Four:
I turned my head with a flicker of regret and saw that it was Kitty Delaney.
Thomas lit up with excitement and got straight to his feet, crossing over to stand in front of her, tears and snot streaming down mixed with the blood from his forehead.
"Kitty, thank God you're here."
"This bitch nearly got me killed. Hurry, go get a doctor, tell the doctor to—"
But before Thomas could finish,
Kitty reached out, her hand passing right through him, and slapped me across the face.
"Serena Bellamy, aren't you clever."
"You think if this fool Thomas dies, you get to seize all his money and throw me out? Dream on!"
"The first time I ever met you, I told you—I came to destroy this family, not to join it. Or did you forget that?"
Of course I hadn't forgotten.
But Thomas didn't know any of this. He'd never imagined that what I'd said before was true, that the sweet, gentle, adorable Kitty he carried in his heart could wear this face in front of me.
I saw how wounded he looked, and I couldn't hold back a smile.
"See now how formidable your little sweetheart is?"
"See now whether the person you love is a human or a ghost?"
Kitty followed my gaze, but she saw nothing.
"Serena, who are you talking to?"
I explained the situation, but Kitty simply took me for someone out of her mind.
Naturally I didn't waste any more words on her. I reached out again, meaning to pull Thomas's oxygen tube loose.
But Kitty wouldn't allow it. She grabbed my hand and started screaming for help, and the instant the door opened she slapped herself across the face, crumpled to the floor, and burst into tears.
"Serena, whatever's wrong, it's all my fault."
"If you've got a grudge, take it out on me. Please, spare Thomas. Please don't kill him."
Five:
The whole routine flowed without a hitch, and both Thomas and I had seen it many times.
Only, all this time Thomas had truly believed it was me who'd done it. It was only now that it dawned on him—maybe, in all those past incidents, I really had been innocent.
"How can this be?"
"Just now, just now she clearly did it herself."
I gave the smile of someone long used to it.
"Kitty, what are you performing?"
"The person who trusts you most is lying on that hospital bed. What's the point of putting on this show for anyone else?"
Kitty looked a little awkward too.
I supposed it had all become muscle memory by now, and she'd forgotten what the situation actually was.
Still, Kitty didn't get up. She crawled on her knees to the doctor who had come in through the door.
"Doctor, please, please, hurry and call the police."
"I saw a murder announcement Serena posted on her social media, and I'm Thomas's best friend, so I rushed straight over."
"The moment I came in, this woman pulled out the oxygen tube, trying to kill him—"
However disappointed Thomas was in Kitty,
what he wanted more was to live.
So once again he took her side.
"Serena, you're finished. When you're in prison, I'll come visit you often."
I paid Thomas no attention and only looked at the doctor, who took one glance and understood exactly what this was.
So he explained patiently.
"Miss, Ms. Serena Bellamy is Mr. Thomas Maxwell's lawful partner."
"After the accident she was the first to reach the hospital, and she signed to withdraw treatment. Everything she has done is a right granted to her under marriage law—reasonable, lawful, and fully in order. It is not the murder you're describing."
"If you are only Mr. Maxwell's friend, then this is not something you can interfere in."
Thomas and Kitty both panicked at once, but the next second, the door opened again.
"Kitty can't interfere, but I can!"
