Behind closed doors, the neighborhood’s most enviable marriage just turned deadly.
Writer’s Prompt
The crystal champagne flutes were precisely half an inch from each mahogany coaster, just as Lindsey liked. Hal was holding court near the grand piano, laughing at someone’s dull joke, radiating the polished charm that kept them splashed across Sunday’s society pages. They were the neighborhood’s crown jewels: flawless, envied, and utterly hollow.
Lindsey carried a tray of canapés toward the terrace, her rehearsed smile gleaming. That was when the movement down the dimly lit hallway caught her eye.
Hal’s hands were buried in Rowena Jenson’s pearl-gray silk dress. Rowena’s fingers clawed frantically into Hal’s tuxedo jacket, pulling him in for a bruising, desperate kiss before dragging him backward into the guest suite. The heavy oak door clicked shut.
Lindsey froze. She counted to ten. The polished porcelain shell of her existence didn’t just crack—it ruptured.
Excusing herself with an icy nod to the city councilman, she walked down the hall, every footstep muffled by Persian wool. She didn’t bother to knock. When Lindsey threw open the door, a torrent of blistering, gutter-raw obscenities erupted from her throat—words that paralyzed Hal and sent Rowena scrambling for her dropped wrap.
“Get out,” Lindsey whispered, the sudden quiet far more terrifying than the shouting. “Both of you. Right now.”
Rowena fled toward the back stairs without a word. But Hal lingered. He straightened his silk lapels, a cruel, familiar sneer curling on his lips. He stepped closer, towering over her, and slid a brass key into his palm.
“You won’t ruin tonight, Lindsey,” Hal murmured, reaching behind him to twist the deadbolt. “Because if anyone leaves this room to make a scene, it won’t be me.”
He stepped toward her. Lindsey’s hand slipped into her apron pocket, fingers wrapping around the cold silver carving shears she had forgotten she was carrying.
How does the soiree end? Does Lindsey protect her reputation, or does she silence Hal for good? Tell us your ending in the comments below.
