Chapter 4: The Departure
Morning broke with a sickening normalcy. Mark sat at the kitchen island, sipping black coffee as if he hadn't tortured his wife on that very surface the night before. Clara kept her eyes downcast, serving him breakfast with heavily bandaged, throbbing hands. He didn't ask about the gauze.
At 8:00 AM, Mark grabbed his briefcase. "Have dinner ready by seven," he ordered, walking out the door. Thirty minutes later, Eleanor departed in her Mercedes for her weekly country club brunch, not bothering to say goodbye.
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The moment the heavy front door clicked shut, Clara sprang into action. She had a narrow four-hour window. Biting back the pain in her hands, she pulled a duffel bag from the back of her closet. She packed only the essentials: her passport, social security card, a small stack of hidden cash, and a few changes of clothes.
She left her smartphone on the nightstand. Mark tracked its location constantly. Instead, she retrieved a cheap prepaid phone she had hidden weeks ago. She touched her pocket, confirming the SD card was safe, and walked out the front door without looking back.
