ELLA'S POVI was still reeling from Damien's shocking claims when Amelia spoke up firmly. "Ella, let's not listen to him. He's just a bitter, twisted ex trying to get a rise out of us."Susan nodded emphatically. "Amelia's right. He's just a sad, pathetic loser trying to get under our skin. You know Trent would never put himself in harm's way like that."I opened my mouth to respond, but froze as my phone began ringing shrilly from inside my bag. Frowning, I fished it out and felt my breath catch in my throat when I saw the name on the screen.Trent. Oh my god, it was Trent.I turned to level a look at Damien, cradling the phone against my rapidly beating heart. "Looks like you were lying after all." Damien scoffed. "Don't get too excited. It's probably just a butt dial or some pre-recorded message from beyond the grave."Rolling my eyes, I swiped to accept the call and raised the phone to my ear. "Trent? You're okay, right? Where are you now?There was silence on the other end, and
ELLA'S POVPressing my ear to the first door I came upon, I strained to make out any sounds from within. Nothing but silence. I crept to the next, and the next, becoming more disheartened with each setback.Until finally, a muffled shuffling noise reached my ears from behind the door marked 314. Could it be...? I pushed the door open a crack and peered inside. There, hooked up to a tangle of wires and tubes, laid the form of Trent.Oh my god...I pressed a hand to my mouth to stifle the gasp that tried to escape. So Damien was right after all - somehow, someway, Trent had staged himself in here. But why? What kind of game was he playing at?As quietly as I could manage, I slipped fully inside and crept up alongside the bedside. Trent's eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling almost with each forced breath. For one second, I thought the worst. What if I was too late?"Trent?" I rasped, reaching out with a trembling hand to shake his shoulder. "Trent, can you hear me?"Nothing,
TRENT'S POV"You know I shouldn't be doing this, since you were the one who actually had me fired..." Nurse Veronica said, not looking up from adjusting the IV line running into Lydia's arm.I chuckled, reclining back in the hard plastic chair. "Well, at least you aren't doing it for free. I'm paying you handsomely, right?"That got her attention. Veronica's eyes flicked up to meet mine. "It's not because of the pay, Mr. Donovan. Maybe I'm just trying to pay for my own sins here. To try and make amends for the unforgivable things I let happen under my watch.""You were stuck in an impossible situation, just trying to survive like the rest of us. That doesn't make you a bad person." We were tucked away in the backroom of her small private clinic, the soft mechanic whir of the ventilator the only sound apart from our muted voices. After I had her fired from Medicare, Veronica had clearly carved out this new underground venture for herself, renting the space and converting it into a di
TRENT’S POV“So what you're saying is you never really hit your brother, it was all your father and that..." Ella trailed off, her eyes wide as she processed the revelation.I let out a shaky breath, running a hand through my disheveled hair. "Yes, it was all my brain...subconsciously burying the truth to protect itself."We were standing outside Veronica's facility, the cool night air offering a comfort after the harrowing ordeal I had just endured. The ixepron drug seemed to have calmed in my system for now, but who knew how long that would last.Ella reached out, her fingers tracing the sharp line of my jaw. "I don't know why I'm actually feeling happy right now when I should be angry. But finally, you'll get some peace from not carrying around that false memory anymore."I caught her hand, pressing my lips to her knuckles as I searched her eyes. "I actually don't feel happy," I murmured against her skin.Ella's brow furrowed in confusion. "But Trent, this is a good thing, isn't it
TRENT'S POVLydia's words echoed in my mind, each one driving the truth home like a dagger to the heart. "...the man, he was there that day. He was with my husband, lurking around outside the car, watching him hit that poor man down the street."So it was true - my father hadn't simply been an accessory to whatever cover-up Mr. Stewart was involved in. No, he was the one pulling the strings from the very beginning.The memory of Lydia's pained expression as she struggled to recall more details as she said. "I'm sorry, but I really didn't get a view of the man he hit," she'd said, that same vacant look clouding her eyes once more.Of course she hadn't - because there was no random victim, no tragic vehicular accident at all. Just a cold-blooded assault staged by my father's own hand.I pushed through the front door of the house, But the sight that greeted me made my blood run cold.There was my father, pacing back and forth as he barked furiously into his phone. "What did you just say?
TRENT'S POV I sighed deeply as I collapsed into the leather chair behind Dad's desk, utterly deflated. For hours, I've been meticulously scouring every nook and cranny of this study, desperate to uncover some clue, some hint about the dark secret he was so hellbent on keeping buried.But my search had proved fruitless, yielding absolutely zilch. Typical, really. Of course the old bastard would be extra careful in concealing anything incriminating about his past misdeeds. He was nothing if not a calculated, diabolical son of a bitch.Raking a hand through my disheveled hair, I swiveled the chair to gaze out at the imposing shelves of books and files lining the walls. So much for my harebrained idea of somehow cracking this case wide open through some miracle discovery. Fat chance of that happening now.There has to be a better way of prying those ugly truths from Dad's tightlipped grasp.My mind drifted back to that fatefulday at the hospital, mulling over his ramblings about a food
ELLA'S POVI stared down at the flyer in my hands, the bold letters seeming to mockingly leap off the page:"RIVERSIDE ANNUAL TALENT SHOWCASE - DANCE COMPETITION!$5,000 GRAND PRIZE FOR THE BEST DANCER!"My gaze tracked lower to the rest of the details, and my brief thrill of hope quickly morphed into one of doubt."Dancers will be evaluated by professional instructors from renowned academies, including..."The list of highly prestigious dance schools went on and on. Just reading the names made my palms start sweating. This is a huge cash prize, sure...but also having to put myself out there and compete against all the town's most elite, experienced dancers? With a frustrated sigh, I tossed the flyer back down onto Ryan's coffee table, flopping onto the couch beside him. This was just a pipe dream, nothing more. As much as I'd grown to love dancing under Ryan's patient guidance these past few months, I was still just a beginner at best. A total amateur compared to the real talents o
TRENTS POVI watched Ella from my spot sprawled on the living room couch, unable to suppress an adoring smile as she sat cross-legged on the floor, brow furrowed in intense concentration over her textbook. Leave it to her to turn a lazy Sunday afternoon into an impromptu study session.As if sensing my eyes on her, she glanced up, strands of her chestnut hair falling across her face. Those big, soulful eyes of hers narrowed when she caught me staring instead of studying like I was supposed to be."You know, staring at the textbook doesn't actually constitute reading it," she teased.God, she looked so adorably smug in that moment. Heat crept up the back of my neck as I quickly pretended to straighten up, cracking open the calculus book she'd all but forced into my hands earlier."Easy for you to say, Mrs. I Breezed Through Calculus With Flying Colors," I shot back, snapping the textbook closed. "Some of us mere mortals actually have to put in effort to understand this mind-numbing non