity had clearly been stretched to its limit. Teresa gave a soft laugh, and in it was a kind of madness and delight held back for years. "Do you really think these eight years I spent as a full-time wife were for nothing? Do you really think that just because I didn't go to the company, I didn't know about the filthy things he did behind my back? Nora, do you honestly think that a fresh college graduate like you could have caught his attention so easily, if I hadn't quietly arranged it?" What? My eyes flew wide, and it was as though a thunderclap went off inside my skull, leaving me reeling. Nora... was arranged by Teresa? From the very beginning, it had all been a set trap? "Sis, don't put it so ugly." Nora pouted the words out. "We're the best of partners. But really, what are you going to use to threaten him into handing over the will's password?" Teresa seemed to stand up, the sound of her heels pacing back and forth across the living room. "Simple." Her voice suddenly dropped very low, low enough to seem to carry the smell of blood. "Do you remember, three years ago, when he drove that foreman to his death at the abandoned building project in the southern suburbs?" My pupils shrank to their smallest, and in that moment my breathing stopped completely. The abandoned building project in the southern suburbs... the foreman... That was the biggest secret of my whole life. How could she possibly know? "The surveillance footage of that, along with the ledgers of the bribes he paid, I kept backups of all of it." Teresa said it with a cold laugh, the words dropping me into an abyss. "All I have to do is hand this over to Harold, and forget his company, his life, the rest of it will be spent behind bars. Guess. To save his own skin, won't he cough up the password nice and obedient?" My hands clawed into the carpet, nails nearly bending back. This poisonous woman. She didn't just want my money. She wanted my life too. "Brilliant! Sis, you're honestly my idol!" Nora clapped her hands, thrilled. "So should we go in and force it out of him right now?" "No hurry." Teresa's footsteps suddenly stopped, and her voice turned a little strange. "Don't you think his breathing tonight... sounds a little off?" My whole body seized, my heart nearly bursting in my chest. Tap, tap... The sound of her heels, one step at a time, unhurried, was coming toward the bedroom door. Every step felt like it was pressing down on the nerves behind my eyes. I wanted to back away, to crawl back onto the bed, but the sheer terror had frozen my limbs solid, unable to move at all. Light and shadow shifted under the door, and a pair of black, red-soled heels stopped on the other side. The handle gave a tooth-grating click as it slowly pressed down. And in the instant the door was about to swing open— "Beep beep beep—" Inside the drawer of my nightstand, the phone locked away in there suddenly let out a shrill, jarring ring.