Page 23 of Christmas Hearts

"Oh, you've slept with him. What a shame."

"Did you come all this way to harass me?"

"He's just going to use you and throw you out once he's done with you."

"How did you get those texts from my phone?"

"That's my little secret."

I feel foolish now that I've let this man into my house. I wish I could get something from him to use against him, but I'm not that wily.

"If you have nothing else to say, you can leave right now."

"Oh, but I have plenty to say. Break the engagement, or I will tell everyone your fiancé is a murderer."

I go pale and grab the arm of the chair for support.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can ask him about his late wife. What really happened. He killed her."

"Get out of my house right now."

I get up and open the front door. He just leers at me and gets up as slowly as he can. It seems like forever until he's out of my house, and I feel dirty for having let him anywhere near me. The first thing I do is call Justin and ask him to come over.

When Justin arrives, I jump into his arms and hug him tight.

"Hey, what's going on, gorgeous?"

"He was here."

"Who?"

"The Douchebag."

"What?! What did he want? Did he touch you? Are you okay?"

He pulls away from me and starts running his hands all over my body as if making sure I'm physically okay. I stop him and go into his arms once again. How do I tell him about this new threat?

"I shouldn't have let him come here. I made a mistake."

"What did he want? What did he say?"

"He started taunting me about our relationship—how you were going to use me and discard me. Then he threatened us. He said if I didn't break up the engagement with you, he would tell everyone you are a killer."

Justin tenses in my arms, and I try to look up at him. He's pale and has a weird look on his face.

"Why would he say such a thing?"

He pulls away from me and guides me to the couch. We sit next to each other, but he doesn't take my hand like he normally would. He just looks forward and puts his hands on his knees.

“He said—” I stutter. “He said you killed your late wife.”

Justin winces.

"Ellie lost a lot of blood during her labor. Then there were complications. They did everything they could to stabilize her. Only she was gone. A vegetable. It was horrible. I didn't know what to do. I was her only family. For a few weeks, I just let things stand as they were, but one night, I realized the truth. That she was no longer with me."

I look at his profile and see that tears are coming down from his eyes.

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