I wait.
I wait to see what else I don’t know. I’m finally back in town for good since all roads led me back to the Dean’s List—stupid name for my dad to come up with, but brilliant way to get people off his back and too afraid to do anything.
They think it’s about students and teachers, so while the world is focused on drama like reality TV—he continues to spin it around with business deals, crime, bribery, and drugs.
Sounds about right.
I check my phone and start looking through all the cameras at his place near campus and then the cameras at the closest company here.
She works there.
That’s all I know.
Out of all the legit businesses he owns—it’s my favorite, it’s the one my mom begged him to acquire. He rarely pays attention to it; my adopted Uncle is the one who runs it which means I need to put in a call to my cousin.
“Yo,” My dipshit cousin answers. “Bro, it’s been weeks, thought you went underground or something, what’s going on?”
“I decided to take the job so it looks like I’m in the area for good. Thought I’d check in and see you. Can I crash at your place if we get drunk? I’ve been living in a hotel for a few days while I get my apartment all set up, and you know I’m sure as hell not going to my dad’s place.”
“Yeah, I was hoping you’d take it! Come by, I’ll give you the code, I’m at work now, we’re completely slammed and two of my regulars can’t come in, one sick and shit I gotta go?—“
The line goes dead. I shouldn’t question myself but I do.
I stare down at the piece of paper in my hands, the one that brought me here, and shudder. How did this person even know I was asked to apply here? Furthermore, how did they know I had unfinished business?
Harvard had offered me the position two weeks ago.
A stupid amount of money, which I didn’t need. It offered prestige, recognition, everything any sane person would have wanted. The envelope arrived the same exact day. No return address, no stamp. It just had my name on it. I almost threw it away, almost. Instead, curiosity got the best of me, or maybe it was the handwriting. Inside was a single piece of paper.
Three lines.
“If you want answers about your mother, stop looking forward. Go back. Finish what she started.”
It was the first clue and it was what brought me here. I’d been following Lilah for a while plotting revenge, planning carefully for the time I’d come back and throw everything in her face, I just didn’t realize it would be this soon or that it would all be connected to the cryptic letter I got.
It seems, I can’t escape her no matter what I do, at least now I can kill two birds with one stone.
I plan on waiting for his text, but after ten minutes I see the front door to the apartment complex open again and Lilah steps out. She’s dressed warmly. She looks like she’s in a hurry.
And like the stalker I am, I take it as an invite, and follow her as she drives off. Maybe it’s because I don’t trust her, or maybe it’s because I want to insert myself into every crevice of her life until she finally admits that she was wrong, that she lied, and that she’s the reason I suffered.
When it comes to her there is no line I won’t cross. She’s mine to punish. Mine to break.
5
“A ruined man does not dream of peace. He dreams of return. And of finding them all waiting.”—The Count of Monte Cristo
LILAH
Ilock the door and stare at it.
I don’t know how long I stare but it’s long enough that Charlie’s back from her run and she’s usually gone at least an hour. Prison. He was in prison? When? How? I mean I know technically how, but I thought the case was closed? I didn’t stay long enough, not after his dad scared the shit out of me and basically threatened me and my parents if I didn’t lie. Dad got his job and we left. The funeral had been for family only, which is why I watched it from far away. Did they fake his death? And in what world would they fake a death and still send him to prison? What the hell was going on?
Nothing made sense. Nothing added up. I was too traumatized after everything that happened to stay in the first place and I knew that the last thing we needed was to be on theirradar so when my mom said she got a job offer elsewhere that gave her a huge raise, we moved as fast as we could.
Minutes after I get home, Charlie unlocks the door and whirlwinds her way into the living room. “I met the hottest guy after my run, he bought me coffee, but I mean seriously the hottest guy I’ve ever seen in my life, and then he had to go to work. But it still counts, right? Our magical moment.”
They’re all hot. She falls in love fast.
