Sunburn

1 Marcus Thorne’s mistress had twins. A boy and a girl. He was good at hiding them. But I was better at finding things. In a blind rage, I took the twins. I just… hid them away. To force me to tell him where, Marcus took our son, Leo, and tied him to a stone pillar on the south-facing terrace of our mansion. He left him there in the August heat for an entire afternoon. When I got there, Leo’s face was beet-red, his lips were cracked and white. He was barely conscious. “He’s your son!” I screamed, my voice tearing. “Marcus, isn’t he your son, too?” “And aren’t Sienna’s children my children?” he roared back, his face a mask of cold fury. “Eliza, I have always been fair to you. You and Leo have wanted for nothing. Why would you do this to her? Now give me back my son and daughter, or I will let him bake until he’s a husk.” He unclipped the stun gun from his belt and pressed it to Leo’s little leg. My son’s scream was a sound I will hear every night for the rest of my life. I broke. “The lake house!” I shrieked. “They’re at the lake house!” Marcus dropped Leo’s arm, turned, and strode to his helicopter without a backward glance. By the time he returned, it was too late. Our son, my Leo, was dead from acute dehydration and organ failure. … I held his limp body, all the way to the hospital. I knew he was gone, but I couldnli’t stop. In the ER, the doctor, a young woman with tired eyes, put a hand on my shoulder. “Ma’am, I’m so sorry. He was... he was already gone. He was running a very high fever on top of the heatstroke. There was nothing we could do.” I couldn’t accept it. I just... howled. Yesterday, he was coloring in his dinosaur book. Today, he was gone. I only wanted to scare Marcus. I wanted to use the twins as leverage. I never, ever thought… I never thought he would trade our son’s life for theirs. The guilt was a physical weight, crushing my chest. I handled the arrangements. The... the cremation. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t move. I just lay in our bed, in Leo’s room, for three days. Then Marcus came home. He walked into the bedroom, his face hard. He didn’t ask where Leo was. He just... started in. “Eliza, do you know what you did? Because of you, the twins were terrified. They’ve had a fever for three days straight. They’re having nightmares. They are three years old. How could you be so cruel?” Three? My Leo was five. I just stared at him, my throat too raw to even form a word. “Sienna is a good woman. She’s willing to forgive you, for my sake. So this is the end of it. No more of this... this jealousy.” He paused, then pulled a small, brightly-colored box from his pocket. He set it on the nightstand. His voice actually softened. “Leo’s at kindergarten, I assume? Look, I... I had to scare you. I was never going to really hurt him. He’s a tough kid. He’ll be fine. “This is a new model train for him. Give it to him when he gets home. I have to get back to Sienna and the kids. I’ll see you later.” He left. I stared at the box. The train. He didn't know. He hadn't even noticed. My son was never coming home. A sound ripped out of me, something inhuman. I grabbed the little box and I threw it, and I threw it, and I threw it, until the wall was dented and the box was just... gone. 2 A week passed. I was a ghost in a house that was no longer mine. Then Marcus walked in the front door. With him was Sienna, and the twins. I met him at the base of the stairs. His face was set. “Eliza, since you’re incapable of acting like an adult, I’m done hiding. To... properly care for both my families, I’m moving Sienna and the children in. I expect you and Leo to make them feel welcome.” The sheer, staggering arrogance of it... it was almost funny. My son’s ashes were in an urn on my dresser, and this man was talking about a welcome party. “Marcus,” I said, my voice a dry rasp. “I want a divorce.” His face darkened instantly. “Don’t start this, Eliza. What, are you going to have another tantrum?” I was. When I first found out, I had screamed. I’d cried. I’d thrown things. I’d demanded he send that woman away, get rid of her... her bastards. I’d even... I’d taken them. And it had cost me my son. I would never "have a tantrum" again. “You have a family with her,” I said, my voice dead. “I’m... I’m letting you go.” “Letting me go?” He actually laughed. It was a harsh, ugly sound. “Eliza, all my friends, the men we do business with... they all have families on the side. I’m just being honest about it. I’m not even asking you to share. “You are, and always will be, the Mrs. Thorne. Leo is, and always will be, my heir. He will inherit everything. You have your place. You should be grateful.” Grateful. I thought of the college kid I’d fallen for. The man who had sworn, at our wedding, that I was his only one. The man who had... who had tased his own son. Sienna, seeing her moment, put a hand on his arm. “Marcus, darling, maybe we should go. If Mrs. Thorne can’t... if we’re upsetting her...” “Don’t be ridiculous,” Marcus snapped, pulling her close. “This is my house. No one is chasing you out.” His eyes, cold and hard, dared me to contradict him. I just turned away. I saw the twins... a little boy and a little girl... reaching for the three ceramic figures on the console table. A father. A mother. A son. Leo’s favorite. We’d made them at a pottery class for his third birthday. Our family. “Don’t touch those!” I screamed. The twins yelped. The figures fell, shattering on the marble floor. Both children burst into tears. “Eliza!” Sienna was instantly at their side, her eyes flashing. “I can leave, but why would you yell at them? What did they ever do to you?” Marcus was faster. The slap was so hard my head snapped back, the sting bringing tears to my eyes. “Have you lost your mind?” he roared. “Can’t you have an ounce of compassion? They were preemies, Eliza! They’ve been through enough stress because of you. What if you scare them into a seizure?” 3 I didn't hear him. I just... I fell to my knees. The broken porcelain. Our family. I clawed at the pieces, not caring as they sliced into my palms, my fingertips. Leo was gone. The dolls were broken. My... my home... The grief I’d been trying to swallow for a week just... exploded. I knelt there, bleeding on the floor, and just... broke. “God, what’s wrong with you?” Marcus said, disgusted. “It’s just some cheap pottery.” “Darling, she’s clearly upset,” Sienna murmured, pulling him away. “Let’s... let’s just go upstairs. Let her... have her moment.” He let her lead him away. I stayed there, on the floor, my hands bleeding, until the sky outside was dark. Then, I pulled out my phone. “911. What’s your emergency?” “I... I need to report a murder.” … I went to my room. I was so dizzy. I lay down for... I don’t know. An hour. Then I got up. I packed a suitcase. Clothes. Toiletries. And the small, heavy urn with the dinosaurs on it. I was in the hallway when she found me. Marcus was gone, so the mask was off. Sienna blocked my path, a lazy, triumphant smirk on her face. “Running away? You don't have to. You could stay. I’m sure we could find a use for you. Maybe... as a nanny?” “Get out of my way.” I pushed her hand off my suitcase. I didn't push her hard. But she stumbled back, her eyes wide, and then... just... threw herself to the ground. “Eliza, no! Please!” The timing was, of course, perfect. “What the hell are you doing to her?” Marcus was at the top of the stairs, his face thunderous. Sienna scrambled to his side, limping, clutching her arm. “Marcus, it’s my fault... I just... I bumped into her, and she...” “Your capacity for cruelty is just... endless, isn’t it?” he spat at me. “You have to hurt her, you have to hurt her children...” I was done. I just... I was done. I picked up my suitcase. He grabbed my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” “I’m leaving,” I said. “I’m going to a hotel. You... you can have your... your family.” His face contorted. “You don’t get to 'leave.' You don’t get to keep having these... these fits! You are acting like a child, and I’m sick of it. You think I’ll let you just walk out? Don't make me... don't make me get the ropes again! Don't you dare make me tie up your son again!” I just froze. He’d... he’d threaten me with that? He must have seen the look on my face, because he suddenly frowned. “Wait... It’s Saturday. There’s no school. Where... where is Leo? You... did you hide him again? First her kids, now your own?” Leo? He... he was finally asking about Leo. And I... I just broke. “He’s... he’s...” I couldn’t say it. “He’s... he’s dead, Marcus! You... you killed him! You... you burned him alive!” “That is a monstrous thing to say!” he roared. “You can’t die from a sunburn! What is wrong with you? Cursing your own son... you are a... a vile mother!” I was sobbing, trying to get past him. He grabbed my suitcase, and it fell open. A small, official-looking paper fluttered out. “What’s this?” Sienna cooed, bending to pick it up. “Certificate of Cremation... Patient name... Leo... Thorne...” Marcus’s face went white.

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