Page 35 of What Goes Around

I pushed myself up on trembling arms, my vision swimming, the room tilting as my body protested the movement. My muscles screamed, weak and uncoordinated, like they no longer remembered how to hold me up.

“You’re real,” I whispered. My throat cracked on the words.

She stepped fully into the room. Perfect hair. Perfect makeup. That expensive perfume cutting through the stench of sweat, sickness, and despair like she didn’t belong within miles of a place like this.

She smiled.

Like we were two old friends catching up.

“Of course I am.”

My mind was too fogged, too slow to understand right away.

But then she started talking.

“You know,” she said, glancing around the room with mild amusement, “I always wondered how long you would last here. Honestly, I thought you would be dead by now.”

I stared at her, my fingers curling weakly into the mattress, unable to form words.

“You always were too trusting.” She gave a soft, almost fond laugh. “Made things easier for me.”

My stomach twisted violently.

“What…?” My voice barely formed the word.

She sighed, like I was already disappointing her. “The messages. The calls. The voice. That wasn’t you, obviously. But it was good enough for him.”

A pause. A small, satisfied smile.

“I made sure of that.”

My breath hitched, chest tightening.

“The wedding,” she went on, almost conversational now. “God, that was my favorite part. The timing. The drama. Watching everything fall apart exactly the way I planned it.”

My nails scraped against the mattress.

“No…” I whispered.

She tilted her head, studying me like I was something fragile and fascinating.

“You really didn’t see it, did you?”

Her lips curved.

“I needed him to hate you. Needed you out of the way. And you made it so easy. All I had to do was give him a reason.”

My vision blurred.

“You—” My voice broke. “You did all that… just to take him?”

She laughed softly.

“Please. Nick was just a bonus.”

Her eyes glinted, amused, and she leaned in slightly.

“He was a beast,” she said softly. “Very… enthusiastic.”