Cruel Legacy (Cruel 3)

“Oh god,” I whispered.

“What?”

“This morning, Jane was talking about this. She was saying that Court had given her money to help keep the club open. That she’d sold my secret to Katherine for Percy money to make up for it because she was having trouble with her overseas banks.” I blinked. “She doesn’t have any money. They’re closing the club. Court’s involved.”

Penn’s eyes were stuck on mine. Then he took a step back. “And how long have you known this?”

“What?” I asked in confusion. “This morning? Well, I just put it all together right now.”

“And you expect me to believe that you didn’t call the police on Jane? That you didn’t think it would be payback to Jane for betraying you to Katherine?”

My eyes bugged out. “Are you joking? I would never do that!”

“Wouldn’t you? How do I know? Look what you did to Katherine and Lewis.”

“Penn, why would I admit to doing that to them and then lie about this?”

“I don’t know. Because you’re so far gone that you can’t see out the other side.”

My jaw dropped. “I was planning to talk to Jane after the party tonight to try to mend our friendship. I wasn’t going to call the police on her!”

He shook his head. “I don’t know about that, Nat. I just…don’t know what to believe.”

“Believe me, I don’t want to hurt Jane.”

“I want to believe you. But…with everything else…” He trailed off, letting me fill in what he was saying.

But I didn’t know how to change his mind. I didn’t know how to tell him how ludicrous this was. Jane had been party to what had ruined my life. She had put the gun in Katherine’s hand, but it was Katherine who had pulled the trigger. I was mad at Jane. I held grudges. That was for sure. It was part of who I was. But I didn’t want to see her get arrested. That was way too far for me.

“Penn, please,” I whispered.

“You’re just like her now,” Penn said sharply. “As bad as Katherine. We said that we’d stay ourselves. That I’d help you, but we’d still be ourselves. Now, I see how wrong I was.”

“I’m not,” I said with a gasp. “I’m not like her.”

“I have to figure out what’s going on with Court. I need to call my mother and head to the police station to sort this out,” he said in the cold, detached voice he used for everyone else.

“I’ll…I’ll come with you,” I whispered.

“I think you should…stay here. You have to clean up the party and fix the stuff with the charity. It’ll be better for you to stay.”

“But you shouldn’t deal with the stuff with Court alone,” I pleaded.

“Actually, I think alone is what I need right now.”

I stilled as he looked down into my pleading eyes. “What?”

“I just need some time to think about this.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “Some space.”

“Space…”

“Yes. Space. Like I should go to Paris alone tomorrow.”

My eyes doubled in size. “Penn…”

“We can figure this out when I get back.”

I stepped forward, tears welling in my eyes. My voice came out choked. “After your conference or…at the end of the summer?”

He looked at his brother, standing in handcuffs, and then back to me. “I haven’t decided.”

I opened my mouth to respond. To say anything. To fix this horrible, horrible mess that was a puddle at my feet. But there was nothing to say. Nothing that could change his mind as he stepped away from me and walked to his brother’s side. As he slipped out of the room to head to the police station.

And left me standing alone in the ruins of my party.

And the ruins of my life.

Chapter 37

Natalie

I’d stayed up late into the night, waiting to find out what had happened with Jane and Court.

I’d texted Penn, but his response had been brief.

Please don’t make this harder than it already is.

As if I could make it harder. It was torture. We were in limbo. Possibly ended. He was getting on a plane tomorrow to fly thousands of miles away from me, and I didn’t know where we stood or what would happen.

The sun had already risen the next morning when the charges hit the news. Jane was being charged with grand larceny. Her name wasn’t even Jane Devney. It was Janine Lehmann. She was a dual German-French citizen who had changed her name and stolen more money than god from banks all over the world. All with the force of her personality and her supposed contacts.

I’d been deceived by the ultimate deceiver. I couldn’t believe it. I’d witnessed it all. The large amounts of cash. The frantic desperation to get her club off the ground. How she knew basically everyone. The name-drops and excessive spending and the way she had come out of nowhere to belong.