Page 68 of Die For Me

I nodded.

“I was supposed to approach you at the Bowery next week, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Especially since you just showed up here,” she explained as her eyes began to fill with tears.

“You were going to the show?” I asked, confused.

She nodded, fidgeting with her ring again. I now realized it was exactly the same as the one Michael had given me.

“Jack asked me to approach you there,” she explained.

So Jack spoke to her too?

“Why did he want you to approach me?” I interrogated, almost angry at Jack now.Why the fuck would he want me to see Jackie?

She looked down at the floor and tugged on her sleeve. “Like I said, I need to tell you something about Michael.”

Please don’t. Please don’t tell me. It can’t be true.

My knees buckled and my heart broke as she lifted her sleeves then her shirt. And at that moment, I knew I had fallen out of love with Michael.

Michael

I paced around the living room as I waited for Jack and Hana to come. I hadn’t heard from either of them for over an hour, and neither was answering their phone. Something was going on. What did Jack do? Had he taken her away from me once again? I tried looking at Hana’s location, but the app showed that her location was unavailable. I couldn’t sit around and wait any longer—I dialed Billie, the last person she was with.

“Hey, Michael?” she answered after a few rings, confusion clear in her voice.

“Hey yeah, hi, Billie. I know Hana stayed with you last night. Do you have any idea where she is now?” I tried not to sound panicked.

She sighed. “No, I don’t. My roommate said she left late this morning. Don’t you think she would have let you know where she was if she wanted you to know?” Her tone was full of disdain and judgment.

“I’m not sure if you have forgotten or not, but Jack has a tendency to take Hana whenever he pleases,” I spit out.

There was silence on the other end for a moment.

“Sorry, Michael. I don’t know where she is,” she finally replied.

I ran my hand through my hair. “Does your roommate have any idea where she went?”

There was a knock at the door. I held my phone to my ear as I looked through the peephole and waited for Billie to respond. I started seething with anger when I realized who was on the other side of the door.

“No. I gotta go, Michael,” Billie responded and hung up.

I quickly pocketed my phone and opened the door.

“What are you doing here?”

She seemed genuinely shocked that I was speaking to her this way; her eyes widened as she started to frown. She tried to mask it with bravery, but she was failing miserably.

“She’s not coming back. All you have left is me. She knows who you really are.”

I stared at her.What did she do?

“What the fuck do you mean, Jackie?” I spit out, my hands automatically forming into fists.

She scoffed. “What do Imean? Do you not remember these?” She lifted her sleeves, exposing her scars. “Do you not remember forcing me to be your slave? Bribing me to stay? Fucking mutilating me?” She was shaking now.

“You told Hana all of this?” My mind was blank; all I could think of was killing this fucking traitor.

Jackie nodded. “She was terrified, Michael—”

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