Chapter 16
“This is what I deserve?” Valerie let out a ragged laugh even as the pain washed the color from her face.
She stared up at the two men, her eyes bloodshot with fury and hatred.
“How do you even have the nerve to say that? What about you, Cole? And you, Carter? Do you really think you’re good men?
“You plotted to deceive Maya for years. Trust me, you’ll get what’s coming! Sure, I hurt her, but compared to your lies and the way you toyed with her, what I did barely even counts!”
Her voice shook with rage, but she was satisfied to see regret and grief on both their faces.
“You… You two are the ones who hurt her most! Cole, your so-called heartfelt apology in that video is just a joke! She… She’ll never forgive you! Never!”
With that, Valerie’s eyes rolled back and she slumped over in a faint.
Silence fell over the room.
Cole and Carter stood there with their fists clenched, unable to smother the dread clawing at their throats, because every word she’d thrown at them was true.
It was the thing they had both been avoiding-the one admission neither dared to say out loud.
They exchanged a look and saw the same confusion and fear mirrored back.
After the medics hauled Valerie away and the police took custody of her again, Cole and Carter signed their discharge papers and drove to the villa where Maya had stayed before.
Nothing in the house had been moved, yet everything of Maya’s was gone.
Her solo photos had disappeared from the frames, while the couple shots had been cut down the middle, leaving just one figure in each frame.
The building toys they had built, the oil painting they once started, and the planters they picked out together for the balcony had disappeared.
Her side of the closet was stripped bare. The gifts she had given Cole were gone, while those they had given her stayed lined up where she had placed them.
It was her way of drawing a hard line and making it final.
Cole sank onto the couch, the memory so hard-hitting that he leaned forward on his knees. He saw Maya
again, curled against him and clutching his waist.
On nights without a late shift, she liked to stay home and watch TV dramas.
Sometimes, he’d come home early, and they would pick a movie and curl up together.
She crunched on chips like a little hamster and pushed one into his mouth every so often.
He liked her. Only now did he admit it to himself.
To make Valerie happy, he always had to prepare a great deal.
But with Maya, he didn’t need to do anything. He could simply breathe and feel at ease.
However, he had realized it too late.
He slumped back and covered his reddened eyes with his forearm.
Across the room, Carter sat on the vanity stool, running a thumb over an empty frame.
It used to hold a photo of Maya in a slip dress, hair down, and legs tucked under her as she read on the
window seat.
The light that morning had been perfect, so he took the shot and printed it. It had lived here ever since.
She loved that photo. She often sat at this vanity without makeup, still looking effortlessly beautiful.
He had been carrying a secret for years.
The first time Cole went to visit Valerie and asked him to take his place, he fell for Maya at first sight.
In those days, while Cole was gone, he had crossed a line with her. That warped beginning trapped him in a loop he couldn’t break.
Maya loved Cole, and in her eyes, she thought he was Cole. So, he forced his own feelings down and kept
them hidden.
Every time Valerie claimed Maya had bullied her, he swallowed it whole, called Maya cruel in his head,
and told himself she wasn’t worth loving.
He believed his own lie. If he had realized his feelings earlier, if he had refused Valerie’s needling, or if he
had stopped Cole’s plan… But there were no ifs left.
A tear hit the glass, and he wiped it away before it could fall.
“Carter,” Cole said behind him, his voice low and rough. “If we find Maya, we have to do this straight. We’ll
start over and compete fairly.”
Carter sat a long time before answering hoarsely, “Fine. We’ll start over and compete fairly.”
Just then, Cole’s phone rang, and he took the call on speaker.
Matthew said anxiously, “Mr. Hale, we just picked up a report. Ms. Reed might have been killed!”
