Chapter 12 - THE TRAP
Of course Ethan wanted to stop me.
Of course I went anyway.
But I didn’t go alone.
Not exactly.
The police placed a tracker in my shoe.
Marcus installed a tiny microphone inside my coat.
Ethan hated every second of it.
“You walk out the second something feels wrong.”
“Everything feels wrong.”
“You know what I mean.”
I looked at him.
“If this goes bad—”
“It won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“But I can promise I’ll be there.”
I wanted to kiss him.
Instead, I said, “Don’t be stupid.”
“Same to you.”
Midtown Pavilion had been empty for two years.
At 11:58 p.m., I walked inside.
Andrew stood beneath the old stage lights.
My father sat in a chair nearby.
His hands were tied.
Andrew looked exhausted.
No tuxedo now.
No perfect surgeon.
Just a man whose carefully built life was collapsing.
“You came.”
“Let him go.”
Andrew smiled.
“You always were impatient.”
“Andrew.”
“You loved me once.”
“I was afraid of you.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No. It isn’t.”
His smile disappeared.
“You think Ethan loves you?”
I said nothing.
“He loves winning.”
“You don’t know him.”
“I know men like him.”
“You don’t know anything about men like him.”
Andrew laughed.
“There she is.”
“What?”
“That attitude. That’s why you made me so angry.”
I felt nausea rise.
“You hit me because I had an attitude?”
“You pushed.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You hit me because you wanted control.”
His face darkened.
My microphone was catching everything.
Good.
I kept going.
“Rachel pushed too, didn’t she?”
His eyes changed.
There.
“Rachel was unstable.”
“So you killed her?”
“No.”
“My mother?”
Silence.
“What did you do to my mother?”
“I saved her.”
“Did you?”
He stepped toward me.
“I gave your family time.”
“And then she found out about Rachel.”
Andrew’s jaw tightened.
“She should’ve stayed out of it.”
My father started crying.
That sentence was enough.
My blood went cold.
“What did you do?”
Andrew looked at me.
For a second, the polished mask disappeared completely.
“She was already dying.”
I couldn’t move.
“You killed my mother.”
“I let nature happen.”
My father sobbed.
I felt something inside me break.
Then Andrew suddenly looked down at my coat.
A tiny red light blinked near the seam.
His expression changed.
“You’re wired.”
I stepped backward.
He grabbed me.
My father shouted.
Police sirens erupted outside.
Andrew dragged me against his chest and pressed a knife beneath my jaw.
The doors burst open.
“DROP IT!”
May you like
Officers flooded the room.
And behind them, Ethan saw the blade against my throat.
