Page 22 of Vendetta Vows

She guides me to the couch, arm around my shoulders. "Whatever it is, we'll handle it."

I shake my head, the tears starting again. "You don't understand. It's not what Ruslan did. It's what I did."

"What are you talking about?"

My fingers twist together in my lap, knuckles white. "At the club. There was this actress. Sienna Voss. She took my picture, threw a bottle, shattered the glass wall." I look up at her, letting her see the raw terror in my eyes. "My face is all over social media right now."

Hannah's brow furrows. "You got caught in some celebrity drama photos? Is that what has you this upset?"

She doesn't understand, I can see it in her expression. Of course she doesn't understand.

I've never told her. I've never told anyone.

"I can't be photographed. Ever. There are... people who can't know where I am. Who I am."

Hannah sinks down next to me, confusion etched across her face. "Aurora, what are you saying? You've always been private, but this..."

The words stick in my throat. I've rehearsed this moment in my nightmares but never expected to actually live it. Seven years of secrecy, of looking over my shoulder, of whispering to myself that Jamie Fields is dead.

But Jamie Fields isn't dead. She's me. And I can't run anymore, at least not from Hannah.

"My name isn't Aurora Castellanos." My voice sounds foreign to my own ears. "It's Jamie Fields."

Hannah stays perfectly still, not even blinking, as if afraid any movement might stop me from continuing.

"Nine years ago, I started dating this police cadet named Kristofer Christensen. My parents hated him." The words tumble out faster now, like poison I need to expel. "A year and a half later, I broke up with him and he became obsessed with me. Started following me, watching my house, and showing up wherever I went. And there was nothing I could do. He was convinced that my parents were the only reason why we couldn't be together."

I squeeze my eyes shut, the images I've spent years trying to bury flashing behind my eyelids.

"One night, I came home and..." My voice gives out completely.

"What happened?" Hannah whispers.

"They were all dead. Mom. Dad. My little brother." I can't look at her. "He killed them."

Hannah covers her mouth. "Oh my god."

"He left me a message." My words come out hollow. "On the wall. In their blood."

I pause before I breathe to life the words that have haunted me for all these years.

"Look what you made me do."

Hannah gasps and her hand finds mine.

"I ran that night." I wipe at my tears with the back of my hand. "I just drove. Didn't sleep. Barely ate. Just kept driving west because I knew he'd be looking for me."

Hannah sits silently beside me, her eyes never leaving my face.

"I was running on empty. My car and myself. And that was when I saw the accident. Middle of nowhere on some back road in the Eastern Sierras." My voice steadies as I recall the moment that changed everything. "Her car was wrapped around a tree. She was already gone, no question about that. But her purse was there, and her ID too..."

I swallow hard.

"We looked similar enough. Same height, same build, same age give or take a few years."

Hannah's hand tightens around mine.

"It's not something I planned or something I'm proud of. I was just staring at her license, and suddenly I realized. This was my chance to disappear completely. So I took her credit cards, her phone, and left my wallet in her car."

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