Page 106 of No Longer Mine

I shook my head. “I wasn’t trying to solve cold cases. I just wanted to solve you.”

The air charged between us as I laid it all out. I didn’t care that she’d killed them; in fact, I was relieved.

“Tell me how.” I didn’t know why it was important, but I needed to know. I needed to know who she was to help me understand who she became. Maybe then I could get her out from under my skin.

She’s stuck there. A voice whispered in the back of my mind.

“I came from nothing,” She scrunched her nose. “When my parents died, there was nothing for me. I was in the foster care system, bouncing around, thinking that my life was horrible. I didn’t know pain or horror until the day Mr. Vanewood set his sights on me. He was listening to another kid, Sam, play the violin at our foster home when his eyes seemed to zero in on me. My foster mother at the time said I had nothing to offer him in exchange for his guidance and hospitality. Sam on theother hand, had an entire fortune waiting for her for when she aged out—we didn’t even know it. That’s what Vanewood was after. He would find these talented, rich kids stuck in the system, then he would exploit them. When they turned eighteen, the bill would be their inheritance. Most of them didn’t even know they would be losing it.”

A cold, seething rage coiled in my chest. My fingers curled into fists against my thighs, nails biting into my palms. “And you?” My voice was low, dangerous. “If you weren’t sitting on a fortune, why did he take you?”

Scarlett let out a hollow laugh. “Because I looked the part,” she said bitterly. “Because I was just another pretty, lost little girl with no one to fight for her. He thought I was pliable. Thought I was desperate enough to do whatever it took to survive.” Her voice sharpened like a blade. “He was right.”

I stayed silent, letting her speak. Letting her give me this piece of herself that no one else had. I hoped it was letting her heal.

“He took me and Sam together,” she continued, her fingers gripping the blanket so tightly her knuckles turned white. “At first, it seemed like some golden opportunity. We were placed in this sprawling estate, given access to all these private tutors, all these lessons. We were supposed to be grateful.” Her lip curled. “But we weren’t students. We were investments. And he wanted a return.”

I forced my jaw to unclench. “And the son?”

Her nostrils flared. “Jameson was worse. He was cruel for sport. He wasn’t just taking what he wanted—he wanted to break us. Break me. I learned early on that fighting back only made it worse.” She blinked hard and then met my gaze. “That’s why Iplayed chess. That’s why I got good. It wasn’t about winning. It was about surviving. It was about taking back control for myself. Mr. Vanewood was thrilled. Not only was I a pretty face, but now I was also talented in something that he could make some money back off of me.”

I nodded, it made sense. “So what happened after that?”

“Oliver knew. He wanted to kill them but they were in charge of his estate. He had to be careful. One night after I was leaving Mr. Vanewood’s office, he was getting dressed, I looked over and there was a stash of jewelry in the top drawer. I knew where he kept the key. I’d seen it on many occasions. So I began taking little things here and there while he wasn’t watching. I thought chess was about taking my control back, but it was nothing like the freedom I got from stealing and giving back to the other kids. The other kids that he’d stolen from first.”

“He caught you.” I knew where this was going.

She closed her eyes as she spoke, and it took me a moment to realize she was crying. I wanted to reach forward and grab her into my arms. I wanted to take it all away. I wanted to yell for her to stop, but I needed to know. I needed to get the itch scratched, even if it was the worst thing about me. I could live with it once I knew. “Yes, he and his son cornered me. I knew it was going to happen. They weren’t calling for me or my body as often.”

My stomach turned at the words. I wanted to bring them back from the dead to hurt them. Kill them all over again.

“When they called me into his office, Mr. Vanewood ripped the drawer open.” Her eyes opened as she seemed to stare right through me. “He was furious. He wanted to know where everything had gone. I shrugged. He grabbed me, and before I knew it, I was stabbing him with the knife I used to stab the side of my bed after every time he touched me. Jameson tried to run, but I was faster. Mr. Vanewood was a blur, but I rememberJameson’s blood on my hands. The way it felt. His lifeless eyes staring at me.”

She swiped at her cheeks. I wanted to touch her. Wanted to tell her she’d done the right thing. That those men deserved everything they got, and worse. But I knew words weren’t enough. Not for this.

Her voice was hoarse when she continued. “Oliver found me. He got rid of the knife, cleaned me up, and made sure no one would ever trace it back to me. Then he hacked the computer system and began digging. He saw what Vanewood was doing. Everyone’s money was gone, besides the Vanewoods. He transferred it into an offshore account for himself and later gave it to me. Somehow the house became mine, I don’t know how or why. It was actually willed to me.” A humorless laugh slipped past her lips. “None of it mattered, though. We could have been as messy as we wanted to be. The police barely investigated. The whole place shut down, and everyone just… scattered. It didn’t take me long to realize Oliver and I were a great team. With his new fortune, he was invited to swanky parties and got to rub elbows with high profiles.” Her smile was slow and sad. “And I continued to use my pretty face to lure rich men to me so I could take everything from them. I was only sixteen. I was building a life for myself and also for the other orphans that everything was stolen from them.”

“And Sam?”

She shook her head. “She’d been missing for months at that point. Oliver couldn’t find anything about her or her massive estate in the system. Everything had been erased. I didn’t know what happened to her until I found your father’s notebook.”

There it was. I didn’t even need to ask. “What do you mean?”

“I was hired to go after your father, someone wants dirt on him. So,” she moved her hands between us. “That’s why all of this happened.”

She wouldn’t look me in the eye. “Are you upset?”

“I’m furious.”

She inhaled sharply and shook her head. I didn’t let her speak. I held my hand up. “I’m furious at the men who shaped you into this. Furious that you were forced to claw your way to survival in a world that wanted to chew you up and spit you out. Furious that my father—my own goddamn father—is tangled in this mess in ways I haven’t even begun to understand.”

Her shoulders dropped, and her green eyes searched mine. “You knew about your father?”

I blew out a breath. “My brother is the one who hired you. If I’d known, I would have never allowed it. I didn’t know what he was planning. I couldn’t have known you were tangled up in all of this. I thought you just liked to rob rich men blind but it seems you have skills far beyond my comprehension.”

Scarlett let out a sharp, humorless laugh, shaking her head. “You really think I just steal from rich men for fun?”

I lifted a brow. “Don’t you?”

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