(Virginia’s POV)
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My hands won’t stop shaking as I pace around my bedroom, phone pressed so hard against my ear it hurts. Three rings. Four. Five.
“Pick up,” I whisper into the darkness. “Pick up the phone, damn it!”
Finally, a gravelly voice answers. “This better be important.”
“It’s me.” I don’t need to say my name. He knows.
A pause. Then a low chuckle that makes my skin crawl. “Well, well. Virginia Stone. Haven’t heard from you in what, three days?”
“I need the job done faster.” The words tumble out of me in a rush. “I’ll double the original price. Just make sure you make it happen within the week.”
Silence stretches between us, so long I start to wonder if the line went dead. When he finally
speaks, there’s something different in his voice. Curious. Almost… amused.
“Why are you going to such lengths for that man?” he asks. “No matter what lies you tell, what proof you show, the truth will eventuallye out. And when he finds out you were the
one behind it…”
“Stay out of my business!” The words explode out of me before I can stop them. “Just keep your mind on the job you’re being paid to do.”
My heart pounds so hard I’m sure he can hear it through the phone. Four years of careful nning, of maniption and lies, and it’s all falling apart because of one little girl with Jasper’s <i>eyes</i>.
“Alright,” he says finally, and I can hear the smirk in his voice. “I’ll get it done. But when this backfires on <i>you </i>in the future, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The line goes dead.
I throw my phone onto the bed and run my hands through my hair, trying to calm down. He doesn’t understand. None of them understand what I’ve sacrificed, what I’ve endured.
Twenty–six years of waiting for my real family. Twenty–six years of being second choice, of watching another woman live the life that should have been mine.
I will never regret doing whatever it takes to keep what’s mine.
< Chapter 52
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But first, I need insurance. A backup n in case Jasper starts digging too deep into
Scarlett’s past.
I grab my phone again and scroll through my contacts until I find the number I need. Jasper’s personal assistant, Sarah. Sweet, loyal Sarah who thinks she’s protecting her boss by being thorough.
She answers on the second ring. “Sarah speaking.”
“Hi Sarah, it’s Virginia.” I inject sweetness into my voice, the same tone that’s fooled everyone for years. “I hope I’m not calling toote.”
“Miss Stone! No, not at all. Is everything alright?”
“I’m fine, thank you. I was just wondering… Jasper seemed really stressed today after everything that happened. Is he doing okay?”
Sarah sighs, and I can picture her rubbing her forehead the way she does when she’s overwhelmed. “He’s been better. Has me working on some research right now, actually.”
Perfect. “Oh? Nothing too serious, I hope?”
“Just background information on someone. Trying to verify some details about the past few years.” She catches herself, probably remembering confidentiality. “Sorry, I can’t say anymore
than that.”
“No need for apologies. I understand,” I sigh. “You’re always so professional. I just worry about him, you know? He’s been through so much.”
“He has. But don’t worry, Miss Stone. I’ll make sure he gets the information he needs.” <fna90e> ?????? ???? FindN0vel</fna90e>
The information he needs. My chest tightens with panic, but I keep my voice light.
“Well, I’ll let you get back <i>to </i>work. Take care, Sarah.”
“You too, Miss Stone.”
I hang up and immediately dial another number. This one rings only once before being answered.
<b>“</b>It’s done?”
“Not yet. But I need you to do something else first.” I move to my desk and pull out a man folder I’ve been preparing for months. Just in case. “Remember that document I gave you? The one about Nashville?”
“The fabricated records? What about them?”
< Chapter 52
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“I need you to make sure they end up on Sarah Thompson’s desk tomorrow morning. Make it look like they came from an official source.”
A pause. “That’s risky. If they trace it back-
”
“They won’t. You’re too good at your job.” ttery has always worked with him. “Just make sure Sarah thinks she found legitimate information about Scarlett Stone’s life in Nashville.”
“And if this Jasper guy figures out the records are fake?”
“He won’t. The documents are perfect–enrollment records at culinary school, lease agreements, financial support documentation. Everything points to Dorian being in Scarlett’s life long before she even filed for divorce.”
I can almost hear him smiling through the phone. “Making her look like a cheater. Smart.”
“Making her look like what she is,” I correct sharply. “A woman who was nning her escape long before she had the courage to leave. A woman who was already building a new life with another man while married to Jasper.”
The liese so easily now. I’ve been telling them so long, sometimes I almost believe them myself.
“Consider it done. Anything else?”
“That’s all for now.”
I hang up and sink into my desk chair, staring at the copy of the fake documents spread across the surface. Dorian’s financial support starting two years before Scarlett left. Enrollment in a prestigious pastry program under his sponsorship. Lease agreements showing them living together in Nashville.
All of it carefully crafted to paint the picture of a woman who was never reallymitted to her marriage. A woman who was nning her exit strategy long before she had the courage
to use it.
By tomorrow afternoon, Jasper will have proof that Scarlett was cheating on him. That she used him for financial security while building a rtionship with another man. That Lily isn’t his daughter–she’s the product of an affair that started while they were still married.
My phone buzzes with a text from James: <i>Are </i>you <iing </i>down for <i>dinner</i><i>? </i>
I stare at the message, then at my reflection in the darkened window. In the ss, I look like the perfect daughter. Sweet, innocent, grateful for the family that finally found me.
If only they knew what I’m capable of when someone threatens to take away what’s mine.
< Chapter 52
<i>Coming </i><i>now</i><i>, </i>I text back.
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I gather the fake documents and lock them in my desk drawer. Tomorrow, Jasper will hate Scarlett more than he ever thought possible. Tomorrow, he’ll see her for the maniptive woman I’ve always known she was.
And tomorrow, he’ll finally understand that I’m the only one who’s ever truly been on his side.
I’m halfway to the door when my phone rings again. Unknown number.
“Hello?”
“Miss Stone? This is Officer Owen from the Avalon Police Department. I’m calling about a case we’re working on. A food poisoning incident at Sunrise Bakes.”
My blood turns to ice. “I’m sorry, what?”
“We received got information suggesting you might be involved in the food poisoning incident. We’d like to ask you a few questions regarding the nature of your rtionship with Miss Scarlett Stone. From your simrst names, I assume you two are rted?”
The room spins around me. Information on the food poisoning incident? What information? Who would have-
“Miss Stone? Are you there?”
“Yes,” I manage. “Yes, I’m here. When would you like to meet?”
“Tomorrow morning would be convenient. Say, nine AM at the station?”
Tomorrow morning. When Sarah is supposed to receive the fake documents. When Jasper will <i>see </i>Scarlett’s true face. When he’ll start believing that she betrayed him.
<i>“</i>Of course,” I hear myself saying. “I’ll be there.”
I hang up with shaking hands and sink onto my bed.
I told Marcus <i>to </i>delete everything. There shouldn’t be any leak that can lead to me. So where did this new informatione from?
Who found it and supplied it to the cops?
If I get dragged into a police case, if they dig deep into my actions thest four years, they’re going to find things that will destroy everything I’ve worked to build.
Everything.
< Chapter 52
Starting with the real reason Scarlett left town four years