Chapter 6

The hospital room was quiet this time. When I woke, there were no family members, no fiancé, just a nurse checking my vitals.

She told me I was lucky. A coast guard patrol had found me.

"Mr. Skinner called," the nurse said, her tone professional but cool. "He said to give you the best care. He and the rest of the family are with Ms. Silva. She was very shaken by the ordeal."

Of course she was.

A few hours later, a doctor came in with my chart. It was Dr. Evans, the same man who had diagnosed my cancer. His face was grim.

"The saltwater aspiration has done significant damage to your lungs, Ms. Reid," he said gently. "I'm afraid you don't have much time left. A week, maybe two."

He handed me the official report. The words swam before my eyes, but the message was clear. My time was up.

I dragged my aching body out of bed and walked down the hall. I needed to see it one last time.

The door to Hailie's private suite was ajar. I could hear their voices.

"Mom, Dad, don't worry, I'm fine," Hailie was saying into the phone, her voice bright and cheerful. "Yes, Caleb and Fitz are taking great care of me... Oh, Ericka? The doctors said she's fine. Honestly, she's probably just milking it for attention. You know how she is."

A pause.

"Don't worry about her," my mother's voice, tinny through the phone, replied. "As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

My heart, which I thought was already shattered, broke all over again.

Hailie hung up the phone and turned. She saw me standing in the doorway.

A slow, triumphant smile spread across her face.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, her voice a triumphant whisper. "They don't care about you anymore. You've been replaced."

"Why?" I asked, the word a raw tear in my throat. "Why did you do all this?"

She laughed, a sound devoid of all warmth. "Why? Because you had everything, Ericka. The perfect family, the perfect fiancé, a life of luxury. You didn't deserve any of it. I did."

Her eyes glittered with a chilling intensity. "I wanted your life. And now, I have it. I have your parents, your brother, your fiancé. Everything that was yours is mine."

I just stared at her, the sheer scale of her malice leaving me numb. There was no anger left. No pain. Just a vast, empty coldness.

"I'm going to enjoy watching you fade away," she continued, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "And they'll all be so blinded by my grief, they'll never even question it. Caleb is so easy to manipulate. He thinks he's punishing you for your own good, but he's just my puppet."

She took a step closer, her smile widening. "And I'm not done yet. I have one more little surprise planned for him after you're gone."

I didn't react. I just stood there, a silent statue. Unseen by her, my hand was in my pocket, my thumb pressed firmly on the record button on my phone.

Suddenly, Hailie's expression changed to one of mock horror. She ran to the open window of her second-story room.

"Ericka, no! Don't push me!" she screamed.

And then she jumped.

I stood frozen as chaos erupted below. I heard Caleb's frantic shout. I looked down and saw him running toward Hailie's crumpled form on the ground, a bag of her favorite pastries forgotten in his hand.

He scooped her up, his face a mask of terror. "Doctor! I need a doctor!"

Hailie, ever the actress, managed a weak whisper. "Caleb... it was Ericka... she pushed me..."

Caleb's head snapped up. His eyes met mine, and the look in them was pure murder.

"You," he snarled, his voice a low, terrifying growl. "You will pay for this."

He barked an order to his bodyguards who were rushing to the scene. "Get her. Bring her to the rooftop."

They grabbed me, their hands rough on my bruised arms.

"Caleb," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. "Aren't you even going to ask if I did it?"

He laughed, a harsh, broken sound. "Why would I? I know what you are."

Tears streamed down my face, but they weren't for me. They were for him. For the man he used to be, now so hopelessly lost in a web of lies.

He had never trusted me. Not once.