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Authors: Helen Cooper, J.S. Cooper
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actually asked to see a body.” I shrugged. “You fired those two shots outside. Bobby showed up pretending he was a cop and I told Louise a story and she took it from there. You know women, they love a good gossip.”
“ It worked perfectly.” He sighed. “I was waiting for someone to ask to see the body, but nobody did. I was hoping that would put a stop to the madness.”
“ It worked out perfectly. It was the seed of doubt I planted in Nancy’s head about her father being the murderer that made her start to doubt herself.”
“ You ruined that girls’ relationship with her father, Jaxon.”
“ It’s fine.” I sighed, trying to ignore the guilt. “I told her I thought it was you, after all.”
“ Why do you have to keep lying?”
“ It was the only way, you know that. You know I love you, but what Brandon Hastings did was wrong. Yeah, so dad wasn’t in the best business. That was no excuse for Brandon to ruin his life. All he does is ruin lives. Now I’m going to ruin his.”
“ What about Nancy?”
“ What about her?” I ignored the dart of pain that sprang through my heart. “This isn’t about her.”
“ You don’t think she’s going to be hurt?”
“ She’ll be fine, especially when she realizes that Hunter is still alive.”
“ You know that girl doesn’t care about him.” He sighed. “And even after my coaching, it was pretty obvious for all to see that Hunter doesn’t remember her.”
“ He was an idiot.” I sighed. “It was a mistake to keep him around for so long, he nearly blew the whole thing.”
“ You needed him to set the whole thing in action.”
“ That’s true. He and Frank will be rewarded.” I nodded grimly. “Without Frank, none of this would have been possible.”
“ I know. I owe him a lot.”
“ And Nancy owes him nothing.”
“ We’re getting what we’ve always wanted.”
“ This isn’t what I wanted, Jaxon. I never wanted this.” I knew he was tired and frustrated.
“ I’ve come this far. I’m not backing out now.” I hung up the phone and ignored the dart of anxiety that shot through me. I couldn’t doubt myself now. I hadn’t hurt anyone. I hadn’t killed someone. I’d told a few lies. A few lies and that was it. I was nearly a part of the Hastings Corporation. Once I married Nancy I’d be in. I could bring down the whole family. I’d ruin Brandon as he’d ruined my dad. I smiled bitterly at the thought of how easy it had been to distract him. He was so blinded by his love for Katie that he’d backed off as soon as I’d told him that I’d tell her the truth about why our relationship had ended. He’d even believed that I’d gotten Nancy pregnant. If he’d done any digging at all, he would have known that Katie wouldn’t have cared and Nancy and I hadn’t even slept together yet. That was why it had been so important for me to put doubts in Nancy’s mind. I couldn’t have her talking to her father. She needed to doubt him. I didn’t even need to have her believe my story 100%. I’d just needed her to believe it enough to ensure that she needed time to think and process.
Everything had worked so perfectly. Maybe too perfectly. Nancy had complete and utter trust in me. She believed that I was a lost soul. She believed that I could be saved. I suppose it was her youth. She was too young to understand that sometimes people were just bad. I felt horrible that I was the one that was imparting this knowledge to her, but she had to learn at some point. I walked to the door and stopped. I thought about what my uncle had said. I didn ’t have to go through with this. I could back out now. I could make up some excuse and just leave it alone. I opened the door slowly and walked down the stairs and waited for Nancy. I couldn’t afford to be weak now. I’d come too close to change my plans at the last moment.
My heart stopped beating when Nancy walked down the stairs. She looked even more beautiful than I ’d imagined
“ It worked perfectly.” He sighed. “I was waiting for someone to ask to see the body, but nobody did. I was hoping that would put a stop to the madness.”
“ It worked out perfectly. It was the seed of doubt I planted in Nancy’s head about her father being the murderer that made her start to doubt herself.”
“ You ruined that girls’ relationship with her father, Jaxon.”
“ It’s fine.” I sighed, trying to ignore the guilt. “I told her I thought it was you, after all.”
“ Why do you have to keep lying?”
“ It was the only way, you know that. You know I love you, but what Brandon Hastings did was wrong. Yeah, so dad wasn’t in the best business. That was no excuse for Brandon to ruin his life. All he does is ruin lives. Now I’m going to ruin his.”
“ What about Nancy?”
“ What about her?” I ignored the dart of pain that sprang through my heart. “This isn’t about her.”
“ You don’t think she’s going to be hurt?”
“ She’ll be fine, especially when she realizes that Hunter is still alive.”
“ You know that girl doesn’t care about him.” He sighed. “And even after my coaching, it was pretty obvious for all to see that Hunter doesn’t remember her.”
“ He was an idiot.” I sighed. “It was a mistake to keep him around for so long, he nearly blew the whole thing.”
“ You needed him to set the whole thing in action.”
“ That’s true. He and Frank will be rewarded.” I nodded grimly. “Without Frank, none of this would have been possible.”
“ I know. I owe him a lot.”
“ And Nancy owes him nothing.”
“ We’re getting what we’ve always wanted.”
“ This isn’t what I wanted, Jaxon. I never wanted this.” I knew he was tired and frustrated.
“ I’ve come this far. I’m not backing out now.” I hung up the phone and ignored the dart of anxiety that shot through me. I couldn’t doubt myself now. I hadn’t hurt anyone. I hadn’t killed someone. I’d told a few lies. A few lies and that was it. I was nearly a part of the Hastings Corporation. Once I married Nancy I’d be in. I could bring down the whole family. I’d ruin Brandon as he’d ruined my dad. I smiled bitterly at the thought of how easy it had been to distract him. He was so blinded by his love for Katie that he’d backed off as soon as I’d told him that I’d tell her the truth about why our relationship had ended. He’d even believed that I’d gotten Nancy pregnant. If he’d done any digging at all, he would have known that Katie wouldn’t have cared and Nancy and I hadn’t even slept together yet. That was why it had been so important for me to put doubts in Nancy’s mind. I couldn’t have her talking to her father. She needed to doubt him. I didn’t even need to have her believe my story 100%. I’d just needed her to believe it enough to ensure that she needed time to think and process.
Everything had worked so perfectly. Maybe too perfectly. Nancy had complete and utter trust in me. She believed that I was a lost soul. She believed that I could be saved. I suppose it was her youth. She was too young to understand that sometimes people were just bad. I felt horrible that I was the one that was imparting this knowledge to her, but she had to learn at some point. I walked to the door and stopped. I thought about what my uncle had said. I didn ’t have to go through with this. I could back out now. I could make up some excuse and just leave it alone. I opened the door slowly and walked down the stairs and waited for Nancy. I couldn’t afford to be weak now. I’d come too close to change my plans at the last moment.
My heart stopped beating when Nancy walked down the stairs. She looked even more beautiful than I ’d imagined
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