Chapter Fifty-Nine
Lilac
I watch Irvin leave with Snow. My head throbs, and my chest is hollow, like someone tore out a piece of me—my heart.
What do I do with my life now? How do I go on? The mansion feels too big. I can’t stay and wait for Irvin’s execution. I made the right choice in turning him in, even though the pain won’t go away.
I walk into the closet.
I toss clothes into a suitcase. I can’t stay here. If people find out I was connected to the murderer, they’ll think I had something to do with it. Then everyone in town will know who I am. What about Lyrical and Raven? They won’t look at me the same.
I contacted Snow on Instagram to tell him what I found.
I gave him my number, and he called while I was in the kitchen making popcorn.
He said he wasn’t surprised Irvin was the killer—reminded me how violent Irvin could be during assignments.
I don’t know if Snow’s deep-rooted hatred for him blinded him, but I was shocked.
I wanted to believe Irvin. But the evidence doesn’t lie.
I need to stop falling in love with crazy men. I attract too many monsters.
I finish packing. I look around the bedroom—too many memories here. I remember the—
Footsteps.
I freeze. Maybe it’s Lyrical. Snow must have told her everything.
I look up.
My eyes widen. I blink once. Twice.
The room spins. My hand goes numb.
Emerson.
His eyes lock on me.
This isn’t real. My mind is playing tricks on me. My vision blurs—the smell of iron, burnt flesh, firecrackers. My mother on the ground. A hole in her stomach.
He’s dead.
Why am I hallucinating? I took my medication.
I vomit onto the bedsheets.
“Hello, little sapphire.”
He steps forward. I step back.
“You’re not real. I saw you die. I watched the life leave your eyes.”
“My death was staged. The society I belong to helped me escape. The body wasn’t mine—another student. It was his execution.”
I shake my head.
Irvin keeps a gun in the nightstand. I rush for it—empty.
“You looking for this?” Emerson waves it, tucking it into his waistband.
“What do you want from me?”
“You.”
I stand still.
“Someone put a hit on your parents. My job was to earn their trust—then kill them. I was supposed to kill you too.”
“Why?”
“Your father owed powerful people money. But that doesn’t matter.”
“Why didn’t you kill me?”
He steps closer. Again. Again.
“Because I love you. I’m too obsessed to let you go. Now that Irvin’s out of the picture, we can be together.”
His cologne hits me—spice and rot. He’s bigger now. Muscle packed onto his frame. Hair cut close to the scalp. Midnight eyes sharp.
Five years ago, I would’ve fallen at his feet. Now I hate everything about him.
He grins.
“You did all the work for me, little sapphire.”
I scan the room—no clear exit.
“What are you talking about?”
“I killed everyone on campus to frame your husband. The locket. The texts. The auditorium. The video. The hallucinations. I erased your phone and left Irvin’s tracking software. I planted the IDs.” He smirks.
He fucked with my mind. He gaslit me. He made me believe I was seeing shit. I thought I was going crazy.
“I even caused your dissociative amnesia. You saw me on campus and blacked out.”
My knees buckle. I step back, tripping over the suitcase. I sob.
I blamed the wrong man. Trusted the wrong monster.
Irvin was innocent.
I sentenced him to death.
Cold sweat drenches my skin. My hands tremble.
I want Irvin. I need Irvin.
“You’re coming with me.”
“No.”
“You will.”
He removes his gun. Aims it at my head.
I freeze. Raise my hands.
He drags me toward the stairs. I knock the gun loose, punch his nose, and sprint. I make it halfway to the gate before he grabs my hair, drags me back, and throws me into the trunk.
He zip-ties my arms, then duct-tapes my mouth, and slams the trunk shut.
I blink in complete darkness.
I scream. Sweat pours. My stomach drops. Warm urine spreads between my legs.
The trunk opens.
Rain bangs on my body. I glance at the black sky, then at the cemetery.
Why are we at Irvin’s mother’s gravesite?
He drags me to a fresh coffin beside hers.
He rips the tape from my mouth and presses the gun to my head.
“You choose—me or your soon-to-be-dead husband.”
“Please. Let me go,” I plead.
He strikes my head. I fall.
“You married someone else. After I killed your parents and spared you. This is how you repay me? You belong to me,” he grits out.
Pain explodes on my skull. I scream.
I spit in his face.
“I choose Irvin.”
His expression hardens.
“Then you’ll be buried next to his mother.”
He steps closer.
I knee him in the stomach and run.
Gunshots crack in the air. Rain slams down on the earth. I dive behind trees, trip, scramble—
He catches me by the hair, again. Shoves me down onto the wet ground. His hands are on my throat, cutting off my airways.
His breath on my face, he yanks at my pants, attempting to pull them down.
“Spread your legs for old times’ sake.”
“No!”
My vision blurs, stars bursting behind my lids.
I bite his nose. Punch and kick him in the face.
His blood trickles onto my cheeks.
He digs the gun into my temple.
I vomit on him.
He strikes me again.
Blood drenches my face. The world spins.
He drags me across the ground and tosses me into the coffin.
Same fate as my parents.
The lid slams shut.
I can’t breathe.
I claw at the wood. My breaths shrink. My chest tightens. My throat closes.
“Please! Get me out of here! Help!”
Memories flood—Irvin. Our wedding. His arms around me. His smile. His touch.
I can’t breathe.
I hyperventilate.
My body is numb.
I pound the roof of the coffin until my fists ache.
Darkness overtakes me.