Chapter 15
Four years ago
Carter
Carter stood in front of the mirror adjusting his tie for what had to be the tenth time.
His best suit hung perfectly on his frame, freshly pressed and carefully chosen for tonight.
A small velvet box sat on the dresser beside a bouquet of flowers.
In less than an hour, he was supposed to be asking Elena to marry him.
His stomach was full of nervous excitement. Every detail of the evening had been planned for months. He could already picture Elena laughing when she realized he was acting strangely. He could picture the exact moment he would get down on one knee.
Then his phone rang.
Carter almost ignored it. He assumed it was Elena calling to ask why he was being secretive all day. The smile was still on his face when he picked up the call. It disappeared before the person on the other end had finished speaking.
Everything after that became a blur.
He remembered him sprinting out the door.. He remembered leaving the flowers behind. He remembered dropping the ring box once because his hands were shaking so badly. After that, all he could think about were the words accident, hospital, and Caroline.
He kept praying under his breath as he watched a taxi. The ride felt endless.
Every red light felt like a punishment. Every slow-moving vehicle felt like an enemy. His heart pounded so hard against his ribs that it hurt.
When he finally reached the hospital, he practically ran through the emergency entrance. The bright fluorescent lights made everything look cold and harsh. Nurses rushed through hallways while phones rang endlessly at nearby stations. The smell of disinfectant hung heavily in the air.
"Carter!"
His mother's voice broke through the noise.
He turned immediately toward it. Relief hit him for half a second when he saw she was alive. Then horror followed when he noticed the sling around her arm and the tears streaming down her face.
"Mom."
She wrapped her good arm around him. Her entire body was shaking. Carter had never seen his mother look so frightened before.
"Caroline," she sobbed. "They're still checking Caroline."
The words knocked the air out of him.
His little sister was unconscious.
Just hearing those words made panic claw its way up his throat. Caroline was only fourteen. She was supposed to be worrying about school dances and annoying him for rides, not lying unconscious in a hospital bed.
A doctor approached them a few minutes later. His mouth was moving, and he was explaining injuries and scans and observations. Carter tried desperately to focus on every word. Somehow none of it seemed to make sense.
"Is she going to be okay?" Carter interrupted.
The doctor paused.
"We're doing everything we can," he said carefully. "The next few hours are important."
That answer did absolutely nothing to reassure him.
Carter sat beside his mother for what felt like hours. Every time a nurse walked by, he looked up hopefully. Every time a door opened, his heart nearly stopped. The waiting was somehow worse than anything else.
A police officer arrived shortly afterward.
He asked to speak with Carter's mother about the accident. Carter remained beside her while she gave her statement. Her voice shook throughout the entire conversation.
"We were in a taxi," she said quietly. "Everything was normal."
The officer nodded.
"Then what happened?"
His mother's eyes filled with tears again.
"A car came out of nowhere," she whispered. "It hit us and just kept going."
Carter felt sick.
The officer took notes while she spoke. He asked questions about the vehicle, its color, and whether she had noticed anything unusual beforehand. Unfortunately, she remembered very little.
A few feet away sat the taxi driver.
His forehead was bandaged and one of his arms rested in a sling. He looked exhausted and deeply shaken by what had happened. Even from across the waiting room, Carter could tell the man was replaying the accident over and over in his head.
The officer eventually spoke to him as well.
The taxi driver's story matched his mother's almost perfectly. The vehicle appeared suddenly. It had struck them with frightening force. Then it disappeared before anyone could react.
"We ran the plates," the officer said later. "Unfortunately, they don't lead anywhere useful."
Carter frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The officer sighed.
"Stolen plates."
The answer made Carter's stomach drop.
Something about that detail lodged itself in Carter's chest and refused to leave.
Feeling completely out of his depth, Carter called William—his best friend and a newly minted lawyer—and asked what the hell he was supposed to do.
Hours continued to crawl by.
His phone kept buzzing inside his pocket. He barely noticed it anymore. His entire world had narrowed down to one hospital room and one unanswered question.
Then two familiar voices appeared nearby.
"Carter."
He looked up immediately.
William stood there with his older brother Nick beside him.
Relief flooded through Carter so suddenly he nearly collapsed.
William had been celebrating graduation with his family earlier that evening. His parents and brothers had flown in from New York for the ceremony. Yet he was standing here now.
"What happened?" William asked.
Carter quickly explained everything.
William's expression darkened with every detail. Beside him, Nick immediately shifted into action. He started speaking with nurses, handling paperwork, insurance forms and helping Carter's mother navigate hospital procedures.
Carter hadn't even realized how overwhelmed he was until someone else stepped in.
Nick somehow knew exactly what needed to be done. He spoke calmly to staff members and asked practical questions Carter hadn't even thought about. Within minutes, several problems Carter had been stressing over were being handled.
Meanwhile, William spoke with the police.
As a lawyer he understood things Carter didn't. He asked questions about the investigation and took notes whenever officers answered. More than once, Carter caught William frowning at something he'd been told.
The hours stretched deep into the night.
Eventually another doctor entered the waiting area. Everyone stood immediately. Carter's heart felt like it might explode.
The doctor smiled.
It was the best thing Carter had seen all day.
"She's awake," the doctor said. "And she's going to recover."
For a moment Carter couldn't breathe.
Then his mother burst into tears again. This time they were tears of relief. Carter felt his own eyes sting as a weight lifted from his chest.
Only after seeing Caroline awake did he finally allow himself to sit down.
The adrenaline began draining from his body all at once. Every muscle suddenly felt exhausted. His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Then he noticed his phone.
Twenty-three missed calls.
Elena.
Carter stared at the screen. A terrible feeling settled in his stomach.
“Your mother and sister seem lovely.
I imagine you'd do anything to keep them safe.”
Julia LeClair's voice echoed through his mind with terrifying clarity.
“People rely on you, Carter. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.”
His blood ran cold.
The police had called it a hit-and-run. The taxi driver and his mother both believed the vehicle had deliberately rammed them. The license plates had been stolen. This was no accident. This was deliberate.
Julia had the money.
Julia had the power.
Julia had given him a warning only hours earlier.
Carter looked through the hospital window into Caroline's room. His little sister looked impossibly small lying in that hospital bed. His mother sat beside her holding her hand.
Guilt hit him so hard it felt like was choking on something.
She wasn't bluffing. Carter had assumed she would make his life harder by sabotaging his career, humiliating him or something.
But this…
If Julia had done this, then his family had suffered because of him.
Because he'd refused her.
Because he'd chosen his own happiness.
Because he'd dared to imagine a future with Elena.
He should tell the police about Julia but what proof did he have other than her cryptic comments in the limo? She could just easily say he was lying. Nobody would believe him. And she clearly had enough money and power to influence people...even the police.
The phone rang again.
Elena's name lit up the screen.
Carter stared at it for several long seconds. He wanted nothing more than to hear her voice. He wanted to tell her everything. He wanted her to tell him this was all some horrible misunderstanding.
Instead, he looked back at his mother and sister.
He had underestimated Julia LeClair. If Julia was capable of harming his family, she was capable of finishing them lethaly.
Fear won.
Slowly, Carter pressed the power button.
The screen went black and the future he had planned disappeared with it.
For a long moment he simply sat there in the harsh hospital lighting, listening to the distant sounds of monitors and footsteps in the hallway.
The ring waiting in his apartment suddenly felt like it belonged to someone else's life.