And Derek had been determined to make sure I suffered. “Because I didn’t want to take the fall for you?” He’d been willing to send Justin and Lyla to a hell he knew everything about just to make sure I hurt. The wave of rage that crested and roared through me took my breath away.

“You left. I was ready to give you the world when you got out, and you blew me off. Then your bitch of a sister came sniffing around—”

I froze, every muscle in my body tensing. “What?”

Derek smiled, but it was devoid of warmth. In fact, everything about him was empty. He lacked the ability to truly feel where another might be coming from. “I wondered for a while if she’d told you what she was up to. So, I dragged my ass to the middle of nowhere to watch. I stayed out of sight for a good while, just to see what you were doing.”

“The texts.”

He held up his phone, dancing it back and forth between his fingers. “It was fun to take a stroll down memory lane. I probably should’ve left when I realized you didn’t know shit about what Chels was up to.”

“What did she do?” My question came out in a whisper, each word a struggle to get past my lips.

Derek chuckled. “Can you believe she thought she could con me? Either that or get me to grow a conscience. She hired a freaking P.I. to track me down. Flew to L.A. to try to talk to me.”

“About what?” I asked, but I already knew the answer.

“That bitch thought she could get your sentence overturned. Said she wanted to do it to make up for not sticking by you years ago.”

I felt dizzy, as if the air wasn’t fully reaching my lungs. “What did you do?”

That ugly grin was back. “Told her I had to think about it. And that I couldn’t talk there. Got her to meet me in Vegas a week later.”

The world dropped out from under me. My entire body felt weightless and fuzzy at the same time. As if I no longer truly existed. “You killed her.”

“I got a charge out of turning her into what everyone thought you were. I knew that’d get your parents going, too. God, it was fun to watch all of that play out. Help in all of the little ways I could. Didn’t hurt that I got paid for the trouble, either.”

Tears burned the backs of my eyes as I stared straight ahead. Chelsea. Having her back in my life was enough. It didn’t matter that other people might think the worst of me, as long as the people I loved knew the truth.