AMARA'S POV
Elena Stone. Alive.
I stand frozen. Staring at a dead woman.
Get in before someone sees us, she says.
You're dead. Gabriel thinks you're dead.
I faked it. Fifteen years ago. My husband was going to kill me. Victoria helped me escape.
I get in the car. She drives.
Victoria helped you? But she confessed to murdering you.
She confessed to get arrested. To seem like the villain. So Gabriel would fight back. Elena pulls into an abandoned parking garage. Everything Victoria did was to protect Gabriel. And you.
The stalking? The shooting?
Warning shots. To scare you. Make you need each other. Make the fake marriage real. It worked, didn't it?
My mind reels. You orchestrated this?
I guided it. Three years ago, I saw Gabriel in court against you. For the first time since I 'died,' he came alive. You challenged him. When your visa was expiring, I told Victoria to push him toward the marriage offer. Then create threats. Force intimacy.
You manipulated us?
I helped you fall in love. Look at Gabriel now. Fighting for something that matters. Alive again. Elena hands me a folder. This is proof your marriage is real. Bank records. Witness testimony. Officer Martinez will testify you're authentic.
How did you get this?
I've been preparing for years. Waiting for Gabriel to find someone worth fighting for.
Why not just tell him you're alive?
Her face crumples. He thinks I abandoned him. The anger he'd feel... I can't. Not yet. After you're safe, after charges are dropped, I'll tell him.
The hearing is in two weeks.
It won't get that far. Tomorrow when you meet Victoria, she'll confess. Everything. I'll be there. Hidden. Recording. We'll use it to destroy her case.
Victoria's working with you. Why would she confess?
We'll edit it. Like she edited your footage. Make it look like she's admitting to frame-up. Destroy her credibility. FBI drops charges.
That's fraud too.
That's justice. My son isn't going to prison. You aren't getting deported. Elena's eyes are hard. I've been silent fifteen years. Not anymore.
She drives me back. Not a word to Gabriel. Not yet. Tomorrow, wear the wire. Victoria will play her part. I'll play mine. You'll both be free.
And if it doesn't work?
It will. I'm not losing my son again.
She drops me two blocks away. Do you love him?
Yes.
Then trust me. One more day.
I walk back to the penthouse. Gabriel's awake. Pacing.
Where were you? He rushes to me. You left a note about a walk but you were gone for two hours. I was worried.
I'm sorry. I needed to think. Clear my head.
About tomorrow?
About everything. I look at him. Wanting to tell him. His mother is alive. She's been protecting him. Loving him from the shadows.
But I can't.
Not yet.
Are we doing the right thing? I ask instead. Meeting Victoria? Walking into her trap?
It's our only shot. We get her confession. Use it to prove she's manipulating evidence. FBI drops charges. We're free.
And if she doesn't confess?
She will. She's overconfident. Thinks she won. She'll gloat. We just need to get it on tape.
I nod. Not mentioning Elena's plan. Her recordings. Her promises.
We should sleep, Gabriel says. Tomorrow is... everything.
We lie in bed. Neither of us sleeping. Too much at stake.
At 3 AM, my phone buzzes. Text from Elena's number.
Don't trust the plan. Victoria isn't working with me. She's going to kill you both tomorrow. You need to run. NOW. Get Gabriel and disappear. This is your only warning. -Elena
My blood runs cold.
That can't be right. Elena said Victoria was helping. That it was all orchestrated.
Unless...
Unless Elena lied. Unless the woman I met wasn't Elena. Unless this is all another trap.
Another buzz. Different number.
That wasn't Elena. That was Victoria. She's impersonating Elena to confuse you. Don't run. Stick to the plan. Trust me. I'm the real Elena. The woman you met this morning was Victoria in disguise. -Elena
Two texts. Both claiming to be Elena. Both contradicting each other.
I stare at my phone. Terrified. Confused.
Which one is real? Which one is lying?
Did I meet Elena this morning? Or Victoria pretending to be Elena?
Is tomorrow a rescue? Or an execution?
I check the first text again. The photo attached. Elena. Holding today's newspaper. Proof of life.
Then I check the second text. Same photo. Different angle. Also proving she's alive.
Both can't be real.
But both look real.
I shake Gabriel awake. We have a problem.
He reads the texts. Goes pale. This is what Victoria does. Confuses. Manipulates. Creates chaos.
So we don't go tomorrow?
We have to go. It's our only shot. But we need backup. Real backup. Not planted audio or hidden wires. Actual police. Ready to move.
Victoria said if she sees police
She won't see them. They'll be distant. Watching. Ready.
Gabriel calls Martin. Explains. Martin makes calls. By 5 AM, it's arranged. FBI will be watching the estate. Remotely. With snipers. If things go wrong, they move.
But I can't shake the feeling. That we're missing something. That someone is lying. That tomorrow is going to end in blood.
At 7 AM, another text. No number.
You want to know the truth? About Elena? About Victoria? About who's been helping you? Meet me. 8 AM. The Stone family mausoleum. Come alone. Both Elenas will be there. You'll see who's real. Who's fake. Who's been protecting you. And who's been planning your death. -A Friend
I show Gabriel.
It's another trap, he says.
Or it's our only chance to know the truth before we walk into Victoria's meeting.
The mausoleum is in the cemetery. Five miles from the estate. If we go, we have one hour to get to Victoria's meeting.
We can make it.
If this is real.
If it's not, we're walking into tomorrow blind anyway. At least this way, we might get answers.
Gabriel looks at me. Exhausted. Terrified. Okay. We go. Together.
Together.
At 7:45 AM, we drive to the cemetery. The Stone family mausoleum is old. Marble. Imposing.
Gabriel hesitates at the entrance. My mother's name is on that wall. Her ashes supposedly inside. If she's alive...
Then you get her back.
Or I learn she's been lying to me for fifteen years.
We enter.
Two women wait inside. Identical. Both claiming to be Elena Stone.
Both turn to us.
Both say simultaneously: Gabriel. My son. I can explain.
Gabriel looks between them. Horror on his face. Which one are you?
I am, they both say.
One of them is lying.
One of them is Victoria in disguise.
And we have one hour to figure out which before we meet the real Victoria at the estate.
If the real Victoria even exists anymore.