Chapter 41 Chapter 40:
Barbara:
Today is the day.
It’s not quite something I have been waiting for, honestly I did not even believe that, I, Barbara Brookes can go too far, but it just sort of happened, and as they always say the show must go on, right?
The house is quiet, all the staffs are gone as requested by me earlier, here I am, all alone in this big house, of course Robert will be joining me very soon. I am already dressed in a black satin evening dress, with layers of make-up, to make the mascara run down when I am about to cry.
The dining room is already set up, just a round table filled with all sorts of delicacies like lobster bisque, caprese salad, herb crusted salmon red wine and let’s not forget his favourite tea, earl grey.
I lean against the kitchen counter, taking it all in with a perfect smile. Everything’s working out in my favour, why won’t I be excited?
The ringing of my cell phone jolts me out of my amazing dream. “Hello?” there’s a hint of annoyance in my voice.
“Hi.” My hit-man says, his voice clearly irritated. “Do you want me to drop following Arya around? Her schedule is the same every day, she goes to work, hangs out with friends and comes back. Nothing too interesting.”
Honestly, I don’t even know what I was thinking when I asked my hit man to follow Arya around, perhaps I was looking for some dirt to throw on her name? If I can’t kill her, then I might at least destroy her through the media, but it doesn’t seem to work.
“Stop following her,” I say, the front door unlocks and my heart leaps a bit. “I have to go now,”
“Wait.” He says hurriedly, and I clench my teeth in return. I don’t have time for this, I have got a job to do right now, “Do you think maybe I can get a thanksgiving bonus kind of thing?”
“Thanksgiving is in two weeks, I will see what I can do.” Without waiting, I end the call and jog straight to the door, my husband, Robert walks in, looking exhausted, holding his briefcase.
“Hey, honey.” He greets me, dropping his suitcase. “Why are you all dressed up? Are you going for your golf thing tonight?”
Oh sweet Robert, so naive, so stupid.
“Of course not,” I say, outstretching my hand for him. “We are having dinner alone, just you and me. I already sent the staff home, they deserve a rest.”
“Really?” His face brightens despite the tiredness in his eyes. “Thank you, darling.”
We walk to the dining room, and he smiles a bit as he sees the food displayed on the table, he gives me a kiss on the forehead before sitting on the chair, these are all his favourite foods, I made sure of that.
He begins to dig in without even changing. I smile, sitting down.
He takes a gulp of the Earl grey tea, “Tell me, love. How was your day?”
“Not bad, I attended a charity luncheon and I took an art class, and now I am having dinner with the love of my life.”
He reaches out and squeezes my hand, “I love you.”
“Me too.” I just can’t wait to see his face after he processes everything. Why am I doing this? Last week, I saw his will tucked nicely on his desk in his study, and guess what? He’s leaving every single thing to me, which means neither of his sons are getting a thing, and yesterday, it was no longer there.
So, my assumption is that he has sent it to the lawyer, now when someone leaves their entire fortune to you, what do you do? You make their death faster.
“Do you remember what day this is?” I place my hand on the table, smiling sweetly.
“Are we celebrating some kind of anniversary today?” His brows crunch together in confusion, “Maybe I forgot, I am not getting any younger. You are quite aware of that.”
“Today’s the day I seduced you years ago.”
His ears go flame red and it brings me immense satisfaction. “What?”
“Do you remember, Robert? When Kathy was busy with some charity stuff and she asked me to watch the kids, Liam and Devon were asleep when I walked into your bedroom, you were sitting on the bed working on your computer.”
He has gone pale, staring at me with a glare. He doesn’t know that I am only just getting started.
“Do you remember that I was wearing a robe? All I did was let the robe slide down my body and you came to me. You fucked me in your martial bed, Kathy was wrong about you, she told me you would never cheat on her, but you did that night. You whispered in my ear that you’ve always loved me while you fucked me.”
“Barbara,” there’s a hint of regret in his voice. “I-I didn’t-”
“Oh shut the fuck up.” I raise my hand, and he’s taken aback by my choice of words. “Why don’t we replay your life? Who were you before you met Kathy? You were a nobody, no name, no status....and then you met Kathy Brookes and fell madly in love, you made a billionaire heiress fall in love with you.”
Robert’s breathing heavily now, his voice echoing through the room. “Shut up, Barb!”
“Does this enrage you, Robert dear?” I say calmly, smiling. “Because I am only just getting started. Where was I? Oh right, you got married to her, changed your surname to Brookes, you convinced your whole family to change their name, so the society could all respect you. Somehow, you managed to convince Kathy to sign all her fortune to you. Suddenly, you went from being a nobody to a Mr. Brookes. Well played,”
“Why are you suddenly bringing this up?” He asks angrily, as if he’s ready to smash the glass plate on my face.
“Then you met me, Kathy’s best-friend, who’s also a nobody. While Kathy was out, making the world a better place, I was fucking her husband and together, we were planning how to eliminate her so we could be the next Brookes, and we did just that. We killed your wife. I have one question for you though, do you ever regret it?”
“Yes,” he says bitterly, picking up the glass of wine, “I regret it every single day.”
“You are self-centred. You only care about yourself, you killed your own wife, your sons don’t talk to you anymore, and your second wife just poisoned you.” I lean forward, resting my elbows on the table, as I meet his gaze.
His glass freezes halfway to his life, his gaze darkening. “What the hell did you just say?”
My smile widens, cold and calculating. “I am sure you heard me, I poisoned your tea with foxglove, it’s smart because too much of the poison can point as a sign of a heart attack. I paid the hospital; they will carry out a fake autopsy and rule out your death as a heart attack. It’s already in your system, slow and steady. I made sure of that.”
For the first time in my life, I catch something in his eyes- fear and regret, and it thrills me greatly. People like Robert would never blink if a body drops dead in front of them, but they couldn’t afford to die.
“You are bluffing,” he says, his voice harder, “You wouldn’t dare.”
I tilt my head, feigning curiosity. “Wouldn’t I? After everything you have done, you don’t think you deserve death? You have a flaw, and that is you underestimated me. You think you can push me around? Not anymore, dear husband.”
Robert staggers backward, knocking the chair over as he clutches his chest in pain, sweat gathers around his forehead, a sign that the poison is working its way through. The illusion of a perfect man shatters and what remains is a man afraid of losing control.
“What did you do to me?” He rasps, his breath coming out in slow, shallow gasps.
“Foxglove, that popular plant.” I smile coldly, standing over him. It feels so damn great to be in control of everything.
“Help me.” He chokes out, his voice above a whisper.
“Help you?” I say, laughing as if he’s a pathetic creature. “You don’t deserve help, and you surely don’t deserve forgiveness. Do you know your problem? It’s that you can never admit that you are evil or a monster, you lie to the world that you are an angel, but me? I am a monster, I have done evil things, and I have killed. I can always admit to that.”
“Please.” He pleads, tears brimming in his eyes. It’s too obvious that he’s in pain, just like he’s having a heart attack. He’s sprawled on the floor like a baby, hands on his chest, he can’t survive this, by the time the medic gets here, he will be dead.
“You get hell.” I say sharply as I gaze at the agony in his eyes. “You are not going anywhere else, Robert. Heaven isn’t the place for people like you, but hell? It has been waiting for you, reserved for you, and I hope you burn there till eternity.”
His breathing slows as I watch life gently seep out of his body.
“Tell my sons....” his voice is coming out weird, like pieces of words mashed together, “that I love...them....” His body convulses, as his hands fall limply to the floor, leaving a deafening silence in the room. I can only stare at his lifeless body with a bitter smile.
“Go to hell, Robert. Help me greet Kathy in heaven, oh right. You aren’t going there,” with steady hands, I reach for my phone on the dining table and dial 911.
As the call connects, I switch my tone to a panicked woman. “Hello? I need help.....my husband just had a panic attack, he’s not breathing anymore!”