Chapter 4See You Later

Jenna and I shared a striking resemblance.

My best friend suspected Liam was indulging in some kind of replacement fantasy.

I’d laughed so hard it hurt.

Who would threaten the original for the sake of a replacement?

There was a time when a simple paper cut on my finger would have Liam fussing over me for ages.

Now, for Jenna, he held a blade to my throat.

I closed my eyes, my heart turning to ash.

Through the phone’s screen, my brother watched, a cold sneer on his lips.

“Oh,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

“Then kill her.”

His complete indifference was nothing like that of a brother.

I froze, the wound in my soul gaping wide. I stared at Caleb, my eyes wide with disbelief.

He was my brother. My own brother.

Tears finally escaped, trailing down my cheeks.

On the other end of the line, Caleb’s gaze met mine, and his brow furrowed. A flicker of pain crossed his handsome face.

For a heartbeat, I thought he might change his mind.

But in the next second, he looked away.

“Regardless, Liam,” he said, his voice flat, “I’m not giving Jenna back to you.”

That was it. He had taken Jenna, and he had no intention of returning her.

“You’re a real bastard, Liam,” Caleb continued, his voice sharp with accusation. “You’re about to marry my sister, yet you’re still trying to keep Jenna locked away. What do you think she is to you?”

Every word was about Jenna, not Caroline. Not me.

My heart plummeted into an abyss.

I remembered when we were children.

Mom was still alive then.

She’d asked Caleb gently, “Will you protect your sister when you grow up?”

“Of course, I will!” he had promised, full of boyhood bravado.

“What if a bad guy tries to hurt her?” she’d asked.

“I’ll hide her,” he’d declared without hesitation, “and I’ll go fight the bad guy.”

The memory was a cruel joke now.

My hands fell limply to my sides. The mental illness I’d fought for so long, the one I thought I had under control, suddenly erupted.

A voice whispered from the depths of my mind.

No one loves you.

Your brother doesn’t love you.

Your fiancé doesn’t love you.

Just die.

Death will end the pain.

Go see your mother…

“...Okay.”