Chapter 8

For the past three years, whenever the month of my death came around, Robert had barely dared to raise his voice at home, afraid of reminding Helen of her grief.

Now Yvonne was openly using that grief to torment her.

"I know you're a kind woman, Mrs. Shaw. You wouldn't refuse me, would you? Besides, if you and Mr. Shaw agree to stand in as my parents at the wedding, you'll finally get to see him again."

The threat was so blatant that Helen had no room to argue. After a tense few moments, she reluctantly nodded.

"I'm sorry, Mom."

Seeing Helen forced to endure yet another humiliation, I couldn't stand by and do nothing. I went looking for Logan and found him just as he was leaving his office building.

He was in the middle of a phone call.

"If you dare lie to me again, you know what will happen.

"Four o'clock this afternoon. Meet me at Glenmere Plaza."

I recognized the voice immediately. It was the same person who'd pretended to be me on the phone before.

A glance at the time told me it was already three thirty. The drive should have taken at least fifty minutes, but Logan somehow managed to make it in half an hour.

This time, the impostor actually showed up.

From a distance, I spotted a familiar figure standing beside the fountain, dressed in clothes I'd worn years ago.

Logan visibly faltered when he saw her. As he made his way toward her, I felt my own anxiety rising.

It was Saturday, and the plaza was unusually crowded. Logan struggled through the crowd, a fine sheen of sweat forming on his forehead. By the time he reached the woman, however, he'd regained his usual arrogant composure.

He stood behind her in silence for a full two minutes before finally speaking.

"Xena, you..."

The figure spun around before he could finish.

"Xena would never come to see you! Go to hell, Logan Grant!"

Everything happened too quickly for me to make out who it was. Logan stumbled backward, then kicked his attacker straight into the fountain.

Nathan, who had been waiting out of sight, immediately rushed over with several bodyguards. Within moments, they'd cleared everyone out of the plaza.

I was still marveling at how much power Logan now wielded when the attacker staggered to his feet in the fountain.

The wig he'd been wearing had fallen into the water, revealing a buzz cut. There was also a kitchen knife in his hand.

The bodyguards seized him, dragged him over to Logan, and forced him to his knees.

Nathan was so furious that his voice rose several pitches.

"Who gave you the nerve to impersonate Ms. Shaw?"

Still seething over the deception, Logan kicked the man hard in the chest. Unable to withstand the blow, he toppled backward and lay sprawled on the ground, his face finally coming into view.

Nathan crouched and pulled off the man's face mask.

He froze.

"E-Ethan?"

My brother?!

I immediately rushed over.

"Ethan! How did you get here?"

I stayed beside Ethan, overwhelmed by the urge to cry and the unbearable frustration of being unable to shed a single tear.

Ethan slowly raised his head and surveyed the plaza before fixing his gaze on Logan.

"Look at you. A few years have gone by, and you're doing better than ever. You climbed to the top by stepping all over the Shaw family, and now you've joined forces with a murderer. There's no limit to your ambition, is there, Logan?"

Logan ignored the insults.

"Where's Xena?"

Ethan gave a cold laugh. "You want to see her?"

"You and your sister have dragged this little stunt out long enough! Tell her to get her ass out here. I don't want to have to hurt you."

Ethan struggled to his feet and pointed at Logan, laughing in his face.

"Xena's been dead for three years! If you want to see her so badly, why don't you hurry up and die?"

Logan merely snorted at the news of my death, clearly not believing a word.

"You think another lie is going to get her off the hook?"

Ethan seemed to have anticipated that response. Reaching into his soaked pocket, he pulled out a death certificate.

"Take a good look, Logan! My sister, Xena Shaw, died three years ago!"