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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6eJLXq4XTV
Watching.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIwPRkoQFU
Waiting.
Watching her.
Jaimie.
The girl who took everything.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eYVxIniB2
The man.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvspfqvqZA
The boy.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMSlx9eJKt
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOiqjEcDIz
She had followed Jaimie from the OB-GYN clinic earlier.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyMA9JDzxX
She had watched her eat alone at the small café afterward.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaIdVfnnLi
She had seen EJ laughing beside her.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFED3GtQPuy
Buying her soup.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ued8APnSY
Touching her elbow like it belonged to him.
But it didn't.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTpzKVeM7J
None of this did.
Carla smiled tightly.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNnGhl27I4m
They called her crazy.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFGPEZkJry
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoF13J2eUiU
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6z2vJIFd6P
Images flooded my mind—Jaimie alone in the elevator.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65XubaDfiT
A knock at the door.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowGnGPoWaW
A scream.
No.
No.
Not again.
"I'm coming, Jae," I whispered, accelerating. "Please—just hold on."
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAmd45UCpo
