“The video?”
“The one on the flash drive.”
Right. She gave me that yesterday. I got distracted by hiding my meeting with Cloud003 from Asher, so I forgot about it.
“Not yet.”
“You should,” she whispers. “Please watch it. And Reina?”
“Yes?”
“I’m so sorry.”
The line goes dead. I stare at the black screen for a second too long. Izzy has been acting strange since yesterday. Maybe if I watch this footage, I’ll figure out why.
I search inside my bag until I find the small black flash drive. I plug it into the hotel’s TV and keep the volume low as I open the video file.
The quality appears odd, the angle covert, almost like that video Jason showed me the other time.
Only now, the angle captures Arianna from the front. She’s looking up, probably at the person filming this.
Sitting on one of the cushions in the pool house, she twirls a bra on her finger and laughs. “Can you believe how that little bitch fell for a bra in Gray’s bag? She thinks she’s so smart, but she’s too easily manipulated.”
“Asher, too.” Jason—it’s his voice.
“Unfortunately, yeah,” she says with mock sarcasm. “All I had to do was threaten Stanford with exposing his pedophile picture collection and he called Reina’s name like a parrot when I was sucking him off.”
“Did it feel good?” Jason asks in a slightly thick voice.
“Good?” She laughs. “Nothing feels good to me, Jace. Everything is like a rehearsed play. It felt like sucking plastic. But since I knew the right buttons to push, I made him feel good. Besides, Gray believed it. Win-win.”
“You’re bad.” There’s a smile in Jason’s voice.
“Thank you.” She feigns a curtsy. “It’s getting boring playing with them, you know. Gray and Reina were these two people who looked at each other like they found salvation. It was interesting to watch them dissolve, to hold on to that something even though they keep hurting. I had to know what that infuriating connection was that I couldn’t understand. It helped that they cared for me. It made messing with their lives easier. A rumor here, some chaos there, and they just keep cracking. It’s fascinating. Gray even believed Reina was behind all those dares, and Reina thought it was Gray’s revenge against her so she kept her mouth shut when everyone accused her.”
A deep laugh comes from Jason. “Only you would ruin the two people who love you the most, Ari.”
“Love.” She cocks her head to the side like a maniac. “What is that? And why should I care about it? The only reason I keep Gray and Reina close is because it’s fun to toy with them. The king and queen of school are under the most insignificant student’s thumb. Hashtag fall of a kingdom.”
“Come on, you never cared about them?”
“No. They’re just there to serve a purpose I need and then they’re out. Mom used to teach me how to be caring and attentive and it was fucking annoying. I’m glad that bitch died and left me in peace. At least Dad doesn’t care for shit and Gray became easier to fool as we grew up.”
“And now what?” Jason asks. “You said something about Reina finding out?”
“Hmm, yeah.” She taps her mouth. “I think she figured something out after I confessed I love Gray today. He didn’t suspect anything when I confessed I loved Reina, but the bitch is smarter than I give her credit for. She ruined my plan, and I’ll make her pay.”
“How?”
She sighs. “It’s getting boring anyway so I might as well go for the grand finale.”
“What grand finale?” Jason asks.
“Breaking them up once and for all. And Jace?”
“Yeah?”
“Continue my legacy. I know you yearn for chaos deep inside, so once I make the fire, don’t let it burn out.”
“You mean keep Asher and Reina apart?”
“Yeah. After I’m done with them, they’ll never come together again anyway, but just in case, don’t allow them to reunite.”
“Why don’t you make sure of it yourself, Ari?”
She stares at the camera as if she knew it was there all along. My palms turn clammy at the vacant, empty look in her eyes.
That’s not a person; that’s a monster.
“This world is too small for me.”
The screen goes black, but I keep staring at it. A tear slides down my cheek, then another follows and another. I can’t stop them even if I wanted to.
I loved Arianna. I thought of her as some sort of replacement for Reina, but she never once cared for me. All she was interested in was proving herself by manipulating mine and Asher’s love for her.
And Jason…
Shit.
He’s been in on it since the beginning. He shared Ari’s brand of crazy and made me think Asher was my worst enemy, and while he was in some ways, it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t do it because he truly hated me; he did it because he was compelled to.
I would’ve done the same if I were in his shoes.
It’s such an ugly position to be in.
I reach for the remote to turn off the TV then a large presence appears in my peripheral vision. I gasp, the remote falling from my fingers and clattering to the ground.
Asher stands at the entrance of the bedroom, only wearing boxer briefs. He’s still staring at the blank screen like I was a few seconds ago.
From his blank expression, it seems he watched it—or at least most of it. He continues focusing on the TV as if Arianna is still there, saying she never cared for us, saying her brother who sacrificed his youth for her happiness and matured early to become her parent and her support was easy to fool, saying all she cared about was destroying him.
God, he’s not reacting—not at all.
It’s even scarier than if he trashed the place.
Even his hands fall on either side of him like lifeless body parts. There’s no clenching of his fists or ticking of his jaw.
He’s gone numb.
No, I won’t let her take him away from me. Not again.
Arianna won’t peek her head out from the grave to ruin our lives once more. She succeeded in the past, but that won’t be happening again.
I stagger on unsteady feet and tiptoe toward him as if afraid he’ll snap any second. He doesn’t move, not even when I stand in front of him, my toes almost touching his.
“Ash…” I coax.
No answer.
I take his hand in mine. It’s heavy and unmoving and…cold. So damn cold.
“Ash, look at me.”
His gaze strays from the TV to mine. There’s so much pain in there, so many years lost on hate, revenge, violence.
So much missed time.
“It wasn’t your fault.” My voice is emotional despite my attempt to speak in a neutral tone. “It wasn’t our fault. We just loved her too much to notice it.”
He says nothing, but his jaw tightens so hard I’m scared something will happen to him.
What if I lose him?
What if she succeeded and this is the end?
What if—
“I’m so sorry.” His voice is barely above a murmur.
My brows furrow. “What?”
His arms wrap around me in a tight hug that nearly cuts off my breath. “I’m so fucking sorry, Reina.”