Ransom Drysdale could count all the things he loved on one hand-his money, his pride, himself, and Juliette Reyes. So when one thing is threatened, you can damn well bet that there's nothing he wouldn't do to protect it.
How far would you go for lo...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
WHEN RANSOM RETURNED HOME, THE LAST THING HE EXPECTED TO SEE WAS JULIETTE PACKING AWAY ALL OF HER CLOTHES. He watched as she angrily shoved her belongings into one of the many suitcases that rested on their bed. She hadn't noticed him yet, but it was clear she was trying to finish before he got home.
"Going somewhere?" he asked smugly. His arms were crossed as he leaned against the door frame.
Juliette didn't look at him. She didn't even acknowledge his presence. Instead, she continued packing.
Ransom clicked his tongue and walked further into the room. "You're really going to give me the silent treatment?"
Juliette walked into the large closet only to be followed in by her husband. She picked up a shirt, but moments later, it was ripped from her hands. "Juliette, come on," he said with an attitude. "This isn't the welcome I expected."
Juliette yanked the shirt out of Ransom's hands and walked out of the closet. She scrunched the shirt up into a ball and carelessly threw it into her luggage. She zipped up her bag and picked it up. As she turned to exit, she sent a glare in Ransom's direction.
She struggled as she walked down the stairs. Her large stomach made it difficult to hold her bag, but she managed to do it without any assistance. She ignored Ransom's pleads for her to stop and look at him as she placed her bag at the bottom of the stairs. He followed after her, his patience wearing thin.
"Juliette, stop with the fucking silent treatment," Ransom demanded harshly as he watched her slide on her sandals. He picked up her luggage and moved it out of her reach.
"Give it back," Juliette ordered, turning around. Despite her hostile tone, Ransom was relieved to hear her voice after not hearing it for days.
Ransom smirked. "No."
Juliette stepped closer to him. She went to grab her bag, but it was moved father away from her. "Ransom, give me my bag."
"Where are you going?"
Juliette lunged forward and took hold of her bag. "I'm staying at my moms."
"In Miami?" he scoffed as he tried to take the bag back from her. "No, you're not."
Juliette just rolled her eyes. "Or what?" she challenged. "You gonna kill me too?"
For the first time since he stepped in the house, Ransom took a good look at his wife. She looked worse than when he last saw her. It was no secret she was tired. He just hadn't realized how tired she looked. Her eyes were accompanied by dark under-eye circles and her cheeks were sunken in. When he was in custody, all he could do was worry about her—Was she taking care of herself? Upon looking at her, he got his answer. He knew he was the one to blame for her decline in health. It's funny, the only time he ever felt guilt was when he saw what his actions did to Juliette.
Ransom's expression softened. "I told you I'd never hurt you. I meant that." he watched as Juliette let out a small breath of air and tore her gaze away from him.
"You can't fly either," he continued. "You're too far along, no airline will let you on the plane."
"I'll take a private jet." Juliette pushed past him and unlocked the front door. She took her car keys out of her pocket and opened the trunk. Ransom followed her out, grateful that they had such a large property so that his ankle monitor didn't go off upon stepping out the door.
"What if the baby comes early? You don't have any baby stuff at your mom's." Juliette ignored his desperate attempts to make her stay as she placed the bag in the trunk and returned to the house for the others. "And your doctor is here. What are you going to do? Fly him out to Miami?"
"If I have to," Juliette flatly. She grabbed the last of her luggage and headed back to the car.
She tried to exit the house, but Ransom had other plans. He stood in the doorway of the main entrance, blocking her from leaving. "Stay," he ordered.
Juliette let out a tired sigh. She didn't want to argue with him, but she also didn't want to be around him right now. "Get out of my way, Ransom," she said as she tried pushing past him.
Ransom placed a hand on each of her elbows. She immediately tensed up. Ransom chose to ignore it. "Look, I know you're mad—"
"Mad?" Juliette snapped. She dropped her bags and stepped away from him. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not mad, Ransom."
"Oh, that's good."
"I'm livid. You didn't crash my car or break my favourite mug. You lied straight to my face. You almost ruined Marta's life. You practically murdered your own grandfather. You killed someone, Hugh! And you're acting like you don't even care!"
Ransom flinched at the use of his first name. Every word his wife spoke was filled with rage. Even though he wanted to fight back, justify his actions by claiming it was for her, he couldn't. He didn't want to add to her stress. It was bad for their baby and he had already hurt her so much.
"And what sucks—what absolutely sucks, is that I don't hate you for it. Not one bit." Juliette's heart was racing. All the things she wanted to say to him in the past week were starting to emerge. "No, I hate me. I have been living with this guilt since you were arrested. I keep thinking maybe if I paid better attention or trusted that bad feeling in my gut, Fran would be alive right now."
By now, there were tears running down Juliette's cheeks. As they started to flow, Ransom realized that she wasn't livid. She was hurt. And he was the one who hurt her.
"I want to hate you. I want to hate you so badly," Juliette continued. Her voice was shaky. "But I can't. Every time I even think about you, I'm filled with so much love and it won't go away. And I hate myself for it."
"Juliette." Ransom reached out to comfort her, but stopped. Her let his hands drop to his sides. He didn't think she'd want him to touch her right now. "Baby, you're not responsible for my actions. You can't punish yourself over something I did."
"But I could have stopped you. And that's on me," she croaked, wiping her tears away. She picked up her bags and moved towards the door. She stepped over the threshold and glanced back over her shoulder. The heartbroken look on Ransom's face almost made her turn back around and stay. "Until I can learn to live with what you did and what I didn't do on my conscience, I'll be in Miami."
She shut the door behind her, leaving Ransom all alone in the home they had made together.
