Mirror Mirror: A Psychological Suspense Thriller: An Oliver Perritt Thriller

By Erica R. Stinson

In a relentless corporate world, Vera Willis strives to survive amidst the company's ruthless culture. When her cruel boss callously terminates her employment, a wave of determination surges within her.

 

Facing an uncertain future, Vera encounters Lizzie, a fellow employee sensing Vera's quiet distress. As Vera grapples with the intense toxicity in the office, she undergoes a transformation, ignited by the injustice she faces.

 

Driven by a brewing rebellion against her boss, Vera and Lizzie join forces, crafting a plan for retribution. Their desire for payback fuels their actions, blurring the lines between right and wrong.

 

As their scheme unfolds, Vera's journey through vengeance raises the stakes, pushing the boundaries of morality. But amid their pursuit of retribution, they soon confront the chilling truth: the price of revenge might be more than they ever anticipated.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Erica R. Stinson
• Release date: Oct 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386570783

Erica R. Stinson

Hi there! I'm Erica R. Stinson, a suspenseful and fast-paced thriller author, known for the NYPD Detective Millicent Harvey series and the Doctor Oliver Perritt series. My love for writing is only surpassed by my love for cooking, knitting, gardening, playing chess and video games, and spending time with my niece, Gianna. I used to own Gigi Cake Shoppe, but I closed it in 2017 to focus solely on writing. I am a lifelong New Yorker, residing on the East Coast, and you can stay up to date with my latest work by signing up for updates. You can also connect with me on social media: Instagram (@authorericarstinson) Twitter (@authorericarsti) Facebook (Authorericarstinson) TikTok((@authorericarstinson) I invite you to enjoy "Succession", a free short story from the world of Oliver Perritt, simply by clicking the following link: https://linktr.ee/authorericarstinson My books, "The Doctor", "Mirror Mirror" and "Shelter" are also still available. And while I have taken down the Detective Millicent Harvey series for re-editing and re-branding, don't worry, she'll be back!

Book preview

Mirror Mirror

A Gripping Psychological Suspense Thriller

Erica R. Stinson

Copyright © 2017 by Erica R. Stinson

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopies, recording, or otherwise without the express written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, write to the author, addressed Attention: Permissions at [e-mail]

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in the novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art Designed By: Erica R. Stinson

Photo Images Courtesy of Depositphotos.com

Books by Erica R. Stinson

Oliver Perritt Psychological Medical Thrillers

The Doctor: A Psychological Thriller (An Oliver Perritt Thriller)

Mirror, Mirror: A Psychological Thriller (Hannah Sloane)

Succession (obtained by signing up for my mailing list)

Stand-Alone Titles

Shelter: A Gripping Suspense Thriller

Wide Angle: A Psychological Suspense Thriller

Smothered(Spring 2024)

Step into the glittering yet perilous world of television personality Alice Blaylock. When a relentless stalker invades her life with chilling threats and haunting wide-angle photos, Alice finds herself ensnared in a treacherous game of deception and danger. As she battles to uncover the stalker's identity, dark family secrets threaten to unravel everything she holds dear.

Get Wide Angle Now

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

––––––––

This book is out a little later than I had hoped due to some life-changing circumstances. So, with that being said....

First and foremost, I would like to heartily thank the North Shore University Hospital – Manhasset (now known as Northwell Health), the affiliate medical center Low-Risk Clinic of Manhasset (NSUH), and Pro-Health Care Associates of Lake Success, New York the affiliate medical center of Long Island Jewish Hospital, for without them I would not be here to continue my writing and my couture cake ventures.  They quite literally saved my life when I suddenly fell extremely, life-threateningly ill during the Spring of 2016, and for that, I am eternally grateful to every surgeon, doctor, nurse, and the many employees of these outstanding medical facilities who helped immensely with my lengthy recovery.  Secondly, I would like to thank the Ten Ladies Reading Book Club of Queens, New York for their undying support and readership, the Support Indie Authors (SIA) on Goodreads, who have given me solid advice and help when I’ve needed it and didn’t know what to do.  I would also like to thank the very few people in my life who have truly been there for me, through thick and thin, as I embark on my new writing adventures.  They have picked me up when I’ve been down and encouraged me to keep going, no matter what. You will never be forgotten, for without you I could not succeed. And last, but not least, I want to give a shout-out to my mom, Judith A. Stinson, my cousin Tara M. Johnson, and the best niece in the world, Gianna Stinson.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

The Doctor – Excerpt

Unlock a World of Suspense and Thrills!

The Doctor(Excerpt)

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

About The Author

Follow Erica

Chapter 1

Flashing lights.  Red strobes.  Blue strobes.  It was all a blur in her mind as she revisited the familiar scene in her dreams.  Blood on the pavement.  Marianne screaming as people came running at the sound of her cries.  Bradford trying to maintain some sense of control.  More blood.  There was blood all over the car seat, dribbling down as the vehicle finally stopped rolling over and collided with another object.  Someone was in the seat next to her, but the girl was no longer moving. A shrill scream sounded from somewhere outside of the mangled car, a world once known now forever gone...

The scream from the nightmare had merged with the piercing blare of the alarm as her deep, brown eyes fluttered open and then squinted shut from the bright sunlight washing over her bedroom.  The damned thing always startled her, despite knowing that it would go off at exactly six every weekday morning.  Vera rolled over in bed and slammed her palm against it, stopping the noise in its tracks.

It was Monday.

Again.

The weekend had been uneventful.

Boring even.

She had binge-watched Game of Thrones upon learning of its popularity all across social media.  It was a bit gory at times, but a show that had sucked her in after the very first episode.

Sighing, Vera’s eyes rolled over to the alarm clock again and she realized with a start, that ten minutes had gone by.  Jumping into the shower quickly, the young woman used a generous portion of her beloved Gucci bath gel.  Each time she bought it and sometimes even splurged on accompanying lotions occasionally, it certainly put a dent in her wallet.  But despite her insecurities about her looks, her wardrobe, and just herself in general, Vera repeatedly splurged on this one item at least four times a year.

It made her feel, or at least smell, pretty.

She had never been a pretty girl.  A slightly chubby little girl, Vera Willis had had it rough growing up in her parents’ household.  Her mother constantly nagged her about taking more care with her appearance, while her perfect sister got all the praise.

Victoria had always been the perfect one.

The pretty one.

The slender one.

The brain.

Good grades in school, millions of friends, and their teachers always remarking on what a success Victoria Willis was going to be when she grew up.  Even amongst her own family, Vera noticed how they had treated Victoria very differently than how they had treated her and it hurt.  She hadn’t understood it back then, but she could readily admit that she didn’t care about it anymore.  She had pretty much caused an even further rift between herself and her parents, or at least that’s the way they would make it appear when they complained to anyone who would listen about what a problem she was.

How they would lament that Vera always had to make things difficult.

Vera had left her parents' house, right in the middle of dinner, and hadn’t been back there since.  That was over three weeks ago, but she could hold a silent treatment just as long as they could.  Vera was tired of being a doormat for everyone to complain to, yet when she had her own problems no one was anywhere to be found.

Maybe listen to her moan and groan for a change.

Three years ago, her cousin had accused her of being selfish when she refused to watch her bratty kids while she went out on the prowl for yet another man. She and Allison had never been close and Vera almost hadn’t picked up the phone when she saw the number.  But the wimp in her did it anyway, so as not to start a whole ‘thing’.  For Allison to suddenly call her as if she had nothing better to do than babysit three children she barely knew, was a bit out there.

Well, I figured you weren’t busy.  Anyway, I will be over there in about twenty minutes. Where do you live again?, Allison asked distractedly right before she screamed at one of the kids, the squabbling in the background grating on Vera’s nerves.

It was all she could do to hold her composure right before she blurted out that she was busy and Allison would have to find someone else. 

That’s when it got ugly and after Allison hung up on her, angry, her mother called to berate her about being more supportive of family members who were having a rough time.

Allison was a divorced mother of three kids.

So what?

Vera’s whole life had been a ‘rough time’ and no one gave a shit.

Vera had been the one to hang up the phone that time.

Toxic.

They were all just toxic.

They barely bothered with her anyway, but she discovered that she liked it that way.  She was down to only three anti-depressants from five since the incident with her parents' dinner and she was beginning to feel the weight come off of her shoulders.

Drying off, Vera realized with a start, that she was seriously running late now.  Dressing quickly, she threw on a simple black skirt and a creamy, white button-down blouse.  She grabbed her favorite red sweater and her purse as she slid her stocking-covered feet into a pair of worn, scuffed black flats.  Her dark hair was a bit rough-looking, split-end city truth be told, but she didn’t have time to deal with it right now.

Vera locked up her apartment and hurried to the elevator at the end of the hall.  She grabbed a brush from her purse and began to whip it through her limp hair as the car rode down six floors to the lobby.  She quickly checked the mailbox, retrieving the contents from Saturday since she hadn’t gotten out of bed all weekend long. 

Junk-mail.

A Verizon phone bill.

She owed Con-Ed big-time for the excessive use of the air-conditioning from the final, nasty heatwave that had fallen over New York City a few weeks ago.

No time for the subway today.

Hailing a cab, she gave the driver the address of the upscale mid-town Manhattan office building she’d worked at for the last three years.  It was a good job, and she was very good at it.  Her boss, however, was an asshole.  Some days it took everything in her not to go upside his head because she couldn’t take him.  He was a narcissistic, chauvinistic, dickhead who she absolutely could not stand.  He would stride around the office as if he were a king, and it showed.  Most of the people at the office kissed his ass to avoid becoming his target.  He would antagonize people in the office to the point that they would either get fired (or at least she felt that he would somehow get them fired) or they would just quit in exasperation since upper management refused to address the issue. 

The CEO of the company was a nice enough man, but he, unfortunately, lacked the backbone to deal with this assertive, alpha-male type so he was basically a victim, too.  The worst part of this whole thing was that the asshole didn’t even realize that he was the problem. 

But Vera knew.

She would sit and quietly listen to the office gossip from co-workers huddled in distant corners away from his view, or holding private rants amongst each other in the break-room or the restrooms.

It was always someone else and him. 

The common-fucking-denominator.

Vera had learned that the CEO was aware of this issue, but he wanted them all to work together as a team.  Try to get along for the benefit of the company, which had been hemorrhaging money lately for some odd reason.  The CEO wanted everyone to pull their weight, and Vera understood that.

There was no time for drama.

But it was like that with small offices sometimes. 

In the past, Vera had worked at much larger companies, where there were so many people that no one paid her much attention anyway.  She preferred it that way because most workplaces today had too much damned strife.  Once, she even provided support to an office manager and it was just the two of them, which suited her.  Unfortunately, that had been a temporary situation she’d gotten into before she found her current job. A maternity leave assignment, the temp agency had said.  It had been nice there and Vera had gotten very comfortable for the six weeks she worked with family-like staff. 

Small offices with ten or twelve people?

She couldn’t stand it because there was always that one freaking asshole that threw a monkey wrench into the works and made it impossible for them all to work cohesively as a group.

A cancer.

The yellow cab rolled to a stop in front of the tall building in midtown and Vera paid and got out of the car.  It was starting to get brisk, all traces of summer were completely gone now that it was mid-September. She was glad that she had thought to bring her sweater.  As she walked into the building holding up her identification, the two uniformed guards didn’t even glance her way.

Yup.

Invisible.

Vera stepped into the elevator and punched the button for the nineteenth floor, listening to the annoying Musak that every elevator in the world seemed to have.  When the doors slid open, she was greeted by the sight of her coworkers laughing and talking together as they shared the past weekend’s events with one other.  She mumbled a ‘good morning’ as she made her way around them and to her lone desk, which was located right outside of Asshole’s office door.

None of them responded or even looked up for that matter.

Typical, but not unexpected.

None of them ever bothered with her.

She came in, did her work, and then went home.  She got the feeling that they didn’t trust her because of her ties to Asshole and his assistant, Linda.  She could almost feel sorry for Linda because she handled all of his personal affairs, events, invitations, and travel itineraries and was even on-call during the weekends.  But not too sorry, because that bitch acted just at haughty as Asshole at times, but then other times Vera would witness her near tears after one of Asshole’s many tirades.  If her co-workers had ever bothered to ask her, they would know that she hated him just as much, if not more, than they did.

Vera had barely set her purse down on her desk before Asshole’s door ripped open and he barked at her to get his coffee.  The door slammed shut and then he was gone.  The last time she’d gotten his coffee, just this past Friday afternoon at exactly four-fifty-nine on the nose, she had spit in it.  Maybe a trip to the ladies' room first, with his coffee cup, on her way to the break room might be a good idea.  When she went to the break room after locking her purse in her desk drawer, she stopped in the doorway.  A stunningly, gorgeous blonde woman was standing at the counter making herself a cup of tea and she turned upon hearing Vera’s arrival.

"Oh, hi!" she chirped, a flawless smile spreading across her narrow face as she moved towards Vera, her pale blue eyes made up perfectly as the scent of what smelled like Yves Saint. Laurent ‘Mon Paris’ wafted from her.

Vera had that very fragrance on her wish list at Sephora.  Her bee-stung lips wore a glossy, pink stain,  I’m Elizabeth, well Lizzie anyway. Lizzie Juhl.

Vera stared at her wordlessly, the petite figure draped in a very fashionable fit-and-flare navy blue dress, high-heeled black patent-leather peep-toe Mary-Jane’s on her feet, her golden hair down and flowing around her slender shoulders, and to her surprise, a rare smile began to tug at her lips. 

She was stunning.

Vera. she finally managed.

"Oh my God! I love that name! It’s one of those names that you don’t hear anymore, but people still like it.  It’s a lot classier than Elizabeth, that’s for sure." She said, with a little, embarrassed giggle as Vera gave her a matching, fake but cautious one.  She didn’t know what the hell this girl was doing here, but Vera was starting to feel trepidation in the pit of her stomach as she continued to take Lizzie in.

Are you a temp? Vera finally asked as Lizzie shook her head.

No, I was just hired last week and today’s my first day.  I’m so stoked..... Lizzie gushed as her words began to fade and Vera realized that she had a big problem now in the form of this bubbly, blonde woman who she was trying very hard not to like.

And what will you be doing here? Vera pushed, after another long, anguishing pause as the fear in her body spread far and wide.  If she didn’t know better, she thought that she was