There was no time to think anything over, Phoebe had nothing left, she had lost her husband, kids, and her reputation. It was better for her to die than her family. She was a failure as a wife who failed to see trouble brewing in her marriage.
She had failed as a mother because her children had just died before her eyes. She was a failure as a human for not seeing the mask her best friend had worn for years, plotting against her.
As a daughter, she couldn't be a failure too and cause the death of her parents. Her brother was expecting his first child. Wouldn't she be a sinner if she made that child fatherless?
"David Saxon." She said the name in a whisper.
She wet her dry lips and laughed. After all she had done for him, how could he have believed the lies and abandoned her?
She wondered how often he had looked at her with disgust. How he refused to kiss or touch her, pretending he was exhausted or busy.
She remembered how he barely spent time with their sons and finally, she pictured him in bed with Ruth, whispering sweet words of love and making promises, the same ones he had once made to her.
Her heart broke with every image she imagined, shattering into millions of little pieces like broken glass.
With the speed of a snail she walked to the pavement and lowered her tear filled eyes to the ground where she was about to fall. Her hands moved to the half pendant stone she was wearing around her neck as she closed her eyes right before she jumped off the building.
"David Saxon." She whispered the name again and laughed softly just before her body hit the ground and her head shattered like a soft watermelon on the cold hard ground.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Once upon a time, Cinderella took off her glass slippers and run away from the castle.
It was the tallest tower in Citrus city, known as the ninth wonder of the world. One hundred floors high, sitting on three and half million square feet.
With two thousand rooms, two hundred bathrooms and eighty kitchens. It had eight swimming pools, two hundred car garage and a church where prayers were held every morning.
On the grounds were air conditioned stables big enough to house three hundred horses and ponies.
Uphill was a horse racing track, a car racing track, a helipad and hunting grounds that were patrolled by one hundred ten dogs. Not to be forgotten were its glamorous gardens that often appeared in ideal home magazines.
It was a castle, in its own right, a house meant for a king and also known as the house where dreams were fulfilled.
Two billion dollars was how much had gone into the building this tower that was designed by world renowned famous architect Alonzo Cusco in 1991.
Many famous people had been inside this house, presidents, foreign dignitaries, even kings and queens from different parts of the world.
It was indeed the ninth wonder of the world, with its beautiful gold statues owned by the most envied family in Fog country, the golden family, the Saxons.
Everyone was dying for an opportunity to crawl through the small gaps of the main gates and live on the grounds of Saxon tower, everyone that was except for Phoebe Gabriel.
She was standing in the midst of the awe filled crowd of tourists from other countries that was here to take pictures and create memories outside of the Saxon tower.
"Ladies and gentlemen the Saxon tower has one hundred floors. I know some of you are wondering how many cleaners it takes to keep this behemoth mansion clean. I will save you the wondering and give you an answer, one thousand and three maids."
The tour guide was as cliché as one of his kind could get. A bright charming smile and an I heart citrus city cap on his head. He was wearing shorts and a shirt that similarly declared his love for Citrus city.
He had a small earpiece through which he was talking and brochures advertising the tour bus company for which he worked in his hands.
Without pause, kept handing out the brochures to the tourists while divesting information about one of the world's greatest cities. For every question that the tourists had, he had an answer.
"Each of the servants is rumored to earn no less than twenty thousand dollars a month, a lot more than most of us make in three months. Who knew that a fancy degree in art history would pay a lot less than moping some floors for rich folks?"
Some people chuckled, highly amused by the mix of self-loathing and dry humor of the tour guide. Phoebe didn't laugh with the others.
"It's ten thousand dollars actually." She said loudly.
"Well, it looks like I have a competitor ladies and gentlemen. How do you know how much they earn gorgeous, do you work inside or do you perhaps know someone that does?" His amused eyes were pinned to her face
Phoebe looked at Saxon tower with a wistful look in her eyes. She was still struggling with the memories of the life she had lived before.
A sad smile formed on her face and she said.
"I used to live here, among the cold hearted untrustworthy, prestigious monsters."
After saying those shocking words, she turned around and started walking away, well aware of the confusion her words had probably created.
Some people believed her but many did not after all a lot of people came out claiming to be part of the prestigious family which claims eventually turned out to false.
Every member of the Saxon family was well known to the public. They were not shy about using their name to enjoy the privileges it offered them. Even the reclusive members of the family were known and famous.
They would have to come out of hiding for birthdays, weddings and other important events during which their pictures would be taken and shared on their socials that had massive following.
"Wait, as a servant or a Saxon?"
"She can't be a Saxon, her hair is red." A woman said.
It was settled then, that she was the child of a servant that grew up on Saxon grounds perhaps.
The Saxons were not just famous for their insurmountable wealth, they were also famously known for their snow white hair.
Rumor had it that one of their ancestors was a witch that made a deal with the devil to keep the Saxons in wealth forever and so the devil took all color out of their hair as a price.
It was often said that you couldn't see a Saxon if they were hiding in the snow because they were snow monsters.
As stupid and ridiculous as the rumors were, people seemed to enjoy them, spreading and whispering about it as if it was the concrete truth.
The white hair of course was another thing the Saxons took pride in and they never dyed it. In fact, it was forbidden to dye hair as a Saxon. Every string on their heads had to be as white as the clouds.
Phoebe wanted to remind the tourists that Saxons married people with all other kinds of hair colors but she figured, why bother. It wasn't as if she had any intention of sharing the story of her life with them.
Her story was even more ridiculous than the white hair and witch rumors, for she had died once, and been reborn.