Three Stolen Springs

The day I discovered that Esther Mabry was having an affair, my severe depression drove me to the rooftop. It was my older brother, Adam Abernathy, who stabbed her and dragged her back to me so she could atone. Under Adam's watch, Esther truly changed. She deleted every man from her contacts and came home on time every day. Even when she stepped outside to take out the trash, she told me beforehand. I believed our battered marriage had finally been given a fresh start, right up until the day I received a call from myself, 10 years in the future. Looking at the haggard man on the screen, I asked carefully, "Ten years later, and I'm still sick?" He said nothing. He forced a smile that looked more painful than tears, then turned the camera around. On the screen, Esther had Adam pinned against the storage-room wall. Her eyes were filled with anguish she had held back for far too long. "We've lived under the same roof for 10 years, and you won't even let me touch you. How long are you going to keep punishing me?" Adam kept his eyes shut as tears ran down his face. "We did something unforgivable to Hugo. Staying apart is the only way we can atone." I froze, cold to the bone. The man I had searched every corner of Seacliff for and never found had been the brother I loved most all along. Esther had hidden him so well that he lived right under my nose for 10 years, and I never noticed. The camera turned back. The older version of me leaned close to the screen and laughed like a madman. "You heard that? As long as you're still alive, everyone suffers. The moment you die, we're all set free." Chapter 1 Hugo's POV I lowered my eyes and slowly picked up the fruit knife from the table, calmly pressing the tip against my chest. "Esther is such a neat freak. Why would someone like her suddenly start taking out the trash herself every day? Do you really think Adam tagged along just to keep an eye on her for you? "Stop being naive, Hugo. Go check the blind spot behind the house. Those 10 minutes she spends taking out the trash are the only time they get to be alone together, away from you!" The front door swung open, and Esther Mabry walked in. The moment she saw me holding the knife to my chest, the color drained from her face. "Hugo, what are you doing?" She did not even stop to take off her coat before rushing toward me like a madwoman. The voice on the phone continued. "Look at her face. Someone with OCD that severe, and look at the state she's in." Esther was a serious germaphobe with severe OCD. Her makeup was always flawless and elegant, and even her lip liner was applied with meticulous precision. Now, however, her makeup was smudged, and a faint trace of men's cologne lingered on her. My gaze moved past her and settled on my brother, Adam Abernathy. His face was flushed. My arms went slack. The knife was still in my hand, its tip nearly stabbing my thigh. Esther stopped abruptly. Her hands hovered in midair, and her voice turned cautious. "Hugo, put the knife down. Don't hurt yourself." I stared at her, my voice trembling uncontrollably. "Who's the guy?" Esther froze for a brief moment. Then she pulled up her phone's location history with practiced ease and held it out to me. "I just went to take out the trash. The dumpster is right outside, and I was gone for less than 10 minutes." Deep exhaustion surfaced in her eyes. "Hugo, that was three years ago. How long are you going to keep holding on to it? Taking care of you every day is exhausting enough. Please, stop being so paranoid." As she spoke, she stepped forward and reached for the knife. I swung it toward her and backed away. "Don't touch me!" The blade sliced across my palm. Blood poured from the wound and dripped onto the floor. "Hugo!" Adam cried out and rushed over. However, he moved too quickly and twisted his ankle, crashing into the cabinet beside him. "Adam!" Esther lunged toward him almost on instinct. Yet just before her hands reached him, she seemed to realize something and stopped short. Adam looked at the blood covering my hand, then backhanded Esther across the face. "Esther, you're pushing him again! Don't you know he's sick?" The slap landed so hard that her head snapped to the side. She clenched her fists tightly, as though fighting to keep her emotions from spiraling out of control. When she looked back at me, every trace of irritation and resentment had disappeared. Once again, she became the meek and gentle wife she always pretended to be. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, Hugo. You're bleeding. Let me bandage it." Esther crouched in front of me, yet her eyes kept drifting to Adam's swollen, reddened ankle. She wrapped my hand quickly, then handed the first-aid kit to Adam as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her voice was terribly hoarse. "Go put some spray on that." Watching her swallow her pride so completely, I could not bear it any longer. I turned and fled to the bedroom. Three years earlier, I had caught Esther cheating for the first time. I tore through the entire hotel like a madman, yet I never found a single trace of the other man. In despair, I climbed onto the rooftop. Adam was the one who stabbed Esther and dragged her in front of me to confess. That day, Esther, who had always been so proud, knelt before me and sobbed like a child who had lost her entire world. "Hugo, I'm begging you. You can't die." The desperation she showed as she fought to keep me alive made me believe she truly loved me after all. Now, a single phone call from the future had shattered every one of those illusions. Chapter 2 I went to Esther's office the same day. This was not an office at all. It was an exact replica of our home. The same dark-green velvet couch sat against the wall, and the floor lamp Esther had picked out herself stood in the corner. Even the bouquet on the coffee table was identical to the one we had just arranged at home. The only difference was the wall where our wedding portrait should have hung. Instead, it was covered from edge to edge with photos of Adam. There was one of him chopping vegetables in the kitchen, another of him asleep on the couch, and countless others. Every photo had been framed and lit with the utmost care. Even through the glossy paper, I could feel a love so deep it could drown a person. A sharp pain twisted through my chest. I remembered our honeymoon. I had happily begged Esther to take a picture of me. She had only snapped a few half-hearted photos, and every one of them came out blurry and awkward. It turned out she did not hate taking pictures. She had simply given all her patience and devotion to Adam long ago. Footsteps sounded outside the door. Jolted out of my daze, I hurried into the closet and hid. The door swung open. "Let go of me!" Adam's voice was thick with restrained tears as he jerked his hand free from Esther's grip. Esther, however, had completely lost control. She grabbed him and shoved him against her. "Adam, I can't do this anymore! When I saw him holding that knife today, all I could think was that if he actually went through with it, maybe we'd finally be free." Adam slapped her across the face. "Esther, you monster! He's your husband!" "But I don't love him at all!" Esther's eyes were red, and despair filled her voice. "You have no idea how suffocating it is to lie beside him every night. Adam, what if I tell him everything? As long as he lets me go, I'll give him every cent I have!" Adam broke down completely. "No! If you tell him now, you'll be pushing him to his death!" Esther buried her face in the crook of his neck and pleaded like a drowning woman. "What about me? You feel sorry for him, but who's going to feel sorry for me?" Adam's voice cracked with grief. "When I was 10, he pushed me out of the way and got hit by a truck. I swore I'd protect him for the rest of my life, even if it killed me. Instead, I fell in love with his wife, and I couldn't stop myself. "And when that business deal of yours made you enemies, he was the one who got trapped in that parking garage instead of you. That's how his right leg was broken. If it weren't for us, Hugo would've never gotten sick. How can we do this to him?" Esther trembled as she kissed away his tears. Inside the closet, my nails dug into the wound on my palm. Fresh blood welled up, yet I felt no pain at all. Now it all made sense. How moving. One had given up the woman he loved to repay the brother who had saved his life. The other endured everything in silence because of guilt. In their grand and tragic love story, what role had I played? I did not know how much time passed before the room finally fell silent. I climbed out of the closet and staggered out of the building. The winter wind sliced across my face and dried my tears. I suddenly remembered the day Esther had thrown divorce papers in front of me. She had been determined to leave, even if it meant walking away with nothing. Later, she abruptly stopped bringing it up. It turned out she had been afraid of having my death on her conscience. She had also been afraid Adam would never be able to live with himself for the rest of his life. Since they were suffering so much, I would give them exactly what they wanted. I pulled out my phone and numbly called my lawyer. "Ms. Penrose, could you draw up divorce papers for me? As soon as possible." A long silence followed on the other end. "Mr. Abernathy, is this some kind of joke?" Her voice carried a trace of pity. "There's no record of your marriage anywhere in the county system. Mr. Abernathy, in the eyes of the law, you've never been married." Chapter 3 I stood on the wintry street, my vision darkening in waves. Esther had married me with a ring and a ceremony. She had cared for me in every possible way. Yet the one thing she had faithfully reserved for Adam was the spouse line on her marriage licence. Even while she played house with me, she had saved that place for him. I laughed until tears streamed down my face. Still clinging to one final shred of hope, I called the version of myself from 10 years in the future. "I want to know. Even for a single moment, did she ever love me?" A long silence followed. "Go to the VIP ward at Seacliff Central Hospital right now. Then you'll see how stupid that question is." I drifted to the hospital like a ghost. Inside the room, Adam seemed to be suffering from a flare-up of gastroenteritis and was bent over retching. Meanwhile, Esther, the severe germaphobe who could not tolerate even the faintest unpleasant smell, wiped the corner of his mouth with her bare hand. Watching through the glass, I felt tears slip down my face without warning. Six months earlier, the side effects of my medication had left me vomiting in the middle of the night. What had she done then? She had jumped back to the doorway as though she had been shocked. Frowning, she called the housekeeper to clean up the mess. Then she locked herself in the bathroom and showered 3 times in a row. From beginning to end, she never looked at me again as I retched until I could barely breathe. Why was it that when it came to Adam, nothing was off-limits for her? Esther stepped out carrying a basin of water. The moment she saw me, she reached back and firmly shut the door behind her. When her gaze fell on my bare feet and my cold-purple lips, the wariness in her eyes eased. She removed her oversized coat and wrapped it around me. "Are you out of your mind? Running out in the middle of the night dressed like this? Don't you know how weak you are?" Even now, she still remembered her promise to take care of me. I looked at her, surprised by how calm my voice sounded. "He's in there, isn't he?" Esther's expression darkened, and her grip on my hand tightened. "That's an important client of mine. You're having an episode. I'll take you home." I shoved her aside and pushed through the door. "Hugo!" Esther cried in horror. Startled by the commotion, the man in the hospital bed let out a yelp and immediately pulled the blanket over his head. I grabbed the corner of the blanket. All I had to do was pull it back and tear away their disguise. Yet I could not bring myself to do it. Even now, I wanted to hear the truth come from their own mouths. Under Esther's terrified gaze, I pulled a small knife from my pocket and pointed it at my chest. "Esther, pull back that blanket and tell me who that man is. Otherwise, I'll die right here today. Your choice." Esther did not move. Bit by bit, the patience drained from her eyes. "Hugo, do you really think threatening to die still works on me? It's been three years. Every time something doesn't go your way, you threaten to kill yourself. You keep crying wolf. Don't you ever get tired of it?" So that was what she thought. Every desperate cry for help I had made while standing on the edge of collapse had been nothing more than a ridiculous performance in her eyes. The last flicker of hope inside me died completely. I let out a soft laugh, raised the knife, and drove it toward myself. Esther's face went white. "Don't you dare touch him!" She had not even noticed which direction the blade was facing before she lunged forward and kicked me. My body was already so weak that the blow sent me flying. I crashed onto the floor, and the knife plunged deep into my right thigh. Agonizing pain tore through me. Yet I did not cry out. I merely watched in silence as she threw herself in front of the man in the bed. Her eyes were bloodshot as she guarded him from me. She thought I was trying to kill him. Because of that belief, she had not hesitated for even a second to hurt me with everything she had. In that moment, I felt truly exhausted. "Esther, the game is over. Let's get a divorce." The shock on Esther's face lasted only 3 seconds before she let out a mocking laugh. "You don't have to test me. If you really wanted a divorce, you would've gotten one long ago." "This time I mean it," I said. A sharp crash suddenly cut me off. The man in the bed was trembling so violently that he lost his balance and fell over the side. He landed in the shattered glass scattered across the floor. A muffled groan escaped from beneath the blanket. Esther's expression changed instantly. Without the slightest hesitation, she rushed over to help him up. "Easy. Are you hurt? I'll get you to a doctor." I lay on the cold tile floor as a shocking pool of blood spread beneath my leg. Chapter 4 My leg was ruined for good. Esther sat beside my hospital bed, guilt written all over her face. "Hugo, I'll find another way. Your leg is going to get better. I promise." I stared at her blankly, yet I caught the faint flicker of relief hidden in her eyes. This was the third time my right leg had been seriously injured because of her. Three years earlier, Esther had made dangerous enemies. When they cornered her, I stepped in to protect her and ended up with a severely injured leg. Adam moved in to help take care of me, and that was when he first met Esther. After that, Esther spent less and less time at home. Then one night, Adam did not come home either. I went out searching for them and was struck by a car. The nerves in my right leg suffered permanent damage, leaving me with a limp. It was after that accident that I found proof of Esther's affair and climbed onto the rooftop. The irony was almost laughable. My ruined leg, and eventually the rest of me, had become sacrifices in their great love story. Esther clearly remembered it too. She could not meet my eyes. Using the excuse of paying the hospital bill, she hurried out of the room. The phone beside my pillow lit up. "You think your leg broke because she knocked you down? All these years, the medication you've been taking has been laced with something that weakens your bones. "They wanted you crippled for good so you couldn't haunt them day and night. Hugo, set yourself free. The longer you live and stand between them, the stronger their bond becomes. Only your death will brand them with shame for the rest of their lives." I calmly ended the call. There was no outburst. There was no breakdown. After I was discharged from the hospital, I became unusually quiet. I stopped checking up on Esther. I stopped questioning her. I stopped suspecting anything. Yet the calmer I became, the more uneasy they seemed. In the end, Esther was the one who brought it up. "Something urgent came up at the company. I have to leave town on a business trip for a week." She watched me closely as if she had already prepared herself for an argument. I simply nodded. "Okay." Then I turned to Adam. "You must be exhausted from taking care of me. Take the week off too. I'll be fine by myself." Both of them froze. They had not expected me to agree so easily, and all the explanations they had prepared died in their throats. Esther carefully tested my reaction. "Hugo, that day at the hospital... did you see something?" "See what?" I asked. At my denial, she quietly let out a breath. The tension in her eyes eased, and her expression softened. "When I get back, I'll take you to see the mountains in Elsbergen. How does that sound?" For three years, I had brought up Elsbergen more times than I could count. Every time, Esther had refused. She said it was too far away. She said I was too sick. She said I would only burden everyone if I went. She always promised to take me once I got better. I waited three years. "Okay," I said softly. That night, the guest room door remained slightly ajar. Adam's voice drifted out. It sounded choked and unsteady. "Esther, are we going too far with Hugo? He just broke his leg." Esther's answer was firm. "I'm saving everyone. If he stays here, sooner or later he'll drive both of us insane. Sending him to a care facility in Elsbergen is the best thing for all of us." So that was the truth. This was never about making my dream come true. It was not about easing her guilt either. She wanted to leave me trapped in the snow of a foreign country forever and remove the final obstacle standing in the way of their great love. I laughed soundlessly. Why go through all that trouble? I returned to my room, filled the bathtub to the brim, and lowered myself into the water. When the blade sliced across my wrist, ribbons of blood spread through the water, and I felt freer than I ever had before. ... Third Person's POV Early the next morning, Esther finished packing and knocked on the bedroom door. "Hugo, we're heading out. Take care of yourself while we're gone." Only a deathly silence answered her. Normally, the moment she called his name, Hugo would come out barefoot and wrap his arms around her. Today, there was nothing. A strange sense of dread crept into her chest. Esther grabbed the handle and twisted it hard. The door swung open. She froze where she stood.