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"How?"
As I listen to him explain that the woman I once considered my friend took money to give a kidnapper the key to my apartment, I can’t stop my tears from falling.
I vaguely see a car pulling up behind our bodyguards, followed by a police vehicle.
"We don’t have all the details yet, but we’re going to confront her with message exchanges between her and my father, as well as a bank transfer—enough money for her to retire—that the bastard sent to her account."
"I can’t believe it."
"I think you should go home. This won’t be pleasant to watch."
"I need to look her in the eyes, at least."
"Alright, but I don’t want you going to the station afterwards. Bonnie will have to give a statement, and if everything goes as I expect, she’ll be arrested today."
A few minutes later, when her door opens, I see her expression change as she recognizes me.
"Why, Bonnie?" I ask through my tears.
She looks past me at William, then at the police officers. She doesn’t seem surprised. When her gaze returns to mine, she simply shrugs. "Why not?"
* * *
"That bitch!" Jackie exclaims after hugging me.
William asked me to stay with her while he and his lawyers accompanied Bonnie to the station for her statement.
"I never would have imagined it. If someone had told me Sherie was involved in my kidnapping, I wouldn’t have been shocked. But Bonnie? God, she seemed so sweet, Jackie! And she even said there was another accomplice."
"Who?"
"We don’t know yet, but I’m sure William won’t rest until he finds them, too."
"Just another reminder that we never truly know people, huh? In the end, the woman who seemed like a villain turned out to be selfless," she says, referring to Sherie.
"Selfless, my ass. She was in love with William. If there was any selflessness in what she did, it was about making the man she loved happy. Not about me."
"Yeah, but either way, indirectly, she ended up helping you."
"I know. Forgive my mood. It’s a mix of pregnancy hormones and irrational jealousy."
"Even if you’re jealous, you can’t deny it was a total role reversal. The one who seemed kind turned out to be a complete snake. Bonnie is cold and greedy."
"Yes. And I hope she pays for it. Can you imagine the danger his grandmother was in, having someone like that so close to her?"
"Speaking of which, have you and Maryann been talking?"
"We have. Little by little, we’re rebuilding our friendship. And today, as soon as I found out the baby was a girl, I called her to tell her the news."
"You’re a better person than I am, Taylor."
"I don’t know. Maybe I’m just tired of pain and resentment. Maryann is one of the few decent members of that family. My daughter won’t have a grandmother on either side—my mother is gone, and my mother-in-law refuses to acknowledge the pregnancy."
"And if everything goes as planned, William’s father will be in prison."
I nod in agreement.
"There’s something I need to tell you, Taylor."