Caroline POV:
The car moved through the glittering, indifferent streets of Los Angeles. Each traffic light, each palm tree, was a landmark in a city that no longer felt like home. I gave the driver the address to a luxury apartment building in West Hollywood, a place I knew as well as my own.
A few minutes later, the car pulled up to the curb. I got out, retrieved my single suitcase, and walked into the marble-floored lobby. The doorman nodded at me with a familiar smile.
Upstairs, I stood before Hailee's door, my finger hovering over the doorbell. For the first time since leaving the house, a wave of exhaustion and vulnerability washed over me. I just needed a safe place to land. I just needed my best friend.
I pressed the button.
The door was thrown open almost immediately. Hailee stood there, wrapped in a pink silk robe, her blonde hair piled messily on her head. Her eyes widened in theatrical shock.
"Cara! Oh my god, what happened?" She pulled me into a tight, suffocating hug that smelled of expensive lotion.
She ushered me inside, taking my suitcase and rolling it into the living room. Her apartment was immaculate, all white furniture and gold accents. "Sit, sit," she insisted, pushing me gently onto a plush velvet sofa. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
As she bustled around making tea, I told her everything. The story spilled out of me-Colten's coldness, Meredith's cruelty, the other woman's perfume, the divorce papers, the demand for a fake, public breakup.
Hailee listened, her face a perfect mask of horrified sympathy. When I finished, she slammed her hand down on the coffee table.
"That absolute bastard!" she seethed, her eyes blazing with what looked like righteous fury. "That manipulative, cheating, soulless piece of trash! After everything you've done for him! I could kill him!"
Her anger was a balm. It validated my own. I felt a sliver of the tension in my shoulders release. See? I wasn't alone.
But then I told her about my next step. "I've already contacted a lawyer in New York," I said, taking a sip of the hot tea. "I'm going to fight him for everything he's hidden from me."
Hailee's furious movements stilled. Just for a second. A flicker of something unreadable passed through her eyes before it was replaced by a look of deep concern.
She sat down next to me, taking my hand in hers. Her grip was a little too tight. "Cara, honey, are you sure that's a good idea?" she said, her voice soft and reasonable. "The Alvarezes... they're powerful. A big, messy court battle... it will be exhausting. The press will tear you apart. Are you sure you want to go through that?"
Her words were logical. They were sensible. But they felt wrong.
"He can't just get away with it, Hailee," I said, a new chill seeping into my bones.
"I know, I know," she soothed. "But maybe... maybe it's better to just take the settlement he's offering. Take the money, start fresh, and leave all this ugliness behind you. It's not worth the fight."
I pulled my hand away gently. Something about her eagerness for me to surrender felt off. It was more than just a friend's concern for my well-being.
Sensing my withdrawal, she quickly changed the subject. "Look, don't worry about any of that right now. You're safe here. And guess what? I have some news that might cheer you up." She leaned in, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I've been spending time with some people... some very important people. From the Lawson Pack. On the East Coast."
She flashed a brand-new Cartier bracelet on her wrist. "Things are about to change for me, Cara. I'm about to enter a whole new league."
I didn't care about her social climbing. Not now. A headache was beginning to pound behind my eyes. "Hailee, I'm just... I'm really tired. Can I just lie down for a bit?"
"Of course, of course," she said, her enthusiasm instantly replaced with solicitous concern. She showed me to her guest room, a pristine white space that felt as sterile as a hotel. "You get some rest. And please," she added, pausing at the door, "promise me you won't do anything rash. Don't call that lawyer back just yet. Let's talk it through in the morning."
I nodded, just to make her leave. The door clicked shut, and I collapsed onto the bed, the unfamiliar sheets cool against my skin. Sleep felt a million miles away. My mind kept replaying her words, her strange insistence that I back down. It felt less like advice and more like a warning.
My phone, which I'd left on the nightstand, began to vibrate violently. Colten's name flashed on the screen. I stabbed the decline button and immediately blocked his number.
A second later, a barrage of text messages began. It was Meredith. You will regret this. We will ruin you. If you don't cooperate, every dirty secret you have will be on the front page of every tabloid.
I stared at the screen, my blood running cold. I took screenshots of every single message. Evidence. Then I turned the phone off completely and tossed it onto the bed.
In the silence of the apartment, a faint sound reached me. Hailee's voice, low and muffled. She was on the phone. My werewolf hearing, a trait I usually ignored, sharpened the sound, pulling words from the murmur.
"...yes, she's here with me... No, she hasn't signed anything yet... Don't worry, I'll talk her around..."
The air in my lungs turned to ice. My entire body went rigid. There was only one person she could be talking to.
Slowly, silently, I slid off the bed. I crept to the door, my heart pounding a slow, heavy drum of dread against my ribs. I pressed my ear to the wood, then dared to peek through the tiny crack between the door and the frame.
Hailee was on her balcony, her back to me. Her posture wasn't that of a concerned friend. It was intimate, relaxed. She laughed softly, a flirtatious, cooing sound that made my stomach clench. She was talking to him. To Colten.
My best friend. My sister. She was in on it.
I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood. The urge to storm out there, to scream, to rip the phone from her hand, was overwhelming. But I crushed it. I was in her apartment. I was vulnerable. A public confrontation would solve nothing.
I backed away from the door, my movements stiff and robotic. I had escaped one viper's nest only to walk directly into another. The crushing weight of this second betrayal was almost too much to bear. There was no one. No one I could trust.
Except... maybe one person.
I grabbed my phone and turned it back on, my fingers fumbling with the buttons. I ignored the new flood of messages from unknown numbers. I went to my contacts and found her name.
Janae.
My fingers flew across the screen, typing out a single, desperate message.
I'm in trouble. I need you.
I hit send. The reply came back almost instantly.
Location. I'm on my way.
Relief, sharp and painful, lanced through me. I sent her my current location. Then, with a new, cold clarity, I walked over to my suitcase, which Hailee had so thoughtfully left in the corner of the room.
I sat on the edge of the bed in the darkness, my suitcase at my feet, and waited. The girl who had arrived here an hour ago seeking comfort was gone. In her place was someone I didn't recognize. Someone with eyes as hard and cold as stone.
