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My chest heaves, rising up and down.
Power surges through my veins.
Damn, that felt good.
I look up, glowing from my adrenaline rush…
And meet the barrel end of Winifred’s gun.
Instantly, my blood runs cold.
“Winifred,” I say softly, trying to get through to him, “let me go. I’m not going to tell anyone about this. I promise.”
“Cody’s sending the money to our off-shore bank account as we speak. In a few minutes, it’ll all be over.” He shakes his head. “And yet, it doesn’t feel like enough.”
“Winifred…” I take a step.
He shoves the gun in my face and I freeze again.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” His bottom lip trembles. “It really wasn’t.”
I stare blankly at him.
“At first, I only wanted to help Joel get his surgery.”
“J-Joel?” My eyes widen. Why is he mentioning Joel?
“I did steal money, but it was for a good cause. I swear.” Winifred’s voice sounds feeble and unfocused. “And then I thought,what if I can win enough money for the surgery and pay the loan back in one go?”
Winifred’s eyes are on me, but it feels like he’s not seeing me.
“After that, I got desperate. Took more money. Kept trying to win it back.”
My mind is still on Joel. I start connecting the dots. Is Winifred the reason Joel got so angry at Cody overnight? Did he say something to him?
“I was going to return the money. I swear. But Bolton… Bolton ruined everything.” His lips fall into a dark line. “He set my world on fire. And I don’t know if taking his money is enough. I don’t think it hurts enough.”
His eyes are glassy when they meet mine. “My world shattered. Do you know what it feels like when your entire existence is in jeopardy? When it hurts just thinking about getting up in the morning?”
“I know…” I whisper, “that you’ve been consumed with revenge. But the more hate you have for a person, the more control they have over you. Don’t give anyone that much control, Winifred.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m obsessed with him.” The gun moves toward me. “But I can’t control that. Just like he can’t help being obsessed with you.”
“Please…”
“I can’t walk away like this. Without knowing I inflicted the same pain he did to me.”
“You’re getting the money, Winifred.”
Spittle flies from his mouth as he shrieks, “The money is nothing to him! He can make it back. He’s that smart. That resourceful. It won’t hurt him.” A crazed grin crosses his face. “But if he loses you… won’t that break him? Won’t that ruin him for life? Knowing he lost the woman he loves and it washisfault. He’ll never recover.” Deranged laughter pours from his lips. “He’ll live in agony for the rest of his life.”
I inch back.
“I’m sorry, Clarissa. You’re a nice girl. You don’t deserve to be in the middle of this. But Bolton loves you so much. He’d die for you. He really would.”
“Winifred.”
His finger eases on the trigger and I know he has no intentions of holding back.