*Shelby*I closed my eyes in the back of the car as the driver made his way through the New York traffic. I was exhausted from the fight I’d had with Lauren the night before. I’d finally gotten everything off of my chest, and put Lauren in her place. She knew if she continued to help Blaine blackmail her father or me, I’d make sure she wouldn’t receive her trust fund.Lin and I had left the party before Lauren returned back inside. Jerrick seemed confused about everything that happened but didn’t ask questions when Lin asked him to come to a diner with us instead of staying at the party. We all sat in a booth, drinking decaf coffee and eating pancakes until the early morning hours. It turned out to be a lot more enjoyable evening than I’d expected.A text came through, and my eyes fluttered back open. I couldn’t help but smile seeing Michael’s name glowing on my screen.Michael: I can’t wait to see you later tonight. I’m sorry I won’t be there when you get home. I h
*Shelby*I woke up in a pitch-black room. I expected to find the hard marble floor of the art gallery at my back, but instead, I was lying on a soft bed surrounded by a fluffy goose-down comforter. The back of my head throbbed with pain, and I had no idea where I was or how I got there. My eyes hadn’t adjusted to the room, so I couldn’t see my surroundings, which only caused the panic to rise up in my chest again.“Michael!” I screamed, praying that he was somewhere close enough to hear me, to come and save me.I heard the door hit the wall with force as someone rushed into the room without a second glance at the door. A dark figure rushed in from the doorway, and I nearly flinched away. My eyes adjusted and focused on Michael, who immediately wrapped his arms around me and held me until I got control of my breathing. Through the small visibility of Michael’s embrace, I eventually realized I was back in the master bedroom of the townhouse, which made no sense
*Shelby*I dropped my suitcase in the hallway, exhausted from the eventful weekend. I was so ready for a quiet Sunday at home, catching up on some studying with Lin. I casually ran my hand across the back of my head and winced slightly. It was still sore from my fall.“Lin? I’m back,” I called down the foyer off our front door.“I’m in the living room,” she called back to me.I found her cuddled up on our new sofa, a blanket enveloping her, and a textbook spread open on her lap. I fell onto the other side of the couch, closing my eyes as I slowly sank into the material. “Long weekend?” Lin asked. I’d begged Aubrey not to tell Lin about what had happened at the art gallery. I didn’t want her worrying the entire time I was gone, and I didn’t want her to know that Blaine was still following me. I’d put her through enough already.“Yeah, it was. I spent most of the day in bed yesterday, but I’m still exhausted,” I admitted.“I thought you went to a
*Michael*I stared out the giant windows lining my office at the top of the Express Air building, unable to focus on work. The entire situation with Shelby, having a panic attack after Blaine showed up at the same art gallery, had me on edge all weekend. Now that she was back home in Cambridge, I felt like a part of myself was missing. I didn’t like her being so far away from me, even though I knew she was being well-guarded.Realizing I wasn’t going to get any work done, I picked up the phone and called my cousin Lucille. I’d kept her updated on everything that was happening with Blaine and my relationship with Shelby, but I had yet to tell her the big news.“Hello? Michael?” Lucille sounded as though she’d just woken up on the other end of the phone call.“Hey, Lucille. Yeah, it’s just me. I’m sorry I figured you’d be up by now,” I said.“I decided to have a bit of a late start this morning. What’re you up to?” she asked.“I’m sitting here in my of
*Shelby*“Oh my god, I didn’t think that lecture was ever going to end,” Lin said as we walked out of the lecture hall.I laughed at her dramatics before responding, “It was important stuff, Lin, but yeah, it did get a bit dry. The last twenty minutes were excruciating. I’m so hungry I think my stomach was louder than the professor's.”“So that’s what that was,” Lin laughed and bumped my shoulder with hers.“Want to grab something on our way back? I don’t really feel like cooking dinner tonight. I just want to crash on the couch,” I said.“Oh yes, please. There’s this Thai place that I’ve had mad cravings for,” Lin said, suddenly switching directions.“I’m down,” I said, pivoting to catch up with her.We laughed and talked about the recent lectures we'd had to sit through and how nice it was since Lauren left campus. After waiting in a long line for our food, we walked home swinging our plastic bags full of take-out containers.“Do you want a pla
*Michael*They left me in an interrogation room for hours without explaining why I was there. All I could do was pace back and forth, waiting until they decided to come and question me. Finally, the door opened, and two officers walked in.“Can someone please explain why I’m here?” I asked, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. “Please take a seat, Mr. Astor,” an officer with dark red hair told me.“I will not take a seat until someone explains to me why I’m here. I was arrested at my home in the middle of the night, and I was barely told anything on the way here. Then I was left in this room for hours. Is this some kind of sick joke to you people?” I snapped.“If you would take a seat, we can start asking you some questions. The more cooperative you are with this interrogation, the better things will be for you in the long run. Now, I will ask you one more time. Please take a seat, Mr. Astor,” the officer said again.I ran my hand through my ver
*Shelby*The townhouse felt so empty without Michael there. I’d spent many hours there alone before while Michael was at work, but this felt so different. The weight of the situation hung in the air, making it hard to relax. Bruce drove me all the way to the police station after I found out that Michael had been arrested for Blaine’s murder. However, we were informed that he was still in questioning and that we wouldn’t be able to see him until after the interrogation was over.The bodyguard then drove me back to the townhouse, not wanting to drive all the way back to Cambridge for the night. I wanted to be close so I could see Michael as soon as he was allowed visitors. Bruce stayed at the townhouse with me, saying it was for protection, but really I think he knew I didn’t want to be left alone. The sound of the keyboard as he typed out email after email echoed through the house. He’d set up a makeshift office in the unfinished dining room.I couldn’t take t
*Shelby*“Who are you planning on going to talk to?” Bruce asked.“I want to go talk to Marmie. I need to find out what she knows. It’s possible that Lauren was in on the blackmail, and if she was, that means Marmie could have been too,” I said.I purposely left out the fact that I knew for certain that Lauren was stupid enough to fall for Blaine’s lies and was one hundred percent in on the blackmail schemes over the last month.“It’s unlikely that Marmie will even talk to you,” he said, staring at me as though I was a wild animal released from its cage.“Well, I have to try. I have to try and do something. If I sit here for another minute, I’m going to go crazy. Please take me there, Bruce. I know that you must know where she lives,” I pleaded.“I do know where she lives, and I’ll take you there on two conditions,” Bruce said.“What are your conditions?” I asked.“First, I refuse to leave you there alone. I’ll be waiting downstairs in the lobby