It's Her
CULLEN
I should have known it wouldn’t work.
I should have known that she wouldn’t listen.
But of course, I didn’t.... because I didn’t know her.
Hours later, just a few hours later, I was drinking, trying not to feel angry at the fact that more people seemed concerned about Sarah than anything else. Not Sarah by herself, no. But what she represented.
An Irish woman in our midst.
My wife.
People wanted to see her. They were curious. This was her first real appearance since our marriage. We hadn’t had anything big enough for her to attend before. And believe me, I had tried everything not to go anywhere with her.
Thank God I wasn’t the next “Prince.” I didn’t have to do a lot of public things, charity work, galas, appearances. Cyrus handled that. That was his thing. He was good at smiling and shaking hands. Me? I liked staying in the shadows.
So when I saw Bella walking toward me hours later, I had this sixth sense, this gut feeling that she was going to ask about Sarah.
But it turned out to be more than that. She came to tell me about Sarah’s little stunt, how she came back and somehow managed to sneak into the party. And of course, I hated the little lecture Bella gave me.... About how she had been in the same position as Sarah once.
Because I didn’t see it that way. I didn’t see her that way... I didn’t want to.
And when Cyrus walked in later again and asked me if he could talk to her—of course, I was an asshole about it. Why wouldn’t I be?
But something about their talk felt off. Something seemed fishy… or just different. Bella had told me Cyrus had gone to help Sarah back home.
Whatever Cyrus told her, she seemed agitated about it. I didn’t know why. But as soon as my parents joined them outside, Dad especially—the whole room shifted. The air changed. It was as if the place itself was calling me to attention.
Then I saw Bella coming out, Cyrus hot on her heels, and I just knew something had happened. So I joined my parents.
And what I found was… strange. An argument for once in their life.
They never fought. Married for two decades, and I had never seen them fight. Never found them at fault. Never caught them in a disagreement like this. But that’s exactly what I found.
“We can’t,” I heard my father’s voice, tense. “Can you imagine what that would look like?”
“Well, I don’t care,” my mother said. “This is important.... and it’s our family.”
“I don’t think there’s anyone that important still at the party,” she continued. “And I’m sure we can explain, apologize. It’s a family matter. We’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know,” my father muttered, shaking his head.
“Well,” my mother added, her voice steely now, “I’m leaving. I don’t know what’s going to happen at home, and I want to be there to either stop it or control it.”
“All right, fine,” my father finally agreed. “We’re going to work around a bit, make people feel important, then take a leave, apologize.
"That’s fine with me. Really.” my mother muttered, “I can’t believe this mess.”
“I can’t believe I’m cutting my party short because of this,” my father snapped. And my mother said nothing in return.
That’s when I appeared. And the moment they saw me… I don’t know what it was in their eyes. I couldn’t tell. But there was something. A flicker of something. My father kept pulling my mother, pretending he hadn’t seen me.
So I went with my best option. I looked at her.
“Mom, what’s going on?” I asked.
“Nothing for you to worry about. We’re going to leave for a bit, but we need a Cincinnati to stay behind. Do you think you can do that?” My mother said... Too sweetly
“Of course, he can do that. Let him stay here,” my father said quickly, brushing it all off.
They left. Through the crowd. Playing the game, as always. And I just stood there watching them. Thinking.
Bella told me Cyrus went to take care of Sarah because she was drunk or whatever. Then Bella left, angry. Furious, really.
And now my parents were cutting the party short because of… “trouble at home”?
What trouble? What kind of trouble could be so urgent that it needed both of them to leave their own anniversary party early?
If it wasn’t Sarah… then I don’t know what it could be.... But I knew deep down I knew it had Sarah’s name written all over it.
And she’s… she’s kind of my wife.
Kind of my duty, I think.
So I decide I’m going.
As my parents leave, I give them five minutes to get out of there. I don’t say anything to anyone. I just sneak out, head toward my car, and drive home.
The whole time, I’m wondering, what the fuck is going on? By the time I reach the house, my parents have just parked. I was driving faster, my mom hates fast driving, so I beat them home.
They get inside first, and I follow just a few steps behind. Inside, I catch bits of the chaos. They’re wondering where Sarah is. Bella’s looking for her, too. There's tension. Urgency. Everyone’s on edge.
And something feels off... Maybe Sarah said something to Cyrus. Maybe she did something. Whatever it is, it’s big. And it feels like Bella’s trying to score something, get ahead of something.
I don’t know.
So I decided, fuck it... I’m going to pour myself a drink. I need to relax. Steady myself. That’s when I turn my head, and my eyes go to the glass walls. The one overlooking the pool.
And I see… a figure. Just there. Still. Inside the water.
I don’t know why, and I don’t know who it is but the moment I see them, something inside me snaps. Something that feels a lot like dread. A lot like fear.
I don’t even think. I just run.
I don’t know if my jacket gets tossed or if it rips off in the process. I don’t remember. My feet are moving too fast.
I just bolt for the pool. My lungs are tight. I don’t even let myself look at who it is until I’ve got them in my arms. Until I’ve pulled them up, above the water, gasping, heavy.
And then my father and Cyrus—somehow, they’re there and they pull me out of the pool. My hands shaking. My heart is ready to burst.
When I finally lay her down and look at her face...
Yes.
It’s her.
It’s Sarah.
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