I was sitting in a five-star hotel room a few blocks away from the mansion. I was not going to stay in that house again. I was not going to allow myself to be a target for any psycho. I did not need that kind of drama in my life. I did not even know self-defense, which made me even more nervous. I mean, my parents recommended that I take them a few years back but I was stubborn and told them no. Now I was lowkey regretting why I did not take those classes. I had told no one where I was except Samuel and I told him to tell no one. I did not need anyone trying to convince me otherwise to stay in this country or to stay married to Sterling. Whatever they had against my parents, I was sure we could figure something out. But putting my life in danger did not seem appealing. I heard a small knock on the door and I stood up from the bed and placed the tea that I was drinking on the coffee table. When I reached the door, I looked through the peephole and I saw Samuel. He was alone. I unl

When I was at the dining table, I reached for a glass of water and drank half of it down. I released a satisfied sigh when I was done and placed the glass back on the table. I glanced at Sterling when I began eating and he was just playing with his food. I cleared my throat lowly and then asked, “So, um…how are you holding up?” “Hmm?” He looked up at me as if I had just pulled him from another world and had no idea what was going on. “Oh, yes.” He nodded when he realized what I said. “Well, um…I’m trying, I guess.” He flashed me a sad smile. “I don’t think I ever told you sorry about her. About Patty.” I scooped some eggs and placed them in my mouth, chewing as I waited for a reply from him. “Oh, it’s okay. You never really knew her.” He chuckled very lightly and continued to play with his food. “And I don’t think you liked her either, so no worries.” He made a small sound with his mouth. “I–” I wanted to argue that he was wrong but that would be stupid because it was true, I cer

Sterling had parked the car right in front of the barbwire fence. He turned the engine off and then unfastened his seatbelt. When he was done with that, he opened the door, and before getting out, he glanced at me. “Are you not coming? I’m sure you would want to keep a close eye on me before I land myself in prison, right?” His tone was a bit hard. But I did not care. I did not care whether his tone was hard or not. He was not supposed to be here. And if Patty’s parents saw him, who knew what would happen? I think it was best that I go along, that way if anything happened, I could help de-escalate the situation if need be. Sterling waited for me as I placed my phone in my purse, unfastened my seatbelt, and got out of the car. When I was out, he did the same by getting out too before closing the door of the car and locking it with just one press of the key in his hand. I am not going to lie, I was very nervous. Normally, I did not like to bother people. If I was not invited somewher

My heart skipped a beat and then my eyes landed on my mom. I knew it. I knew something was wrong and she was not being honest with me. But I only thought that she had maybe conspired with the Williams so that I could be shoved into this contract marriage, but I did not think that she would actually be involved with a literal murderer. “Mom, what the hell?” I blinked rapidly for a few seconds, trying to make sure that I was not dreaming. Man, I wish that I was. I really wanted to see how she would explain herself out of this one. “Please…lower your voice, Heather.” Her eyes were filled with worry and nervousness. “Just come in. The two of you; please, come in.” She opened the door wider and gestured for us to walk in. Sterling laughed without humor. “Come in? Ma’am, I’m about to call the police to report you two.” He took out his phone but I stopped him. “Heather, what are you doing? Summer’s right there!” I exhaled deeply and tried to push down all the emotions that were swelli

I was in the passenger seat and Sterling was driving. Some jazz tunes played on the radio but it was at a low volume. The windows were rolled down and the wind blew in the car, causing my hair to fly backward. Since I cried into the arms of Sterling, I had not said a single word. And though my mouth may have been shut, my mind was doing all the talking. It was spinning faster than a tornado. After thirty minutes of driving, I reached for my phone to check the time and saw so many missed calls and texts. Most are from Samuel and the others from my dad. Mom may have told him the truth or maybe a washed-down version of it. “Would you like us to stop and get ice cream?” Sterling’s voice grabbed my attention and I looked up at him. “What?” I asked even though I heard him well the first time. “I asked whether you would like to get ice cream?” His voice was smooth and he did not take his eyes off the road. “I know a really nice ice cream shop not far from home. We could stop there.” He