Carla stood outside the condo.
Black hoodie. Dark glasses. A trembling hand in her jacket pocket, wrapped tightly around something sharp.
She had been there for thirty minutes.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JMc7HFk8w
Watching.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jgccFdhuw
Waiting.
Watching her.
Jaimie.
The girl who took everything.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmCcVlmY89
The man.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvwwjUYyRx
The boy.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIAZqd1bcq
The life Carla had built in her head and claimed as hers.
Now this girl had it all.
Even his baby.
Carla's chest rose and fell with uneven breaths.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1wJJry485
She had followed Jaimie from the OB-GYN clinic earlier.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2g6Q7pjg4I
She had watched her eat alone at the small café afterward.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSv2N82FMrw
She had seen EJ laughing beside her.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvdpiluNqo
Buying her soup.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFz3nkBGCA
Touching her elbow like it belonged to him.
But it didn't.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHvoHFWvmJ
None of this did.
Carla smiled tightly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdkOvfjmPi
They called her crazy.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJ7B7Mruyg
But she wasn't crazy.
She was the only one who saw the truth.
And now?
Now she would make the truth undeniable.
She started walking.
Each step toward the condo lobby was slow, deliberate.
She could hear her own heartbeat, fast and wild.
Her fingers gripped the cold steel in her pocket tighter.
She could already see it—
Jaimie's face.
That look of surprise.
The screams.
The blood.
"Now we're even," Carla whispered.
Tedd (Later that afternoon)
I was halfway through packing when something inside me froze.
A cold wave crept up the back of my neck. My hands stopped folding the shirt in my lap.
Something wasn't right.
The kind of not right you can't explain.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJuVo83PVm
Only feel.
I grabbed my phone and called my father.
He answered on the third ring.
"Dad. Where's Jaimie?"
A pause.
"She's home, I think. Why?"
"Is Max with her?"
"No, he's still with us in Isabela."
"Call her. Right now."
"Tedd, what—"
"Something's wrong." My voice was louder now, frantic. "Carla. I haven't heard from her since yesterday. No threats. No messages. Nothing."
"So?"
"She always says something. When she's quiet—she's planning."
I was already grabbing my car keys.
I called the guard station next.
"Sir Tedd?" the security guard asked.
"Please tell me Ms. Jaimie hasn't had any strange visitors today."
Another pause.
"Well... there was one woman earlier."
I stopped cold. "Describe her."
"Didn't get her face. Hoodie. Sunglasses. She stood outside for a while, then walked toward the lobby, but then left before we could stop her."
My entire body clenched.
I slammed the phone shut and cursed out loud.
Too close. Way too close.
I threw my bag into the trunk and started the engine.
My heart thundered in my chest.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPb7Jubi98A
Images flooded my mind—Jaimie alone in the elevator.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEzWp5FxeR
A knock at the door.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqmqfDPHA4
A scream.
No.
No.
Not again.
"I'm coming, Jae," I whispered, accelerating. "Please—just hold on."
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHc4vuyY0Be
