Page 133 of Angel

An event coordinator directed me down a stark, fluorescent-lit backstage.

I was searching for the doorway back into the banquet hall when, without warning, a hand grabbed my wrist, dragging me into a small VIP green room.

‘The hell?’ I gasped, whirling, ready to use the gong as a weapon if need be.

My eyes fell on a familiar figure, and I almost choked in shock.

I stumbled back, my chest heaving.

‘Evangeline? What the heck are you doing here?’

My sister stood before me, and I gaped, blindsided by her presence.

Also by how she appeared; not the stylish, put-together beauty I knew her to be in recent years.

This version was like a broken doll, a haggard phantom of her former self.

Her collarbones protruded in ridges under a stained, wrinkled silk blouse that sagged off her frame.

Her expensive designer jeans were filthy at the knees, and her high-end leather boots scuffed and caked with mud as if she’d been running through the rain.

I caught the sound of thunder outside, which explained some of her disheveled appearance.

Her hair hung in greasy, chaotic clumps, stripping away the polished socialite image she used to weaponize.

‘Where the hell have you been?’ I demanded.

‘I’ve been in Nashville for weeks now. I slipped right past those meathead guards Angel paid for,’ Evangeline bragged, pacing around a velvet sofa.

My heart jolted at my husband’s name.

‘The hell? You’re not making sense.’

‘I caught a ride-share, bypassed the arena checkpoints, and hid back here waiting for you. It was so easy.’

My heart lurched.

‘Go back to what you just said. That Angel arranged for security for you? When? How?’

She attempted to peer at me, swaying in her boots, her pupils blown, dilated, her energy erratic.

‘It seems Angel has kept him and me a secret. There’s so much you don’t know, little sis. Your husband has been looking after me all along, Roxy. I’ve had about enough of your little wifey charade. It’s time to pack it up and walk the fuck out of the life I deserve to be living.’

My stomach dropped into a cold abyss.

‘What are you talking about?’

‘It’s not hard to see that Angel belongs to me,’ she sneered, her inflection dropping to a harsh, toxic whisper. ‘I’m sorry you’re so confused, but he’s my man. He always has been, and you’re just a temporary fix.’

‘You walked away from him,’ I muttered, my voice cracking as panic clawed at my throat.

‘I did, but he wanted me so much that I couldn’t resist returning,’ she cackled, tapping her long, chipped fingernails against a glass table. ‘Let’s get this straight, face to face. You’re blind if you can’t see his heart is still with me. He told me he couldn’t even function or go through his day without me in his life.’

She sidled closer, her reeking breath wafting over my face.

‘He’s still obsessed with me, Roxy. He got me a luxury townhouse downtown to prove his devotion. He picked me up from the airport motel the night I landed. We’ve been texting every single night since, while you sit in his house wondering what he’s up to.’

The twisted narrative continued to blade through me.