Lauren's POV I barely got a wink of sleep that night as all I could bring myself to think about was how to tell Shirley that I had a suspicion that she knew something about my mother’s death. I didn’t know what I would do if it turned out to be true, but I didn’t know what I would do if she was innocent either. “I’ll have French toast and a glass of orange juice, please,” I said to the chef as I walked into the kitchen that morning without even waiting for him to ask me what I wanted to have. I sat down in the dining room as I waited for my breakfast, nervously fiddling with my fingers and taking deep breaths. I filled my head with questions on whether or not it was a good idea to even say anything to Shirley. If she turned out to be innocent, she would never want to see my face or even pick my call again. “Ma’am?” One of the security guards called out to me as he entered the dining room, causing me to look up and nod at him to show that he had my attention.
Lauren's POV “What’s happening, Damien?!” I asked, and I was already on my feet and running out of the house. There was no time to ask him while being doubtful. Every time that Damien had told me to get out of somewhere, there was danger there. “Just get out of there and get into your car. Drive away from that house as far as you can. Stay on the phone with me,” he said. I got to the front door and pulled it, expecting it to swing open. My heart fell to the ground when it didn’t budge. It had been locked. “Hello?” I called out to whoever was out there. “There’s someone in here. Open the door.” I wedged the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I used both my hands to pull the door with all my might, but nothing was happening. “Damien, I’ve been locked in. I don’t think anyone’s out there. Anyone who wants to open the door at least,” I reported. “Back door. Try the back door,” he said. At his command, I wasted no time in going to the kitc
I raised my hand to grip my chest in shock, my legs instinctively walking backwards as I watched the empty look in Damien’s eyes as he finished his entire bullet in the head of the man that had been following me. Maybe during the whole trouble that we had gone through together, along the way, I had forgotten just how dangerous of a man Damien really was. “Are you okay?” He asked as he reached me, causing me to flinch as I had been too stuck in my head to see him coming. Damien seemed to take it a different way as he looked at me with a frown. I shook my head as I wiped the tears that I didn’t realize had fallen out of my eyes until then. “I’m fine,” I confirmed with a nod. “What did he say? He was really following me, wasn’t he?” He nodded once, putting his hands in his pockets as though he had taken the hint that even the slightest touch would make me uncomfortable. “He would have killed you if I hadn’t stepped in sooner.” I decided that it was the
I had not looked at my phone since I saw the amount of money that Damien had sent to me as some kind of parting gift. I didn’t know what to do or how to feel about the situation. Was I supposed to call him to thank him? It had been a full day, and I was now on my way to Beverley Hills after a flight that afternoon. “Hi, I saw an ad for your apartment. I would like to ask if it’s still available for me to check it out,” I said into the phone after getting into a rented car. “Oh, yes! I’m available throughout the entire week. When would you like to come in?” The woman in the other side of the phone was bubbly, sounding only a bit older than I was. “I can come in right now, actually,” I said. “That sounds perfect,” she replied. After agreeing to meet, I drove down to the apartment. I stood in front of the apartment, taking a look at it. It was the most decent apartment on the site that didn’t have an outrageous price in a new environment. “Lauren W
I stayed frozen in bed as Damien’s voice faded right after his heavy confession. There was nothing to say. He was in love with me. But I was far away and now close to starting a new life. I didn’t need that. Not right now. Not anymore. “I’m not pressuring you to say anything in response, Lauren,” he said before I could gather myself. “I just wanted you to know. It was killing me.” I nodded, knowing fully well that he couldn’t see me. I changed my mind right then and there. I couldn’t possibly tell him that I felt the same way for him that he did for me. We had both agreed to go our separate ways, and this was only going to create an opening to make things even more complicated. “I’m sorry, Damien,” I said with a tired sigh. “I already told you that I have to go. I need to get something to eat.” “That’s fine,” he finally said after a long pause. “Goodbye.” Judging by the way he said it, I knew that it was final. He was letting go, and there was nothi
By the time I finished unpacking, it was late afternoon. My fingers ran over the fabric of the couch that had been there when I moved in as I wondered whether or not to change it before settling on the decision that it would suffice for a while. There were still boxes piled up in the corner, but the main workwas done. My clothes had been folded neatly into drawers, the small number of books I had bought were stacked on the shelf, and the bedwas made with the new sheets. I stood in the middle of the living room and exhaled in relief. This was it. My life now. Alone. My mind wandered back to Fred’s offer from that morning. He’d invited me over for dinner at his restaurant while flashing me that friendly smile. I needed a good meal, maybe a drink, and someone who wasn’t my depressing thoughts. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that heading out would do me good, so I grabbed my phone and dialed his number. “Hey, Fred? It’s Lauren, from ap
I opened my eyes to a dull ache in my head. I sat in bed, taking note of the glass of water and the ibuprofen pills beside it with a small note fixed under the glass. I left after you fell asleep. Take the pills when you wake up – Fred. “Ugh!” I groaned as I reached for the much needed pills and threw them into my mouth, following with water. I held my head as I stood up and headed to the bathroom, unable to remember the events of the previous night after we left Fred’s restaurant. As I brushed my teeth and got ready for the day, I prayed that I hadn’t done something as embarrassing as throwing up on his shirt. I walked out of my unit and made an attempt to head to Fred’s to thank him for the pills and for driving me home when someone caught me off guard with a quiet greeting. “Good morning. I believe you’re Lauren,” she said. The woman had golden curls on her head with electric blue eyes that could be seen from a mile away. Her eyes were cove
I jumped off the bench in shock as I stared at Shirley with my jaw dropped. I looked around as I took steps away from her, wondering if there were people watching me who wanted to harm me. “What are you doing here? How did you know I was here? What is wrong with you, Shirley? I left to have some peace to myself, yet here you are! I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this!” “I need to talk to you,” she said, her voice as calm and calculated as ever. That only made me even more suspicious. She didn’t answer any of my questions, and she made it clear that she was there to talk to me. Which meant that she had traveled out of the state specifically for me. “You have done more than enough.” I shook my head. Using my peripheral vision, I started to site all the places that I could possibly run to if she tried anything funny. Maybe I could book it to the restaurant and get Fred to call the police. “I know,” she agreed with me, standing up and causing me to stumb
6 MONTHS LATER “What are you doing?” I laughed as Damien pulled me out of bed that evening and practically sat me down in front of the vanity to brush my hair and get me ready. “The dinner’s in one hour,” he reminded. “I don’t want to be late for this.” I frowned and turned around to face him, prompting him to stop brushing my hair. “So, you’re worried about family dinners all of a sudden? You know, the last time we had this, you seemed like you would have been better off dead than being there.” “People change.” He shrugged, a grin sitting on his face that made me realize that there was something he wasn’t telling me. I couldn’t drill him about it because I had a secret of mine. I took the brush from his hand and started to do it myself when he placed a kiss on my cheek. “I love you,” he said. I had gotten used to his random love confessions whenever he felt the need to say it. It had been six months since…well, everything. I moved back fr
“Lauren, are you okay?” Damien asked as he opened the door to the house where he was staying later that night. Instead of giving him an answer, I pushed myself into his arms and broke down in tears. That might, I cried all the tears that I had refused to cry the whole time. Every emotion that I had refused to let out and express, all of it was on the ground around. And Damien just let me. “You’re fine, you’re fine,” he told me in sweet whispers as he led me to the bedroom and set me down on the bed. He held me there for as long as he possibly could. “He was doing that to them for years. Shirley and I were friends—best friends—in high school, and I didn’t even notice. How could I not notice what she was going through at the time?” I asked when I had no more tears left. “What do you mean? What was she going through?” Damien asked, sounding confused as he stared at me and waited for me to recollect and gather myself. “Her father was taking advantage of
I had spent two more nights in the hotel biting my nails anxiously as I waited for any update from Jameson about Shirley’s father and if he had been caught. I spent those days wondering if he knew now that she was dead, and if he felt guilty about being a big factor in it. It was no surprise that I jumped and snatched my phone from the nightstand when his name flashed on my screen one evening while I was forcing myself to close my eyes and go to sleep. “Lauren, I need you to help me identify the bastard,” his voice boomed coolly into the phone when I picked it up. “I might be a bit sorry for him if he’s not the one and I got the wrong guy. I’ve taken matters into my hands right now.” “I’m coming. I’m coming right now. Send me the address,” I rambled. His words sent a new rush to me, the sleep that was eluding me long forgotten as I got up and dashed out of bed and started gettingready to leave. When Jameson hung up, a quick text from his numbe
I stared at the unopened email that had been scheduled to be sent to me by Shirley. Several questions whirled in my head as I sat on the edge of my bed, not sure what to do or even whether to do anything at all. Had she planned to send that, knowing what she would do to herself? Was she going to apologize in the email? Was I even ready to open it? “Oh, Shirley.” I shook my head with a defeated sigh. God knew I loved her with everything I had in me, but she went ahead to stab me in the back. And even at that, I still loved and cared about her. Was Katarina’s death really all that drove her to do what she did? The more questions I had, the clearer it became to me that the answers I needed, along with closure, were trapped in that email message that I had refused to open. Finally, I clicked on the bold letters that showed the subject of the email, and it came into full view, to the detriment of my heart. To: LAUREN. Subject: I’M SORRY… ‘By the tim
I didn’t know how long I stood there, watching Conrad choke on his tears above Shirley’s body. My heart broke for him, and I could feel Damien’s rigid body standing beside me. “Let’s go,” Conrad finally said as he got up and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his tears. “We need to take her away and give her a funeral. She may have done horrible things, but she was not entirely a horrible person.” Conrad turned to me with a faint smile on his face. “Are you coming, too?” I froze as my mind whirled with thoughts upon thoughts. I hadn’t thought about the funeral, going to it. I didn’t even think that I would be leaving Beverly Hills that soon after just getting there. “I don’t think I should. I mean, I just moved here. Leaving would be difficult,” I said. “I’m not asking you to leave Beverly Hills permanently, Lauren,” he argued. “I just want you to attend the funeral and return. I know you don’t want to be there, especially after everything she did to you
I opened my eyes the next morning the most satisfied I had been in the past few days. There was a small smile on my face as I snuggled even deeper into Damien’s chest. It felt like leaving was something to not even be thought about. “Good morning,” he said, his voice startling me as he kissed me on the head. “Did you sleep good?” “I did,” I answered as I finally got the strength to sit up, getting a good view of him. Before I could say a word, there was a knock on my door. I got out of bed after a moment and opened the door to find Maria standing there with a Tupperware container in her hands and an apologetic smile on her face. “Can I come in?” She asked. At first, I considered shaking my head and telling her that it wasn’t the best time for her to come in, but I decided against it. I stepped aside for her to walk in, which she did. I took note of how she looked around in the living room as if trying to find something. “Why are you here this early, Maria?
My feet were glued to the ground, my mouth gaping open without much consciousness as I still tried to get more air in my lungs. I didn’t know whether it was Damien’s presence or the fact that I had finally stopped moving, but my lungs didn’t seem to be allowing much air. “I came as soon as I could,” he said, glancing at Melissa. “She didn’t want to let me in.” “Of course I didn’t let you in!” Melissa scoffed apologetically as she now helped me move forward. “You think I hand the keys to anyrandom man who walks in here and claims to know a tenant?” Without paying any more mind to her, Damien approached me and got me out of her arms. I had half a mind to collapse into his touch and break down, but I held myself upright as Melissa helped me open the door. “Are you going to be okay?” She asked me, still looking worried for me. “What even happened to you?” “Just a little run, I’m fine. As soon as I drink water, I’ll be fine. Thank you,” I said. She took
Damien hung up the phone without another word. I didn’t know what to do with that response or the lack of it. I fell into the couch and had to stop myself from crying. Had he finally gotten sick and tired of my constant back and forth with him? I didn’t even get the chance to tell him just how much I loved him. What was the point of doing it anyway? Nothing was going to get fixed that way. “Hey, are you okay?” Fred placed a gentle hand on my shoulder after a while of me sitting and staring at nothing. I jumped at the suddenness. “I said your food is ready. Let’s go.” We walked into the kitchen, where he had spread garlic bread and toast with sunny side up eggs. A pot of coffee was brewing on the counter as we both sat. Fred let me dig into the food, but I couldn’t shake off the effect that his long and hard stare had on me. “Is there something you want to talk about?” I engaged, letting him know I could tell that he was staring. “Oh, um.” He cleared
“Lauren?” I grunted, turning around and waking up as I heard my name. Fred shook me awake, and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my phone in front of my face. “What is it?” I asked, sitting up on the couch where I had fallen asleep after arguing with Fred about where to sleep since he wanted me to take the bed for him to take the couch. “Your phone is ringing. I just walked by and saw it,” he said, handing me the phone. I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus on the screen of the phone and the caller ID when the phone stopped ringing. I looked up at Fred who has his arms crossed and was leaning against the door which led to the kitchen. “Aren’t you going to call who it is back? It could be an emergency, especially after what happened yesterday.” All of a sudden, I was reminded of the yesterday’s incident and what I had witnessed. A headache was brewing in my head now, and I grabbed the phone as tightly as I could. I wasn’t sure I was r