As I sat in the car and leaned back, ready to shut my eyes for a moment, my phone rang. It was the hospital.
“Halle, your mother jumped from the building!”
I rushed to the hospital in a panic, but I didn’t even get to see her one last time.
“What happened? Why would my mom suddenly kill herself?”
“Alexis, where's my mother's body?!”
At the mention of my mother, Alexis’s fingers froze on the rosary he was holding, and his expression turned grim.
“And you still have the nerve to ask?” he snapped. “Your mother stabbed Janice today! If she hadn’t dodged in time, she might be dead right now!”
“She didn’t even wait for me to hold her accountable. She just threw herself off the building.”
“My mom would never hurt someone without reason. Janice must’ve said or done something to push her over the edge!”
I tried to leave to confront Janice, but Alexis ordered his men to detain me and drag me back to the Stanley estate.
“She’s recovering. You’re not allowed to go near her.”
They locked me in a freezing basement, and the wound on my stomach started bleeding again. The pain also returned, sharp and deep.
Late at night, Janice came to see me. She stood there, smug, smiling.