Page 68 of Unmasked Legacy

“It’s a scary thought.”

She’s right. It is.

The door unlocking has both of our heads turning just in time to see Caleb walking down the stairs, followed by the same two guards. He is smiling, so pleased with himself, like he has already won. He hasn’t, but I’m going to let him think he has for a while longer. It’s his weakness, I’ve already figured that out.

“I see you two have gotten acquainted, wonderful.”

“Get to the point,” I mutter. “Nobody wants to hear you drag on for ten minutes.”

His eyes harden, but I don’t waver. I hold his gaze until he has no choice but to look toward Nia.

Yeah, Caleb has a big weakness, and I’m going to play on it.

“I suppose you are wanting to know my plan,” he crosses his arms.

“Not really,” Nia mutters beside me.

I press my lips together.

Caleb shoots her a glare.

“You might think you’re tough now, but that won’t last long. I’m going to make the both of you wish you ate your words. Spilling your hatred is only fueling my fire.”

God, he’s delusional.

“Are you going to tell us your wicked little plan?” I snap. “You’re already boring me.”

He bares his teeth in a threatening way. “You won’t be so mouthy in prison, girl.”

Prison?

“Oh, cat got your tongue?” he chuckles. “That’s right, I’m sending you to prison, right there beside your father. Nothing in this world would hurt him more than having his little angel locked up, and for the world to think she’s a killer.”

What is he talking about?

“I really wish it didn’t have to come to this, I quite like you, Nia, but you’re just a part of the bigger picture. You see, Mera here is going to prison for the rest of her life for your murder.”

Reality dawns on me.

This sick motherfucker is going to kill Nia and then frame me for it so I’ll go to prison. He’s right, it would kill my father to see me in prison. It kills him that I’m already living in his toxic shadow, let alone adding that to the mix. Killing me wouldn’t be enough, my father could grieve that and move on. No, sending me to prison is the ultimate revenge.

All my father ever wanted was for me to remain the innocent little girl he thought I was.

The one he so desperately tried to create.

“You’re an idiot if you think that will work,” I mutter. “Wolfe has proof, he will find a way to show it was you.”

Caleb grins. “Oh, about that. Wolfe won’t do shit, because he’ll be dead.”

I flinch.

“In fact, if my calculations and plan are correct, he already is.”

The thought that Wolfe might be dead hits me like a punch to the gut, leaving me breathless and reeling. It's as if the world hasshifted beneath my feet, and I'm left dangling on the edge. Wolfe and I haven’t always seen eye to eye, but my feelings for him run deep. The idea that he might be gone forever is a weight I can't bear, a loss that feels too immense to grasp.

My heart aches with a deep, hollow pain, and I fight with everything I have not to show to Caleb. I can never let him see how much his words hurt. I can never let him know just how much Wolfe means to me. Regret gnaws at me, a reminder of all the things I never said, the emotions I never fully expressed. I wish I had resolved the tension between us instead of leaving with so much unsaid.

Will I truly never see him again?

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