Page 114 of Ruthless Regret

“I’m sorry.” Ashley’s voice, thick with tears. “I have to keep pressure on it.”

I can feel her trembling. She’s scared, and it’s because of me.

I hate it.I hate knowing that I couldn’t protect her, that she’s still in danger because of me.

There’s a muffled sob, and something inside me breaks at the sound. I want to tell her it’s okay, that she’s doing the right thing, but the words are locked inside me, just like everything else. I can’t move. I can barely breathe.

The darkness claims me again, and this time I fight it, desperate to stay conscious, to protect her. But I'm too weak, and it pulls me under, a black tide that won't let go.

"... watched them for weeks ..." Marcus's voice filters through when I surface again. "Learning their routines. Then that morning, he saw her at the doctor's."

"And discovered she was pregnant," another voice speaks.

Wait, was that Rook? How is Rook here?

The thought slips away before I can grasp it, lost in the fog of pain and blood loss. I can barely make sense of where I am, or what happened. Everything is fading, a dark tunnel closing in, and all I can do is hope I get to see Ashley one last time before I?—

"Changed everything. Made him snap." Another wet chuckle that makes my skin crawl. "Wasn't part of the original plan. Neither was getting rid of the knife. Had to drive three towns over to dispose of it where no one would think to look."

It’s impossible to miss the satisfaction in Marcus's tone, the sick pleasure he’s taking in this.

My mind screams questions, but my body refuses to cooperate. I’m trapped, a prisoner in my own failing body, and all I can do is listen as they unravel the truth.

"Tell us about the argument," Bishop's voice surprises me. "The day before the murders."

"He wanted her to leave with him. Thought if he could get her away from Jason, she'd be his."

"But she refused," Rook prompts, his voice tight, controlled.

"Told him she loved her boyfriend." Another laugh, this one colder, more detached. "The hit was only supposed to be Jason. But Louisa ... she got in the way. Wrong place, wrong time."

My mind screams again, but the darkness drags me down before I can voice any of the questions clawing at me.

When consciousness returns, it's to fingers combing through my hair. Ashley’s voice is soft, almost a whisper, like she’s afraid to speak too loudly, but she’s not speaking to me.

"The bleeding's slowing. But he's so pale. There's so much blood."

"Keep him still," Bishop replies.

I drift, fighting to stay present, to hear more. To understand. But everything feels so far away, like I'm hearing it through water.

"... would have been perfect," Marcus's voice cuts through next time. "The ex-con getting revenge on the woman who put him away."

Perfect? What would be perfect?

My thoughts are scattered, disconnected, but then a moment of clarity forms, the realization sharp and clear.

They were going to kill Ashley and frame me for it. They wanted it to look like I did it, like I was the monster everyone already thought I was.

"No one would have questioned it," Marcus continues, voice smug.

"Your employer thought of everything," Rook says.

"Almost everything.” Bishop adds, voice dry. “Everything except us being here."

How did they know to come?

The question burns through the fog in my brain, but darkness claims me before I can voice it, before I can make sense of any of it.

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