I Lost My Genius Surgeon Wife

Justine walked down the long, expansive hallway of the McConnell estate. The floor was covered in an antique Persian rug that cost more than a luxury car. With every step she took, muddy pond water dripped from her dress, soaking into the priceless wool and leaving dark, ugly stains. Her teeth clicked together uncontrollably. Her skin was so cold it burned. Two maids carrying silver trays of polished silverware walked past her. In the hierarchy of American old-money estates, the staff often took their cues from the family. Because Justine came from a middle-class background and brought no political power to the marriage, the staff viewed her with thinly veiled contempt. The maids did not stop to offer her a towel. They did not ask if she was hurt. They simply stepped aside, their eyes darting to the muddy puddles she left behind, and exchanged mocking, whispered comments. Justine ignored them. The physical cold was too intense to care about the opinions of servants. She forced her frozen, stiff legs to move faster. She reached the heavy mahogany door of her bedroom. Her fingers were so numb they felt like blocks of wood. She fumbled with the brass doorknob, her wet hands slipping twice before she finally forced it open. She stepped inside and slammed the door behind her. She immediately reached out and twisted the deadbolt. The loud click of the lock echoing in the quiet room was the only sound that offered her any comfort. She had physically locked the entire McConnell world out. Justine walked straight into the en-suite bathroom. She did not bother taking off the ruined dress. She stepped directly into the massive glass shower enclosure and turned the brass handle all the way to the hottest setting. Scalding hot water blasted out of the showerhead. The extreme contrast between the freezing pond water and the boiling shower felt like thousands of needles piercing her skin. Thick white steam instantly filled the bathroom. The sudden heat broke the physical shock holding her body together. Her knees buckled. Justine slid down the expensive marble tiles, her back scraping against the cold stone, until she hit the floor. She pulled her knees tightly to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She stared blankly at the floor drain. The dark, muddy water from the koi pond swirled around the drain before disappearing into the pipes. Carl's disgusted eyes flashed in her mind. You are trying to hurt the heir. The corner of Justine's mouth twitched. It slowly pulled up into a sharp, self-deprecating smirk. She laughed, a harsh, breathy sound that echoed off the glass walls. At that exact moment, on the ground floor of the estate, Carl paced furiously across the antique Persian rug of the cigar room. The room smelled heavily of aged tobacco and expensive leather. Carl held a crystal glass filled with neat bourbon. He took a large, angry swallow, the alcohol burning down his throat. Claire McConnell, Carl's mother and the absolute matriarch of the family, sat perfectly still in a velvet armchair. She wore a tailored Chanel suit, her silver hair perfectly coiffed. She held a delicate porcelain teacup, her sharp, calculating eyes watching her son's erratic movements. "I saw it," Carl suddenly muttered, his voice tight. He stopped pacing and stared at his glass. "I saw Leo push her from the patio window." Claire took a slow, elegant sip of her Earl Grey tea. The porcelain cup clinked softly against the saucer as she set it down. "And you made the correct choice in reprimanding her," Claire said. Her voice was smooth, cold, and entirely devoid of empathy. "Leo is the heir to the McConnell political legacy. A Congressman's son cannot be labeled a bully or a violent child. If the press caught wind of it, it would be a disaster. Justine is an adult. She can absorb the blame." Carl frowned deeply. The image of Justine's dead, empty eyes staring at him before she walked away refused to leave his mind. "She didn't argue," Carl complained, his fingers gripping the glass tightly. "She just looked at me like... like I was nothing. Her attitude lately is becoming impossible to manage." Claire let out a short, dismissive scoff. "She is a nobody, Carl. A commoner who relies entirely on our family trust to eat and sleep. That look she gave you is nothing but a cheap, manipulative tactic to make you feel guilty. She wants you to beg for her forgiveness." Claire stood up. She smoothed the invisible wrinkles from her skirt. "To maintain absolute authority in this house, insubordination cannot be tolerated. We must punish her. She needs a harsh reminder of exactly where she stands in the food chain." Upstairs in the bathroom, Justine finally turned off the water. She stripped off the heavy, ruined dress and left it in a heap on the floor. She dried herself off and pulled on a thick, warm cashmere loungewear set. She grabbed a towel and began to roughly dry her wet hair. She walked out of the bathroom and sat down at her vanity mirror. Justine stared at her reflection. Her face was deathly pale, completely drained of blood, making the dark circles under her eyes look like bruises. Her lips were cracked. But her eyes-they were no longer the soft, accommodating eyes of a politician's wife. They were sharp, clear, and terrifyingly awake. A loud, aggressive knock hammered against her bedroom door. "Mrs. McConnell!" The voice belonged to Alex Cole, Carl's personal assistant. He shouted through the thick wood. "The Congressman demands your presence in the study immediately to explain your behavior in the yard!" Justine stopped drying her hair. She dropped the towel onto the vanity. She walked slowly to the door. She did not unlock it. She leaned her forehead against the cool wood and spoke. Her voice was raspy from the cold water, but it was as hard as steel. "I have nothing to explain," Justine said clearly. "Tell him to go check his own security cameras." On the other side of the door, Alex froze. His hand hovered in the air. In the three years he had worked for Carl, Justine had never once spoken back. She had always been the quiet, obedient shadow. "Mrs. McConnell," Alex warned, trying to inject a threatening tone into his voice. "Refusing a direct order from the Congressman will have severe consequences." Silence. Justine did not say another word. The absolute silence radiating from the room felt suffocating. Justine turned away from the door. She walked toward her large, four-poster bed. A sudden, violent shiver wracked her spine. Her skin felt like it was on fire, yet her bones felt like ice. The physical toll of the freezing pond water was hitting her. Her temperature was spiking rapidly. She crawled under the heavy down comforter and pulled it up to her chin. Downstairs, Alex ran back into the cigar room. He repeated Justine's exact words to Carl and Claire. Carl's face turned a mottled, furious red. He slammed his crystal glass down onto the wooden bar cart. The glass shattered, sending amber liquid and sharp shards flying across the polished wood. "She told me to check the cameras?" Carl roared, the veins in his neck bulging. "She is completely out of her mind!" Claire waved her hand, dismissing Alex from the room. Her eyes narrowed into dangerous, dark slits. "If she refuses to maintain basic decency," Claire said coldly to her son, "then we will use the estate's disciplinary protocols. She leaves me no choice." In her bed, Justine tossed and turned. Her muscles ached with a deep, throbbing pain. The fever was burning her up, but her mind was operating with terrifying clarity. She began mentally calculating the exact amount of money in her personal bank account, desperately hoping to map out the fastest route to the airport. But as the meager numbers tallied in her head, a bitter realization set in. The funds she had access to wouldn't even cover a one-way ticket to Zurich, let alone establish a new life. She was financially trapped. Her trembling fingers hesitated for a moment before she reached under her pillow and pulled out her smartphone. She unlocked it, her thumb scrolling down to a heavily encrypted contact number-her absolute last resort. Her thumb hovered over the green call button. She hesitated, her chest tightening with anxiety. Before she could press the button, a harsh, metallic grinding sound echoed through the room. Someone was forcing a master key into her deadbolt. Justine shot up in bed. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She quickly shoved the phone back under the pillow and gripped the edge of the comforter with white-knuckled hands. The door was violently shoved open. Herta Kowalski, the estate's head housekeeper, stood in the doorway. She was a large, imposing woman with a face carved from stone. Behind her stood two expressionless female maids. Herta stared at Justine with the cold, dead eyes of a prison warden looking at an inmate. "The Madam has given an order," Herta announced, her voice dripping with malice. "You are to come downstairs immediately to receive your disciplinary instruction."