Page 152 of Forever To Me

I shove open the front door, only to see Maggie standing on the cabin’s porch, her arms crossed, eyes sharp as she glares at the people with cameras standing beyond my fence.

Damn it, she must have driven back here. “Where’s Mack?” I ask her, needing to know that she’s safe. But the one person I can’t bring myself to ask about is Violet.

“She’s getting ready for school, you lunatic. Now get yourself together and come deal with all of this.”

I swear and grab my stuff and follow her out, ignoring the chaos.

This was supposed to be my sanctuary. The one place I built from the ground up where no one could touch me, where no one could touch Mack. And now? Now the vultures are circling.

“How the hell did they get here so fast?” I grind out.

Maggie exhales, shaking her head. “When I got up this morning,thismess was already happening.” She jerks her chin toward the chaos. “Yourex-wifewasted no time, did she?”

My teeth grind together. “She just couldn’t help herself.”

Maggie sighs, stepping closer. “Walker, listen to me?—”

“No.” My voice is sharp, cutting. “Youknowwho did this, Maggie. Youknowhow she operates.”

Maggie studies me for a long moment, then says something that makes my stomach churn. “You know who wouldn’t do this?"

My fists tighten. “Maggie,” I warn.

But she doesn’t back down. “She’s my niece,” she reminds me, voice steady. “And you know damn well she wouldn’tpurposelyset you up like this. You’re acting like an asshole to the wrong person, Walker.”

I let out a sharp breath, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Then why else would she be here so randomly? And she was friends with Stella.”

Because it doesn’t make sense. None of it does. The timing, the connection, the way this whole damn thing blew up the second she walked into my life. I don’t believe in coincidences. Not anymore. And if she didn’t know and was truly innocent in all of this, then why does it feel like I’ve been set up all over again?

Maggie’s eyes flash. “Because shelovesyou, you damn fool. She never came here for you. She came here to find a safe place to land. Which turned out to be you. She never meant for any of this to happen, it just did.”

Maggie and I ride in her truck over to the house, leaving the boat to deal with for another time.

Before I can open the door to the house, it swings open. Mack steps outside, her arms crossed tight over her chest. She glances at the camera crew perched at the end of the driveway, then at me. “Seriously? Why would you mess things up with Violet?”

I don’t have an answer for that. BecauseI don’t know. Because the truth is—I know that this is all very bad. Also, I don’t know how far Stella will go.

I don’t know what game she’s playing, or what her end goal is. But I do know one thing.

She’s a viper. And I don’t trust a damn thing that comes out of her mouth.

I exhale sharply, looking at Mack. “How are you doing with all of this? Do you want to talk to her?”

Mack hesitates. Just for a second. Then she says, “Part of me, yes. Because I’mcurious.” She swallows hard. “But part of me,no. Because she seems so... toxic.”

I nod, throat tight. “When someone shows you who they are, believe it. She's shown us.”

And that’s what terrifies me. That Stella will find a way to sink her claws into Mack. That even after all these years, she’ll find some twisted way to manipulate her, the same way she did to me. Mack says she doesn’t need her, that she doesn’t even want her, but she’s fifteen. And I know what it’s like to want answers. To wonder if the person who left ever really cared and then brutally find out that they actually didn’t.

Maggie sighs, rubbing Mack’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, whatever you decide, just know you don’t owe her anything.”

Mack nods. But then she turns on me, and her glare is almost as sharp as Maggie’s. “You’re being an idiot,” she announces.

I blink. “Excuse me?”

She glares harder. “Why are you letting Stellawin?”

My chest tightens. “I’m not?—”

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