“Why did you do it?”“I did not do anything.”“Oh yeah?” Cortez scoffed, staring directly into Elena’s eyes from across the small wooden desk. They were back to the interrogation room after Cecelia’s clothes were found at Elena’s place. It was time for a confession as all the shreds of evidence were piling up against her.“Then why don’t you take a moment to enlighten us how that hell Cecelia McDowell’s clothes ended up in your closet? How do you explain that, huh? That’s pretty fucked up, Ms Matthews, don’t you think?”Elena leaned forward and said the same thing again.“I did not kill her. I don’t even know why her clothes were at my place, because I did not have anything to do with her.”“But you were the last person to see her before she went missing, or should I say, you killed her,” Cortez said, not giving her even an ounce of rebate.Elena let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose as a migraine began to settle in. She had no clue how she could explain things to him or anyo
*A Few Hours Ago*“I could have stopped her,” Melinda sobbed, dropping her face that was soaked with tears in the palms of her hands. “I could have said something.”Richard didn’t know what to say.Sure, he had never been a fan of his stepmother and he hadn’t actually shown her that he cared, ever. But right now, seeing her the way she was, heartbroken and miserable, he couldn’t stop himself from feeling absolutely bad for her. No matter how she was, no matter how she treated him and his father like a bank account all her life, even she did not deserve to lose someone she loved beyond reason.She did not deserve to lose her only daughter.He looked down at his hands while from the corner of his eyes, he watched as his father did his best to console his wife. She was a mess. An absolute mess that might take his father a lifetime to collect and put together.But at least, he was trying.Richard, on the other hand, felt sick to the stomach, knowing that even at this hour, even at the time
“When I caught her mixing something in your drink one time and saw her dragging you to a room after you passed out. That day I was there to stop her, but I didn’t know she would try to do something like that all over again.”She looked at him as if to gauge his reaction, before dropping her face into her palms and letting her shoulders shake as she cried.Richard felt frozen on the spot. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t blink, he couldn’t breathe. The information Melinda had just given him, he couldn’t process. His mind refused to. It was as if everything around him was turning to dust.What she said could only mean one thing. And he felt sick at the mere thought. He felt disgusted. He felt like throwing up. He couldn’t believe that he had missed that. All of it. The signs. The warning. He couldn’t believe he had been too dumb and blinded to notice anything.But he could feel it all now.He could see it.In fact, he could almost…remember it.The way Cecelia would stare at him when she tho
Danika had a huge grin on her face as she hopped out of her car, grabbed her bag from the backseat and started towards the private airport.Last night, after she heard of Elena’s arrest, she had immediately called one of her admirers, the one who owned an airline business of his own, and asked him for a small favor.She had lied to him, obviously, had told him that she had a small break until her next movie shoot started and she could use a small vacation to sit back and relax. And of course, she was hoping he would be keen to give her some company because—why not?—she had always enjoyed the time spent with him.Well, the last part wasn’t exactly a lie. Garrett was a good-looking guy, in his early forties and seemed to have a face she could enjoy while fucking.It was of no concern to her that the man was kind of married and his wife was one of the women she always came across in the parties or galas.For Danika, Garrett was just another fuckable face that she was willing to have sex w
Danika knew something was off when she heard those words coming out of Simon’s mouth.She knew the way he was looking at her, as if wanting her to know her place, as if wanting her to know she fucked up—big time at that—he had something horrible in his mind.Sweat broke through the pores of her skin and she had to wipe it off with the back of her hand, struggling—for the first time, ever—to find a way out of this unfortunate situation.So, she decided to come straight to the fucking point.There was no use in pretending to be nice anymore. She could tell that he didn’t care how beautiful she was, or how she could promise a great lay if given the chance.As far as she knew—or had heard of—Simon had a certain taste in women, and he never stirred from what he wanted. Trying to flirt with him or offer him something most people would fall face first for would only prove to be a waste of time.“What the hell do you want?” She asked, almost snapped, but not to the point it sounded rude, but m
Elena had no clue what to expect when she found Danika—her best friend—on the other side of the tinted window.At first, she thought maybe Cortez had hounded her just like he did to Elena all night, and now it was because Danika had slipped and said something she shouldn’t have—something that made the case even stronger against her—she was brought merely to show her how the hell she was going down.The thought brought a bad taste to her mouth and a shudder to pass through her spine.All Danika would have to do was to spill everything about Elena’s small revenge plan and that’s all it would take for Cortez to pin the murder on her. The man was hellbent on proving Elena a murderer and she couldn’t understand for the life of her, why?Surely, not every evidence could be pointing at her, right?There had to be something—no matter how small—to prove that she was innocent.Behind her, she felt Detective Cortez whispering something to his partner—another detective. And when she glanced over h
Elena felt drained by the moment she stepped out of the police station.Her eyes looked bloodshot as if she could finally use some sleep, and her legs wobbled with how little movement she had been allowed in the interrogation room all night.But the said exhaustion was nothing in comparison to the pain she felt in her heart, the betrayal that cut so deep, she didn’t think she would ever be able to recover.She couldn’t believe that during everything that happened in the past—from catching Richard cheating on her to Josh’s accident, from her divorce to spending more than a year away from home just so she could heal herself in the best way possible—if there was one thing that remained constant in her life, it was Danika.It was because of her she always managed to push through—or at least that’s what she told herself. It was she who showed her the way when Elena couldn’t make up her mind, when she was broken beyond repair, and all she was good at was being there for Caleb and nothing els
With tears tracing the length of her face, Elena placed a hand against his chest and felt his heartbeat race as fast as her own.But even though, nothing about the kiss—about the man—should have felt foreign, or wrong, or out of place, it did. And she couldn’t understand for the life of her—why?They had done it so many times in the past. They had done more than kiss on the lips. There had been nights and days and mornings when they couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, when they had lied and pretended to be sick just to spend some extra time with each other.It should have come naturally to her, the kiss that is. The feeling of his lips on her should have felt the most right thing in the world—but it didn’t.It didn’t.In fact, it felt all wrong, misplaced and… she pushed against his chest and pulled away, gasping for breath.When she finally got the strength to open her eyes, her vision still fogged from all the tears she had been crying, she found Richard looking at her. He looke
Hey lovely readers,First of all, I would like to say a huge thank you if you’ve made it to the end. It wasn’t an easy journey, I know, but you stayed, and that means everything to me. :)Secondly, let me get straight to what I said I would be talking about in this note.I know a lot of you (probably all of you) must be wondering what happens with Josh next, and what about Angelina, Betty, Caleb, and the other kids.No worries—the reason I decided not to continue their stories here is that I’ll be exploring that story arc in a new book. It will probably be published soon (I’ll do my best, I promise). I realized that Josh’s story needed its own space because there was so much I wanted to write for him, and that couldn’t happen alongside Simon and Elena, who were obviously nearing their happy ending.But yes, it’s impossible to write about Josh without Elena, so Elena and Simon will be making appearances in the new book as well. Maybe sometimes more than I intend, because God knows I lov
After their little party was over and everyone went back to the guest rooms to rest, Elena laid their sleeping daughter in her crib and tucked her nicely.A pair of warm hands slid around her waist from behind, a kiss landed on her shoulder. “Thank you for today. How long have you been planning all this? And how the hell did you manage to invite Josh? I didn’t take him for a party person. Not these days.” He whispered into her ear, making her skin tingle.“You have to ask me how I got your brother to attend? I have my ways of making people do what I want.” She grinned as she turned in his arms and looped hers around his neck.He grinned as well. “Is that right? Do those ways include threatening? Do I want to know the details?” He said jokingly, knowing how Elena is, and she was very much the kind of person who’d go out of her way to make the things that were important to her, happen.“Oh, I think you don’t really want to know. But, I just had to do it for you.”She gave him a light kis
Simon woke up in the middle of the night, his heart racing.He looked around himself, patting his hand around in search of the person he was hoping to find. But to his dismay, there was no one else on the bed with him.“Elena?” he said out loud, frowning at the darkness.His hand patted the sheets and pillow again, trying to feel for her body, but he found nothing. Where was she? Where did she go?“Elena?”No response.He was starting to worry now. Where was she? He could feel a sense of dread slowly filling up inside him. He needed to find her. He needed to know if she was okay.Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from outside his room. He quickly got out of bed, put on his sweatpants and a t-shirt and opened the door.There was no one in the hallway. It was eerily quiet.He frowned, he could swear he heard someone walk by just now.“Elena, are you here? Please say something, darling. It’s me.” He said as he walked slowly to the end of the hallway, bare feet.Just when he thought he
Elena stood outside the doors, clutching the bouquet tightly in her hands. She was shaking, and she knew that anyone who could see her right now would notice, including her brother, Josh.“You’re not a very confident bride, are you?” he teased.She rolled her eyes, wanting to punch him but refraining from causing any casualties at her wedding.“I’m just nervous, that’s all.”“Understandable,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Trust me, you’re not the only one.”She looked up at him, unsure of what he meant. “What do you mean?”“Simon probably feels way worse. I mean, did you see him before he went into that room with his friends? He was sweating bullets.”She shook her head. “You’re making that up.”“I’m not, I swear!” He chuckled. “He’s just as scared as you are, if not more. And that’s a sight I never thought I’d see in my life.”She smiled a little. “I guess you’re right. He is pretty intimidating.”“Exactly. So you have nothing to worry about.” He patted her shoulder. “You’ve got thi
Richard whistled, and Danika watched as Greg, standing outside the room, appeared and uncuffed him.“What the fuck?” Danika was shocked. “How did you… How did you do that?” She turned to face Greg. “You… you work for me, not him! Cuff him back to the door, you giant imbecile!”“Sorry, miss,” Greg said in a deep voice, “I don’t think I will. Mr. McDowell here paid me a lot more money than you to change sides.”“What?!”“That’s right.” Richard stood up, rubbing his wrists. “This is over for you, Danika. Let’s just end this before anyone gets hurt.”Shocked and now furious, Danika was not someone who would give up so easily. Her fingers tightened around the scalpel in her hand. She would fight. She would not go down without a fight.“You think you can win, Richard? You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Well, you’re wrong. I’m not going anywhere. If I can’t have Elena, then no one can.”Without warning, she lunged at Elena, swinging the scalpel towards her throat. But before she could eve
“Is everything set up?” the first man who carried the unconscious bride asked.“Yes,” Greg, who stood outside the operating theater, nodded. “The room is ready. All the equipment is working fine. Just leave her inside, and that woman will handle the rest.”“Sounds good to me,” the other man said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.“Yeah, me too. I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. I don’t want to be here for too long. My wife and daughter have been going on and on about this wedding, and if they come to know I was part of it, they’ll never let me hear the end of it,” the first one said.“Don’t worry. You’ll be paid handsomely,” Greg assured, opening the door for them. “I’ll make sure of that. We just need to do our jobs and get out of here. Simple as that.”“Fine,” the two men said in unison.Danika was waiting for them next to the table, a smile on her face. “Ah, there you are. Any trouble?”“No. Everything’s fine.”“Excellent. Place her on the table, please.”They
Danika was so damn ready for the final stage of her revenge.She had planned everything meticulously, and now all her efforts were coming to fruition. She was smiling to herself when the phone rang, and she picked it up, already aware of what she was about to hear.“We got her,” the man with the deep voice said. “On our way now. Will be there in twenty.”“Perfect. See you then.”She hung up, unable to stop the grin from forming on her face. Everything was going according to plan. And it was just getting started.She looked around. She was standing right in the middle of an abandoned hospital, the perfect place to host her little celebration. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Simon’s face once he realized his bride was gone. And this time, for good. He would be devastated, broken, destroyed. The thought alone was enough to make her laugh.“What’s so funny?” Richard asked as he walked into what looked like an operating theatre.“Just imagining Simon’s face once he realizes I’ve taken
Simon was pacing outside the bridal suite, restless and nervous. One of the servers had informed him that Elena wasn’t feeling well, and he had dropped everything he was doing to rush over and see if she was okay, or if they needed to cancel the wedding. Because he totally could. Nothing was more important to him than his soon-to-be wife’s well-being.“Come on, open the fucking door! Let me in. Just once. I swear, I won’t even say a word.”“Not yet, Simon,” came the familiar voice of Diana. “We talked about this. You can’t see the bride before the wedding.”“Fuck that. This is a fucking emergency. She’s not answering the phone. What if something’s wrong?”“Relax. She’s fine. She just needs a few minutes alone. The excitement is getting to her. But she’ll be out soon. Don’t worry.”“Diana, I swear to God, if you don’t open the door right now, I’m breaking it down. I don’t care if I have to chop the entire thing down.”“Go away, Simon. Or I’m going to tell Elena what you did the other da
And while celebrations and laughter were being shared in one part of the world, in another corner, a different kind of gathering was being planned—a more sinister, dark, and twisted celebration.“I knew I’d find you here,” a familiar voice whispered in his ear. Richard glanced over his shoulder, frowning at the face he hadn’t seen in a while. But there was no mistaking it. The woman was actually here, and the first thing he wanted to do upon recognizing her was to wrap his fingers around her throat and squeeze until she stopped breathing.“What do you want?” he growled, turning back to his drink as he sat at the bar of one of the elite clubs.“Why? No welcome? Where are your manners, Richie?”He hated it when she called him that.“What are you doing here, Danika? I thought I made it clear you were not to contact me again.”“And I thought I made it clear that I have no intention of backing off until you realize that we both have the same enemy. Until you agree to work with me.”“You are