“Have you finally gone mad, Beth?” Her partner asked with his brows creased.
“Why would Tony ever think of supporting you? You kidnapped his lover, remember? The man probably wants to kill you.” He said but Evelyn shook her head.
“He hates me, that’s for sure. But, he hates the idea of not being with Harriet more.” She smirked evilly.
“The man is in love with Harriet and will do anything to be with her. That, my love is what I plan on using.” She said and things were finally starting to make sense to him.
“Don’t tell me your plan is to-”
“You’re finally thinking!” She patted his head and let out a loud laughter.
“My plan is pretty simple. He wants Harriett, I want Damien… his wealth and name to be precise but, you know what I mean. We both want the same thing so why not team up and get what we both want. It might take some time but, I’m sure he’ll come around.” She finished up with a kiss on his lips and danced happily to her room.
Little did she know that Tony was the same man from Ten years ago.
A past she didn’t want to remember.
*
*
TEN YEARS AGO
“I know a doctor who can help, Bethany.” The young brown haired boy said to Bethany as she paced around her small studio apartment, her body shaking unconditionally from the effect of the drug she had taken.
“I don’t need a fucking doctor! I’ll be fine after one more tablet so hand it over!” She screamed, throwing a can of beer at him.
“Fuck! Beth! You need help. I’ll tell my dad. He has the money to help you and if-if I explain things to him, I’m sure he’ll help out.” The brown haired boy said, genuinely worried about his girlfriend who had been drowning herself in drugs.
She was only eighteen years old but had been exposed to drugs. After meeting her at an interschool party, he immediately took a liking to her and soon, they started dating only for him to find out that she was a drug addict. To make things worse, it was killing her.
One week later, he managed to convince her into visiting a doctor. When they went there, they were met with a young doctor who didn’t look like he was that much older than them.
“What your friend needs is rehab. I don’t think there’s much I can do for her.” The doctor replied after running a test on her.
The next day, she showed up at the hospital without her boyfriend under the pretext of wanting medication but as soon as the room emptied out, she approached the doctor and started talking about how she had fallen in love with him.
At first, the young doctor thought it was just her teenage hormones messing with her mind but months passed and it developed into an unhealthy obsession as she began stalking him and even paying him countless visits to the hospital.
“Tony Martinez. So, that’s your full name, Dr. Tony. I like it.” She smiled as she stared at his picture with a psychotic grin. She ended up masturbating to the thought of him and soon, that became a regular thing.
“Why can’t you see that I love you?!” She cried on the floor of his office, gripping her hair out of frustration.
“I- I have even stopped taking the drugs as you instructed. I’m getting better. I want to get better so that we can be happy together.” She smiled, holding Tony’s leg as she pleaded with him to accept her love but Tony didn’t love her.
But, he cared for her nonetheless. He was a doctor after all. It was his duty to care for his patients.
“I’m sorry, Bethany. I can’t love you. Besides, you have a boyfriend who loves you.” He explained to her but she shook her head.
“I don’t want him, Tony. He’ll understand. I’ll make him understand.” She begged but the doctor wasn’t going to change his mind as it was wrong in every way.
Bethany was unable to take the constant rejection from Tony so, she decided to use force.
One faithful night, she showed up at his house while he was away as she had secretly duplicated his keys and hid in his bedroom. The minute he got out, she showed up with a gun and threatened to kill him if he refused to date her.
Tony who thought that she was only bluffing tried to attack her and take the gun away but he was too late as she fired the shot, the bullet almost hitting his chest.
His blood filled the room and she was convinced he was dead and tried to run away with his body but the gunshot had alerted the police so, they came running to his house.
She immediately fled the scene, thinking that she had escaped only to wake up to her face being plastered all around the Internet and on TV for murdering a doctor.
She later discovered that there was a CCTV camera which she had not been aware of. With her face now exposed and the police out to get her, she quickly ran away from the city and moved to England, changing her name, appearance and even her fingerprints with money that she had stolen from her rich boyfriend.
Tony Martinez was lucky. He had barely survived the gunshot but to avoid anymore troubles, he immediately left New York and joined his parents in Paris, hoping to start over.
It also didn’t help matters that despite his explanations, most people accused of having intimate relations with an eighteen year old even in his place of work.
This made it impossible for him to stay in New York as people stayed away from him just because of that rumor.
Bethany Howell had ruined his life.
*
*
PRESENT
Tony’s phone rang and he immediately rushed to pick it up as he thought that it could be Harriett. But, his hopes were shattered as he saw that it was an unknown number. He was in no mood to take calls but after much deliberation, he answered the call.
“Tony Martinez speaking. How may I help you?” He said nonchalantly and Evelyn felt her heart stop beating for a few seconds as her body immediately went cold.
She had always said that Harriet’s lover looked familiar but brushed it off as he didn’t really matter to her. Even if he had the same name as the man from her past, there was no way it could be him.
To her, Tony Martinez died Ten years ago.
She killed him.