Sophie Oak - Found in Bliss

The Road to Bliss

Denver, Colorado

Eight years ago

Holly Lang stared at the papers. What is this supposed to mean?

Scott Lang sighed, barely glancing up from the desk in his beautifully designed Congressional office. It means what it says, dear. My father was right. Youre a liability. Im never going to move out of state politics with you at my side. Im going to make a run at Washington in two years. I cant do that with you. Dont get me wrong. Youre a gorgeous woman. Its why I married you. I should have done exactly what my father told me to do. I should have screwed you until my eyes popped out and married a proper political wife.

Rage threatened to choke her. Well, I think you can tell your father that I feel pretty damn screwed.

Nearly ten years of marriage down the drain. Shed done everything the bastards had asked her to do. Shed worn the right clothes, gone to all the proper parties, kept her mouth shut when she really just wanted to scream. More than that, shed done everything hed needed her to do. Shed dropped out of college to support him. Shed had their baby. She looked through the papers, catching on one particular clause.

Well, I understand you mean to enforce the prenup.

He sat back, cold blue eyes assessing her. His perfectly coiffed hair had just a hint of silver at the temples. His stylist put that in once a month. Holly knew Scotts hair didnt have a hint of silver. Those strands were dyed to give him a regal air of maturity. Like everything with her husbandsoon to be exit was an illusion created to play to his voters. That is what a prenup is for, dear.

Your timing is impeccable. According to the prenup, if shed stayed married for another six months, she was to be paid a sizable sum. At the time when shed signed the damn thing, shed hated that clause, hated the whole idea of a prenuptial agreement. It had seemed so unromantic. But shed been madly in love. Shed signed it because shed known they wouldnt need it.

Two years in, shed realized that Scott was a vacuous idiot who cheated on her at every given opportunity. But shed had Nicky to think about. Her son was everything to her.

Scotts fingers drummed along the top of his desk as though he was bored by the whole scene and ready to move on. Ive had this on my calendar for years, dear. I was never going to give you that money. I would have divorced you last year, but I was up for reelection, and it doesnt look good to the voters.

Bastard. So cold blooded. What had she ever seen in this man? How is it going to look now? Youre kicking your wife and child to the curb. Im sure your constituents are going to love that.

The reptilian smile that crossed his face chilled her to the bone. In that moment, Holly knew she was screwed. He opened a manila folder. Oh, I think theyll understand when they see these.

Five photos were laid out in front of her, each more damning than the next. Her stomach churned as she looked at those pictures. Whoever hed paid had done a damn fine job with Photoshop. It really looked like her. It looked like she was standing outside a seedy motel with her husbands bodyguard, Rick. Her hand was on his chest, his on her hip. The next picture featured a deep kiss as Ricks hands delved into her blouse. She turned her eyes away from the other two. They were taken through the window and showed her riding the bodyguard, her head thrown back.

Dare I ask who played the part of me? Tears threatened to squeeze out of her eyes. Rick had always been nice to her, but she supposed her husbands money and influence bought anything he wanted.

It doesnt really matter. Rick is ready to go on record to the press. The motel manager has proof that youve been going there every week for several months. Its all lies, but that wont matter. The press will see what I want them to see. He pulled the photos back in and neatly stacked them. I dont particularly want to use these. I think it would be hard on Nicky, dont you?

Nicky was only nine, the light of her life. He went to a private school, and they would eat him alive if his mother was involved in a sex scandal. Of course, she wouldnt be able to afford that school now. She would have to find the best public school she could and do whatever it took to move into the district. Yes, it would be hard on him. Well go. I wont give you any trouble.

Youll go, Holly. And you wont give me a bit of trouble, or I can make you look like the worlds most unfit mother. If you walk away now, Ill give you that cabin of my grandfathers, ten thousand dollars, and monthly visits with our son. If I hear a hint of trouble from you, Ill make sure you never see him again.

Holly felt her world fall away, tipping over and rearranging itself into something she didnt recognize. Nicky? Her baby? You cant take my son away.

His face softened marginally. I can give him far more than you can, Holly. You have to see that. Hes an amazing kid, the best thing we ever managed to do together.

Then why are you holding him hostage? The cold, flat line of his mouth told her everything she needed to know. Nicky would be the carrot he dangled in front of her to keep her in line.

Hes a Lang. Hes not going to be raised outside of the family. Im going against my father by offering you that ratty old cabin. He would prefer you left Colorado, but this way you can see Nicky once a month.

Yes, she could see her father-in-laws fingerprints all over this little scheme. Malcolm Lang had hated the fact that his precious son had married a woman with no connections. Her father-in-law made no attempts to hide the fact that he couldnt stand her. Hed called her a cheap floozy and a gold-digging whore on a regular basis. At the beginning of their marriage, Scott had defended her, but as his career had taken off, hed simply ignored her.

Do we have a deal? If you refuse, its going to be war, Holly. Do you really want to take me on?

Oh, hell yeah, she wanted to take him on. She wanted to smash in his cosmetically perfect face. She wanted to torch his car. She wanted to cry because everything she loved was being taken away. She didnt have anyone. Her parents were gone. She had no siblings. She had her son, and if she fought for him, he could be grown before she saw him again.

Where is this cabin? Weve never gone there before. Defeat began to settle in.

He sat back. The smug look on his face proclaimed his victory. We dont go because that town is a bit of an embarrassment. Why my grandfather loved it, I have no idea. Its a town called Bliss.

Bliss. There was nothing even vaguely blissful about her life now, but it looked like this town was going to be her home for a while.

I want to see my son before I go.

Of course, Scott said. Im not a monster.

Holly waited while Scott called her son in. She held her boy and explained that she was leaving. That she had a new home. She hoped Bliss would treat her better than Denver.

Sierra Leone

Six years ago

Caleb Burke held himself as still as possible. Night had fallen. He knew it. The crack under the door of his tiny cage had gone pitch black long ago. Cage? It was a fucking reinforced closet, and it was the only place he felt halfway safe. He could feel the wall against his back. All he had to worry about was his front, and he could hear the closet door if it opened.

How long had it been? Weeks? Months? It seemed like forever since that moment the rebels had taken over his clinic, killed everyone in sight, and forced him to march through the jungle to this place.

If only one of the fuckers hadnt recognized him, he would be dead, his body left behind in the jungle alongside Carolines. It might have been a fitting end to their marriage.