I stared at the young woman standing in front of me. She looked exactly like William, with the black hair and green eyes. The only thing different was that she didn’t have the smile wrinkles that William had around his eyes. Apparently, when you were too busy trying to ruin people’s lives, you forgot to smile.
“What are you doing here, Kelly?” William snapped.
She gasped. “William! I didn’t see you there.”
She pushed past me and reached out to hug William, who stepped back immediately. When she saw that he wasn’t going to greet her, she moved away with a slightly hurt look on her face. William came behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist protectively.
“Why are you here? Haven’t you done enough damage?” William growled at her.
Kelly’s nostrils flared and she looked furious. “I haven’t done anything wrong. All I wanted to do was protect my brother from this…this bitch!”
I narrowed my eyes. “What have I done? Pray, tell me.”
She gave me a death glare. “You married William and ruined his life. You made me lose my job.”
I pushed away from William and went up to her face. “You know that our grandfathers planned this marriage, and whether I said yes or no would not have mattered. William and I still would have been married. As for losing your job, you should blame the person who actually had something to do with it, not me. Don’t try to point fingers at the wrong people when you know who the actual bad guy is, Kelly. Grow up.”
Kelly stared at me for a couple of seconds, trying to see if I would back down.
“I think you should leave now, Kelly,” I said quietly but firmly.
She gave William and me one last glare and walked out of the house, slamming the door.
What exactly was the point of her visit? She literally just stopped by for two seconds to yell at us.
I sighed and turned to look at William. He gave me a small smile and pulled me into his arms. I laid my head on his chest, enjoying his warm embrace. We didn’t need to speak. The hug was enough to lighten the tense atmosphere.
“Why do you think she was here?” he mumbled.
“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about her visit.”
His grip on my waist tightened. “I do too. I think she’s planning something.”
I pulled back. “Like what?”
He shrugged tiredly. “Kelly likes being unpredictable, so I have no idea what she’s got up her sleeve. But she wouldn’t just come to yell at us, that’s for sure.”
I frowned and thought about the situation.
Suddenly, a thought hit me. “Do you think she was trying to distract us by coming here? What if something happened while we were here with her?” I whispered.
William’s eyes slowly narrowed and we immediately started looking around.
“Wait, I have an idea,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me toward his office. He quickly turned to a monitor and pressed a few buttons. The screen flashed and then four rooms appeared.
“You have cameras in every room?” I asked warily.
“I do. But I don’t look at the footage unless it’s necessary. Don’t worry, I don’t sit up here and watch you change,” he said, giving me a mischievous smile.
I rolled my eyes and watched as he rewound the footage to when Kelly appeared.
At that exact moment, the back door to the kitchen opened slowly and Natasha entered.
“What the hell? Natasha? She’s Kelly’s secret friend?” William asked angrily.
“Forget that. How did she enter?” I asked, pointing at the open door.
“She must have gotten the key from Kelly.”
I gave him a blank look. “Kelly has your house key and you didn’t think that was dangerous?”
“I kind of forgot I gave it to her. Hey, it’s been awhile. I’ll just get the locks changed on the doors,” he said defensively, and pulled his phone out to text someone, probably someone to change the locks.
While he was busy texting, I continued watching Natasha. She looked around and tiptoed toward one of the cabinets in the corner. Then she disappeared from the camera’s view.
I leaned forward curiously as she reappeared and was wiping her hands furiously on her jacket. “William,” I whispered. “Why is she wiping her hands?”
He looked up and frowned at the screen. We watched as she peered into the hallway and quickly ran out the kitchen door again, closing it behind her carefully.
I looked at William and stood up slowly. She must have planted something in the kitchen.
***
“What could she have put in the cabinet?” I muttered as we rummaged through the corner cabinets. So far, there was nothing suspicious.
I sighed and turned to the last cabinet. When I pulled it open, I immediately frowned.
That was odd. I had only bought two bags of marshmallows and they were gone. I grabbed the bag from the top shelf and dropped it instantly, screaming at the top of my lungs.
“What’s wrong?” William asked, rushing to my side as Chelsea and the guys came in and stared at us in confusion.
I pointed at the bag shakily and swallowed hard.
The bag had marshmallows inside, but there was a dead rat in the middle. I could feel bile rush up my throat. William ripped the bag open. There was a sticky note stuck to the rat.
Did you think it was that easy to get rid of me?