Chapter 4

Ethan's second set of files came in slower than I expected.

It took five whole days.

When Ethan called, his voice sounded a little off. "Anna, are you sure you want to see this?"

"Yes," I said.

"Annie's background is locked down tight. Pulling strings took a lot of work."

"Get to the point."

"Her SSA was renewed three years ago. Before that, she used a different name. And her original hometown was Northport, not Riverdale."

Northport. My fingers tightened a little.

Ethan said, "She has changed her name. She wasn't always Annie Scott."

I asked, "What was her original name?"

There was a brief silence on the other end. "We're still looking into it. Her mother's records are locked down even harder. My people only managed to get her last name."

"What's the last name?"

"Wells."

I was stunned for a moment. Wells?

"Anna?" Ethan called out.

"Keep digging," I said.

Then I hung up.

My phone felt hot in my hand.

Wells. Northport. Those two words together stirred up memories I thought had been buried years ago.

I hadn't seen my mom since I was six.

Her name was Martha Wells.

Back then, she divorced my dad, dumped me on him, and walked away for good. She never came back.

After that, my dad became a drunk and started beating me. My stepdad was even more ruthless. Not once did my mom ever show up.

I didn't even know if she was alive or dead.

Now, Annie's mother's last name was Wells, and Annie's original hometown was Northport.

After my mom left, some people said she went to Northport.

I told myself it was just a coincidence.

Wells was a common surname, and Northport was a big city.

But the thorn buried deep in my heart was already starting to make my heart bleed.

*****

That night, Andrew came home. He reeked of alcohol.

He leaned against the doorframe, staring at me for a long moment without saying a word.

I stared back at him.

"Anna," he finally said, his voice slurred. "Why can't you just leave things be?

"Why do you always have to blow things up until everything's a mess?"

I stood up from the couch. "You came back just to say that?"

"No," he said, walking over and sitting down across from me. "I came back to tell you to stop looking into this."

A chill ran through me. "You know I've been investigating?"

"Your people have been accessing databases they shouldn't have touched." He rubbed his temples. "Anna, I'm begging you, just stop."

"Why?"

"Some things are better left unknown."

"What is it that I can't know?"

Andrew didn't answer. He stood up and walked toward the stairs.

"If you won't tell me, I'll dig it up myself," I said.

He stopped on the third step, his back to me. "What difference does it make if you find out? Does that make her disappear?"

He went upstairs, and the bedroom door closed.

I stood there, unmoving.

Andrew had just said something really strange. "Some things are better left unknown."

If Annie was just an ordinary mistress, what could possibly be so bad about knowing her background?

Unless she wasn't just an ordinary mistress.

*****

Early the next morning, Annie showed up again.

This time, she wasn't alone.

Trailing behind her was a woman in a designer suit, probably in her early forties. She looked like she took really good care of herself, and her makeup was flawless.

I didn't know her.

But as soon as Annie walked in, she was all swagger and attitude.

Last time, she played the pitiful act, but now she didn't even bother faking it.

She made herself comfortable in my usual chair, crossed her legs, and said, "Anna, I left in a hurry last time. There were some things I didn't get to say."

I stood at the corner of the stairs, not coming down. "Who gave you the guts to bring a stranger into my house?"

Annie smirked. "Andrew did."

She dangled the keys in her hand. "He gave me a spare key to this villa. He said I could come over whenever I wanted."

The woman behind her sat down, glanced around the living room, and smirked with a hint of disdain. "Nice place. Andrew is capable indeed."

Annie shot her a glance, and then turned to me. "I didn't tell Andrew the truth about what you did to me last time. I told him it was just an accident, not your doing."

She twirled her hair around her finger, speaking slowly. "So, Anna, you owe me one now."

I walked down the stairs and sat across from her. "Is that all you came here to say?"

"No," she said, pulling out a small mirror from her bag and touching up her makeup. "I'm here to tell you that I'm pregnant again."

She rubbed her belly, her expression smug, like she was showing off a trophy. "Andrew's super excited this time. He said he's taking me for a full check-up and making sure the top doctors are watching over me.

"He said he's not letting anything happen to this one, no matter what."

She put the mirror away and looked at me. "Anna, are you still planning to mess with me?

"You caught me off guard last time, I'll give you that. But this time, check out who's guarding the door."

I glanced at the door.

There were two bodyguards. Not mine.

Andrew hired them for her.

"Anna, you've been married to Andrew for four years and still haven't given him any kids," Annie said, standing up and coming over to me. "Yeah, you got pregnant once, but couldn't keep it.

"If that kid had made it, he'd be three now, right?"

Grace clenched her fists behind me.

I didn't show any emotion. "Are you done?"

"Not yet," Annie said, squatting down so she was eye-level with me. "Andrew said once the baby's born, he's going to come clean to you."

"Come clean about what?"

"He wants you to accept me."

"Accept you?"

"That's right. He said he's not divorcing you, but he's not letting me go either.

"He claims you two have too much history for him to ditch you. But he can't walk away from me, either.

"So he's looking for a way to have it all."

A way to have it all.

I suddenly let out a laugh. "Annie, do you even know Andrew once killed someone for me?"

Her smile stiffened for a moment.

I went on, "Do you realize he spent ten years behind bars because of me?

"Do you know I lost a child for him and nearly died on the operating table?

"You claim that he can't walk away from you."

I stood up, towering over her. "So tell me, do you really think he can walk away from me?

"What do you have to stack up against me? Just your looks? Or your baby?

"About what we've survived together, you'll never get it."