Kate’s eyes burned with a cold fury as she glared down at me. “Listen, Zoey,” she hissed, her voice low and dangerous, “if you ever let James know what really happened, I’ll kill you. So leave us. Understand?”
I could only nod, my throat tight with disbelief and betrayal. Somehow, despite everything, she let me live—with one very strict condition: I was to disappear from their lives forever and never meddle again in anything involving James.
I couldn’t let the moment pass without asking the questions that had been clawing at my mind. “Kate, why… why would you do this? How did you end up with him?” I demanded, my voice trembling between anger and sorrow.
Kate’s gaze faltered for a moment before she sighed, as if the weight of years pressed upon her. “While you were busy chasing your music career, James was looking for someone who would love him. And I was there—waiting, listening, and eventually, we fell for each other.”
Her confession hit me like a punch. All those years as partners in crime, the secrets we’d shared since childhood, had twisted into something unrecognizable. I had never imagined that the friend I trusted more than anyone would steal not only the man I once thought was mine but also my chance to discover the truth behind everything.
Before the first rays of dawn had even graced the sky, Kate and her loyal bodyguards set our escape plan into motion. As we huddled in a shadowed corner of the safe house, she leaned close and murmured, “By the way, James’s bodyguard is mine. They're my spy, my eyes inside his circle.”
The chill that ran down my spine was matched only by the shock that was yet to come. Just as I began to process her words, Kate signaled one of her guards over. He emerged carrying a large, battered bag. With deliberate care, Kate opened it—and I nearly lost my breath. Inside was the decomposing corpse of a woman who bore an eerie, almost exact resemblance to myself. My stomach churned as the reality set in.
“You… you bought her?” I stammered, unable to reconcile the sight with the friend I once knew.
Kate’s expression remained unreadable. “She was the perfect double. With her, I could fake your death and fool everyone about it. It’s all part of the plan, Zoey.”