Page 64 of Wicked Little Secret

Her stepmother laughed too when she stabbed my mother in the back.

It was hilarious to Holly Driscoll how she ruined my mother’s life.

“Heather, I don’t know what else to tell you,” I say, stroking Peaches to more purrs. “You betrayed me. Both of you. It’s going to take me time. If I can ever forgive you.”

She shudders out a disappointed breath, then reluctantly nods. Wiping at her eyes and running mascara, she says, “I don’t normally do this, Nyssie. Like, ever. But I… I might need your help.”

“Oh? With what?” I ask.

But I already know.

More petty joy courses through me waiting to hear the words.

“There’s some complications with my father’s will,” she says, looking on the verge of tears all over again. “My hag of a stepmother screwed me over dying. Her team of lawyers won’t represent me now that she’s gone. They’re insisting I get my own. Now the rest of the family’s contesting my father’s will. They want everything he had! But what about me? I was his daughter! I might wind up with nothing, Nyssie. I was wondering if…”

“Yes?”

“You’re so good at these things. You’re already top of our class. A-and you said you come from a family of lawyers.”

Silence stretches on between us. Moments of agony for Heather. Moments of glee for me.

I sit calmly stroking Peaches, pretending like I’m conflicted. “I’ll think about it.”

“Oh, Nyssie. You really are the best. I’d owe you everything.”

Heather’s still blubbering when she finally leaves. I make sure to shut and lock the door after her.

It feels like an immediate load off.

I hadn’t expected to deal with SamsonandHeather in the same day. I definitely hadn’t meant to skip classes.

A slow breath rolls out of me as I run my hand over my curls and then wander over to the stack of newspapers I’ve collected from the library archives. Each copy from twenty years ago when I was just a toddler but Castlebury was deep in Valentine hysteria. Even sifting through the first few on top of the pile, I’m met with jarring headlines like:

Tragedy Strikes: August Rothenberg Sr., Beloved Dean of Castlebury University, Found Dead

Interview with Amelia Vise, Widow of Valentine Victim Anton Vise: How She and their 3-year-old Daughter Rosalyn will Seek Justice

Another Student Dead: Eric Fochte, 23, the Latest Victim of Valentine. Will the Police Finally Catch the Killer?

But none about my father, Edward Oliver, who Mom has always claimed was killed by Valentine at the peak of his murder spree. I haven’t been able to find him in the student records at all, except for an Edward Oliver that was blond, blue-eyed, and had a smattering of freckles. A guy Idoubtwas the Edward she’s speaking about.

There’s still so much left to uncover. So much for me to do in order to make up for what happened in the past.

Samson’s been dealt with. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll drop the situation.

Heather’s on the hook. She’s as desperate and remorseful as I hoped she’d be.

I smile to myself, then glance over to the stack of law books on my spindly-legged coffee table. My mind immediately goes to Professor Adler.

He’s the last current situation to deal with.

Yesterday was a cop out.

I sat in his class and did my damnedest to wear a poker face. I used all my energy just to pretend like I wasn’t thinking about Halloween night and how it made me feel.

The moment was so complex, I didn’t know where to begin.

I still don’t…

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