Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
But I couldn’t ask her about it now because it would only raise suspicion, and I was in no mood to deal with the many questions that would arise. I made it through the calls letting them know that I was going to take a break, but the one to Rachel was the hardest thing I’ve done in a long time.
We’d known each other for so long, had seen each other through so much, that I would never have guessed she had any part in this. But knowing that she’d been making me ill and had stood by while they did such horrible things to me was something I couldn’t and won’t easily forgive.
I’d have rather believed that Ryder had made it all up. That it was some misguided way for him to get back into my good graces, but even at his worst, he wouldn’t have done something like that. So I was left with the realization that people I had trusted and kept close had betrayed me, and in the end, it was all so Janie Andrews could have Ryder. It was as simple as that when it all boiled down, wasn’t it?
But how did this unknown girl, who had no talent to speak of and whose parents were barely notable, pull this off? Before, I was under the impression that, like the rest of the world believed, he had fallen in love with her. I never allowed myself to look too deeply at their romance or how they even came to be.
The fact that he’d dated her during one of our breakups made it seem plausible that he’d grown feelings for her, but now it all seems to have been a lie. And if what Char said is true, they needed to get me out of the way so she could have him, and so they’d worked some kind of magic against me. Who would believe it?
But why, though? Why did she want him so badly to the point that the people around her had gone along with it? Obviously, there had to be more to the story. I’d known, somehow, I’d known the first time I saw her at that church, that there was something off, but I never imagined all this.
It was the way she used to look at him, and this was before they’d ever dated before we broke up that first time, or was it the second? Back then, she seemed like an innocent young girl who was just a fan; she never acted in any way that would give me a reason to distrust her.
But I should’ve known when she got mixed up with the Hudsons that she was more than met the eye. But how was I to know that all of this was going on? It’s so beyond my imagination that I still find it hard to believe or accept.
And poor Ryder, he doesn’t know either; he only thinks he was on drugs. How am I going to tell him? How will he react? And just what exactly had that ass done to him?
Instead of the fear I expected they’d expect, I felt enraged. They’d stolen five years of our lives, years that we will never get back. So much pain and sorrow, and for what? So that one spoilt little twit could have something that wasn’t hers? I’m going to find a way to make them all pay if it’s the last thing I do.
***
*Ryder*
We were there for hours. I was only able to get in touch with her twice, each time my heart full of fear and worry because of what could’ve been. But each time, she reassured me that she was fine and was just taking a tour of the mansion and the grounds, which pleased me more than words could say.
As much as I wanted to rush back to her, it was more important for me to deal with what I was doing here, even though most of it was over my head. No matter how hard it was, though, the fact that my name was used to invite young girls to their demise was something I couldn’t and didn’t take lightly.
I’d never been involved in anything like this, never even thought of it happening, and to know that it was going on right under my nose left me feeling bereft, like everything I’d known, all that I was, was nothing. It had all been brought down to this, and no amount of money or fame could ever wash away the taint.
The more they revealed about what they’d found, and it was a lot, the angrier and more despondent I felt. More than once, I was grateful for their help because I wouldn’t have known where to start if I had to do it on my own.