How could I be so stupid? What part of me believed Zach really wants me? Liesa was right all along. It’s my own fault for letting my heart rule my head. But damn it, I honestly believed Zach cared. Like Mom always told me, boys will say anything to get you into bed. Why had I thought Zach was any different?

Guard your heart.

Good job of that, Kylie.

What’s worse? The video of me and Zach in the shower playing on America’s screens, or Zach and Liesa getting married? Why should I care? Zach is an asshat I wouldn’t want to be with anyway. He and Liesa might as well spend the rest of their lives making each other miserable. Good riddance.

Those are not tears I swipe off my face as I enter the hospital, just sweat from the island air. I make my way through the busy hallway to Diana’s room. There’s laughter and music wafting down the hall. I walk into what appears to be a party in full swing. The woman in the bed next to Diana’s sits on her mattress, legs swinging over the side, a bright orange and black scarf wrapped around her head. She laughs and directs others to pack up her things, the food containers, the pillows and blankets.

No one occupies the last bed by the window and a pang of sadness hits me before I turn my attention back to the celebration.

Diana is also sitting on her bed, dressed in a sundress and flip-flops. The swelling has mostly receded and she doesn’t look as pale and sickly as yesterday. A shy smile flits on her face when she sees me.

I stop between the two beds. “Is it a mass exodus?”

Diana nods. “They’re springing us both. Marguerite’s mother is moving in to help for the rest of the recovery, Wanda healed up, and Dr. Bodden says I’m good to go, too. Blake is finishing the paperwork and we’re out of here.”

I hug her, truly relieved. “That’s the best news, ever. Sorry I haven’t been home to get everything ready, but I did get our room cleaned.”

I remember that evening, when my life seemed to be on track. When Zach rescued me from Jonas’s rejection and we made love in my bungalow. It’s dumpy and rundown, no ocean view or Cook and Ricky to serve, but it’s mine. No invasive cameras, no fortune to consider, no games.

Diana holds me a second longer before she lets go. “Thank you for paying for the surgery. Blake told me what you did.”

I wave it away. “You would do the same for me.”

She laughs, but not with humor. “You bet your ass I’d have jumped at the chance to be on Liesa’s Life. Not only would I have made a shit-ton of money, but I’d go to all those parties and meet all those rich guys.”

“Diana….”

She shakes her head. “But I know better now. You’ve always had your head on straight about guys and what they want. So this thing is torture for you. I know that.”

Torture, sure. Fucking in my room. Fucking in the shower. Zach’s arms around me. His kisses. I hated every minute of it. Had I known he was lying to me and it would end up this way, I would have done it anyway. I want Zach any way I can get him.

Even now.

So much for protecting my heart.

What I want and what I should do are two different things. I need to stay as far away from Zach as possible because as much as my body wants him, sex alone will never be enough. It will eventually destroy me not to have all of him.

I need to be more like Mom. She’d walked away and didn’t look back. Of course, her downfall had been Jonas, someone way easier to walk away from than Zach.

I wish Diana had something to pack to distract us from this conversation. “I’m done with Liesa’s Life. They’re going to write me off the show. So we’re all good.”

Blake appears in the doorway, a sheaf of papers in his hand. “You’re off the show?”

The noise level from the other family ratchets up as a good-humored argument breaks out over who owns what dish.

I try to act cheerful. “Apparently they’re changing directions and won’t need my storyline.”

Blake gives me a thumbs up. “Congratulations. Getting away from that situation is the best thing that could happen for you.”

“We could use the money, since we’re both out of The Green Frog for a while. But I’ll find something else soon.”

Blake throws an arm around my shoulder and hugs me to his side in a brotherly way. “We don’t need the kind of shit that Jonas Knightly dishes out.”

“Why are they getting rid of you?” Diana asks.

My heart constricts and my throat closes up. All I can see is Liesa on her knee and their long and passionate kiss. I want to throw up but I grin. “Get this, Liesa asked Zach to marry her and the rest of the season is going to be a wedding extravaganza.”

Diana looks shocked and she jerks her head toward Blake.

He looks stricken and suddenly pale. His mouth stretches as if he riding a terrifying rollercoaster straight into the ground.

“Blake?” I put a hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

He acts as though he hasn’t heard me.

“Blake,” I say, louder this time.

He blinks and looks down on me. “Huh? Oh. Ready to go?” He reaches for Diana.

Diana’s gaze moves back and forth between Blake and me and she curls her lip in disdain. “Those fucking people.”

“What people?” I ask.

“Those rich bastards who think they can take our lives and twist them and crush our hearts as if we don’t matter. We’re just toys they play with and when they get tired, they throw us away.”

I don’t want to believe Zach would do that to me. Or Liesa. She talked about our connection and, fuck me, I’d felt it, too. It feels like a rusty blade to my heart to think I don’t matter to them. But the truth is in front of my eyes. Like some goddamned Great Gatsby, Zach and Liesa used me to mess with each other.

Diana isn’t done. “They made you fall in love. The two people I care most about. All three of us got hurt in their games.”

All three? Blake? He clamps his jaw tight and anger lights his eyes.

“You and Liesa?” I blurt out. “I thought you were friends.”

“Friends is all I ever get.” He laughs and shakes his head. “Especially if Zach is involved.”

“I didn’t know.” It’s all I can say, though it carries sympathy and regret in tone.

Diana’s lips tremble as if she might cry. “I’m so sorry. I wrecked everything and now I don’t know how we’re going to make it.”

“Hey, now,” Blake sounds like a reassuring father. “I was thinking, maybe our run on the island might have come to an end. Why don’t we all go stateside? We can get a cheap apartment close to campus. I’ve saved up enough to get us going and we’ll figure it out from there.”

I try to be enthusiastic. “Diana and I have talked about going to school. Let’s all go, leave this stupid island and all the bad memories behind.”

Diana looks from one of us to the other as if checking our resolve. She seems to grit her teeth in an effort to not let us down. “I’m in.”

Blake steps closer and helps ease Diana off the bed.

Leaving the island, like Mom had twenty-three years ago, was the right thing to do. Why does it feel so wrong?