Someone Else's Shadow

Will’s breathing grows deeper as it’s clear Cayden has touched a nerve.

“I would feel sorry for you, but in reality, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. When Lacey and I were kids, you had the opportunity to change your life, regardless of what happened in your past. But you didn’t. You chose to dwell on someone breaking your heart.” He scoffs, grinning. “And that shows how weak you really are. It takes a man to face his problems. But you’ve proven time and time again, you’re a coward.”

“Coward?” Will repeats angrily. “Let’s see who’s a coward.”

When he removes the gun from my temple and instead points it at Cayden, I understand why Cayden has baited him this way. He would rather be killed than watch me suffer. And this confirms what I always knew deep down—Will said all those things to mess with my head. To have me doubt Cayden because if Benny did what Will had asked him to, then I never would have known the truth. Cayden would be dead, and I would be left to believe he lied to me and never cared.

“Go on then,” Cayden goads, stopping a few feet away. “Take your best shot. I should have made sure you were dead when I threw you in the lake, you worthless piece of shit.”

“No!” I cry, attempting to wiggle free. Cayden may be comfortable calling Will’s bluff, but I’m not. “Let me go!”

My struggles are futile because Will’s hold on me is firm, but if he wants to take Cayden up on his offer, then he will have to loosen his hold because he can’t have both—he either lets me go or he shoots Cayden. Cayden won’t make it easy for him, and Will knows he will have to use both hands to take his son down.

Frantically, I search the room for something, anything that’ll help us, but when I lock eyes with Stella, I know she is our savior. “I remember the first time we met. You were wearing that Pepsi T-shirt you loved so much.”

Something in the air shifts.

“I knew you were trouble, but I didn’t care. I was spellbound by you.”

Cayden turns over his shoulder slowly, mouth parted as he watches Stella advance unhurriedly.

“You remember the Pepsi T-shirt?” Will asks, his tone heavy with surprise.

She nods, smiling timidly, but I know there is nothing bashful about Stella Lane. She nods subtly at me, and if one were to blink, they’d miss it. But I’ve seen it. It’s her cue to tell me that shit is about to get real.

“Of course. How can I forget? You were thirteen going on thirty. You were such a bad boy. Didn’t care for rules. You did what you wanted. I admired that.”

Will’s exhalations are deep, as he no doubt is attempting to work out what Stella is playing at because playing him, she is. She runs her fingers over her pearls, drawing attention to her plunging neckline, thanks to the three buttons she popped open on her silk shirt when no one was looking.

“If you admired that, then why did you deny what we had?” he asks, his grip slackening. “You let those assholes steal from me! You stood by as they beat me up and stole my shit.”

As Will is reliving their history, Cayden meets my eyes, and without words, he’s telling me to bide my time. When Will is fully under Stella’s spell, I’m to fight and break free. But not a second sooner.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I was scared,” Stella says in a docile voice, one I’ve never heard before. “I never meant to hurt you. If I could take it back, I would. But now is the time that I can. You have always wanted me. So come get me.”

“This is a trick,” Will says, but his uncertainty is clear.

Stella shakes her head. “No, it’s not. I want you, William. You want me to tell Augusto about us? I’ll call him. Right now. I will tell him everything. You will never be forgotten ever again.”

The room is on tenterhooks as we wait for Will to make his move. Will he see through her? Or will he fall for her lies? Stella stands unwavering, using the only thing which will get us out of this—herself.

Just when I think it’s useless, something remarkable happens—Will lets me go.

I instantly sag forward, tempted to push Cayden and me to safety. But I don’t. I don’t want to spook Will as he’s still holding a gun. So I shift to the left, out of reach as I watch from the sidelines.

“You want me?” Will asks, eyes wide as he seems to be under Stella’s spell.

“Yes. I do. I’m sorry for everything. Please forgive me.”

I am just as transfixed as Will because I can’t believe this is happening. Stella is dancing with the devil, but it seems she would happily do so if it meant I was saved.

This can’t be the way our story ends. I refuse to accept it. But as Will walks toward Stella, I don’t know how she’ll get out of this unscathed. Cayden’s gun is gripped tight in his hand, but he isn’t anything like his dad. He can’t shoot him in cold blood.

“Call him.” Will digs into his back pocket and produces his cell. “Tell him you’re leaving him for me.” Stella accepts the phone and dials a number without a pause.

A nervous energy is thrumming through me as I watch Stella make the call. “Hello, Augusto. I’m leaving you. I don’t love you. I never did. I love William Coachman. I always have.” She keeps a straight face, listening to what my father says.

Will watches on, grinning in victory. He’s delusional, however, if he thinks she means a word of it.

“I’ll be waiting at the lake house. Call me when you’re gone.”

She hangs up, unruffled that she just broke up with her husband over the phone. Even though Augusto is nothing but a mere stranger to me, I can’t help but feel bad for him.

Stella hands Will his phone, unwavering. “He’ll be gone in a few hours. We can go back to my house then.”

Will tips his chin upward and inhales in triumph. Stella quickly risks a glance my way, nodding that it’ll be all right. I don’t know how.

“The call is yours, Will.”

She could suggest he let Cayden and me go, but that would arouse suspicion. Stella is one smart cookie. She allows him to think the ball is in his court.

“Yes, Star, it is.” He finally lets on to what he is thinking as he saunters over and grips the lapels of her shirt. As he draws her into him, it’s clear she is trying to fight the need to recoil. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment.”

Before she has a chance to speak, he brutally slams his lips to hers, kissing her roughly because there is no love. This is about possession. About winning. And it’s clear he’s won when he breaks the kiss and levels her with a sinister stare.

“But you’re not that good of an actress. Just to think I once called you Star because you were the only light in my darkness. Now, I see it would have been better to remain in the dark.”

I don’t understand what he means until he presses the redial button and the voice of Michael Robb can be heard—Stella’s attorney. It seems the call is literally his to make. “Stella, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve called the police. They’re on the way.”

Will isn’t stupid. Although he wanted to believe Stella, it’s too late. He doesn’t want her to repent. He just wants revenge, and he won’t settle for anything less.

He hangs up the phone, jaw clenched as he glares at Stella. “Things could have been so different for us. But you’ll never change. You’ll always be the spoiled rich girl who broke my heart.”

Stella pales. Her ruse is up. “William, please, just let my daughter go.”

But that was never an option. And Cayden knows it too. He storms forward, gun raised, shoving Stella to safety. This is going to end how it was always destined to—in bloodshed. “You will never hurt her again!”

Everything happens in the blink of an eye.

One minute, I’m standing on the sidelines, and the next, the room explodes into pandemonium. Cayden roars, but that is nothing compared to the deafening boom when Will fires his gun. The scream that erupts from me is unlike anything I’ve heard before, and on instinct, I rush forward, desperate to save Cayden. But the move is one I will regret for the rest of my life.

“No!” The pained cry echoes and rattles my core.

Bang.