Page 1 of Burning Your Lies

PART ONE:

The Dealer

1

Savannah

I am going todie. He is going to kill me.

I try not to think it, but the longer I stare down at the evil in his eyes the harder it is to ignore. I hold my head up high, no matter how much I want to fall to the floor and sob. “What are you going to do to me, Xavier? We both know you’re not letting me walk out of here.”

When he speaks, it’s with confidence. “Yes, I am. We had a deal, remember?”

I watch, frozen, as he gracefully stands up and makes his way back to his side of the table. The reassured smile on his face makes my stomach churn. Fear has the hairs on my skin spiking up.

His marbled eyes fixate on my terrified ones. “Are you going to tell me where my daughter is?”

My heart pounds in my chest, trying to make sense of something I can’t understand. Xavier heard my conversation with Huxley because he bugged Elise’s pushchair. Xavier saw me pack my bags through the cameras. Xavier agreed to my terms,even though he knows where his daughter is.So, why is he sat there so calmly, playing along?

“Why are we playing this game? You’ve known where she is this whole time.”

Amusement dances on his features as he makes a move on the chessboard. “If I move this piece, what happens?”

I don’t look at the chessboard. “What are you waiting for?”

His laugh crawls over my skin before wrapping around my neck and choking me. “It doesn’t matter which move you make, youlose. I’ve got you cornered.”

The only sound over my heavy breathing is the clock. Knowing I need to get out of here, I stand up. “You’re buying time.”

His eyebrows furrow. “What was it you said to Ray?” He doesn’t let me answer. “We are not God. We cannot decide who lives or dies. We are notmercenariesof death.”

No matter how fast I blink, the tears brim in my eyes. I was a fool to walk into his trap. Despite what he says, I’m not walking out of here alive.And then what happens to my mum and Elise?I stare at the clock once again, trying to figure out what he’s waiting for. “What are you going to do to me?”

It’s as if he never heard me. “Idecide who lives and dies. I am the game maker. You were right. I amnotGod. I am much larger than a deity who does not exist. I amhere, on Earth, where the world can see me. I’ve chosen toprotectlives with these hands. These hands have also taken lives. I am Xavier Rivers, and tonight, I will create your fate.”

My sob is caught in my throat when a faint headlight appears at the end of the driveway.Huxley.Hope jumps into my heart but quickly fades when I see the look of victory in him. “Who is that?”

Xavier stands and takes a predatory step towards me. The mocking grin on his face makes my tears burn. “You made it soeasyfor me, Savannah.Youinspired my final move. All thosedays and nights, sitting up alone in the room. You became a recluse. You stopped eating and sleeping. You had a mental breakdown after giving birth. You threw crazy accusations of murder. You reduced your digital footprint because you were convinced somebody was following you. You asked Ray to strip naked because you thought someone bugged your clothes. You asked Mia to keep a baby hostage.”

I step away from him, needing the space to think and breathe. My voice comes out with more conviction than I’m feeling. “I’m not crazy.”

The life drains out his face and I’m looking at an empty shell. “But you made it so easy for me to convince everyone else you were. I simply watered the seedsyouplanted.”

“A medical professional will see through it.” I don’t know if I’m trying to convince him or myself.

“Not when the people who love you will testify to your erratic behaviour. It’s in your genes. A traumatic experience can trigger symptoms, and you’ve had your fair share of trauma.”

“Because of you!”

The mocking sympathy almost looks believable. “You need help, Savannah. You’re not well.”

My lips curl into a snarl. “You’re the one that needs help! I’m going to tell them everything!”

“Go ahead. They won’t find anything. Every secret you discovered, I buried even deeper.”

“I’ll dig it up myself! I’ll bury you in the truth.”

“You lost, Savannah. You can either tell them and prove how crazy you are with your conspiracies of a CEO committing murder and stalking you, or you can stay silent and spend the rest of your life in a care home for the crazy.” He’s right; it doesn’t matter I do, I’ll just be the crazy woman who got her mother’s genes.

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