Chapter 4

Serena didn't come home until late into the night.

I went back to the servant's room --- barely a hundred and fifty square feet --- and reached up to tear the page off the wall calendar.

After tonight, two days left.

Two days, and I could walk out of here.

Somewhere between sleep and waking, a sound jolted me awake.

My eyes flew open --- someone was on top of me, pulling at my clothes.

I shoved them off and scrambled to turn on the light.

The moment the room lit up, I saw her face.

"Vanessa!"

"Caught me, huh?" She stepped toward me slowly, eyes fixed on me with something unsettling and obsessive.

The memories crashed back in, dull and grinding, like a blade dragged slowly across skin.

I lunged for the door. Locked. She'd locked it from the inside.

"Save your energy. I made sure everyone else is gone. Your precious Serena is out there right now on a romantic date with the mayor's son."

Vanessa Caldwell --- Serena's younger sister --- spoke without hurry.

"What do you want?"

I forced my voice steady.

She walked toward me, the smile on her face making my skin crawl.

"What do I want? I've been in love with you for years. Why won't you ever look at me?"

"Tell me honestly --- aren't I better than Serena? At least I haven't traded out a boyfriend every few months."

Her eyes were red at the corners. The obsession there was frightening.

"Just be with me instead."

While she was talking, I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and called Serena.

Vanessa didn't try to stop me. She just stood there and watched.

The line rang for a long time. Then Serena's voice came through, slightly breathless.

"Hello."

Right after, faint in the background --- a woman's voice.

"...softer..."

The hand holding the phone locked in place.

Then Vanessa plucked it out of my grip.

She leaned close to my ear and lowered her voice.

"Let me be honest with you. Tonight was Serena's idea. How do you think I just walked in here without any trouble?"

The words hit like a fist to the chest.

Vanessa's hand rested on my shoulder. She kept going.

"There's something else you probably don't know. You ever wonder why your family went bankrupt so fast? Why your father killed himself in prison?"

My head snapped toward her.

"That was all Serena. She went to the prison herself and used your future --- your whole life --- as leverage against your father. He chose to end it so he wouldn't drag you down with him."

My mind went blank with a sudden roar.

The last thing that had kept me going through these three years --- the final thread of belief I had held onto --- snapped completely in that moment.

I stared at her. "What did you just say?"

"This has been an open secret in our circle for a long time. You're the only one who was never told."

I thought of the way Serena's expression would flicker --- just barely, just for a second --- every time my father came up in conversation.

And suddenly the cold sank all the way through me.