She nodded. “She told me they’d been seeing each other, and they were in love.”
“So that’s why you wanted to kill her,” I said, eyes narrowing. “You were jealous that she took the guy who rejected you. Just like she supposedly took everything else from you.”
“No! That’s not it! Not at all.” Cherry vehemently shook her head. “I mean, I was a little annoyed that she’d managed to get a guy who rejected me, but that happened years ago. So that wasn’t it. I wasn’t jealous of Roman. I swear.”
“What was it, then?”
She swallowed again. “The big secret Calista had… it wasn’t just that she was dating Roman,” she said slowly. “She said he told her something. Something he swore her to secrecy over. But she was just so excited about it that shehadto tell me. She thought I’d be happy for her.”
My mind was spinning.Oh, Cal...
“She told you the truth about the Selection hunt, didn’t she?” I asked in a low voice.
Cherry nodded. “I was like everyone else for years. I thought the Selection was something to be scared of. That the Dionysus guys were running some sort of crazy sex trafficking ring at the estate,” she said. “But Calista told me the truth. That the girls are actually chosen because they’re seen as marriage material for multi-millionaires. Orbillionaires.Or even future presidents! So they spend all that time at the estate living in the lap of luxury while they learn how to be perfect wives.”
“And that made you snap?”
“It just wasn’t fuckingfair!” Cherry said, voice rising as she threw her hands up. “I’ve worked my ass off for so many years, and on top of that, I come from a dirt-poor family. Nothing has ever been handed to me. Ever! But Calista just goteverything.It all fell in her lap like fucking magic.” She paused, eyes flaring with rage as her chest heaved. “It was bad enough that she took every guy I wanted, every friend I had, and even managed to take the theater stuff from me. But on top of all that, she was alsogoing to marry a billionaire and spend the rest of her life rubbing shoulders with royalty and presidents, and having every single luxury just handed to her on a silver platter!”
I inhaled sharply, mind still spinning as I took in her words.
Julian had been right about the killer’s motive after all. Itwasjealousy. Just not a jealous ex-boyfriend like we assumed.
Instead, it was a jealous friend who’d wanted everything Calista had and snapped when all that entitled anger and resentment that had been simmering under the surface for years finally exploded out of her.
“So what exactly happened that night?” I asked in a low voice. “How did you do it?”
Cherry averted her eyes. “I told her we had to play along with the others freaking out over the hunt, because obviously, we couldn’t tell them the truth about it. So we ditched her phone and got the motel room, and then I convinced everyone to go to the Halloween party. I knew Calista would want to stay behind, so she could see Roman when he finally tracked her to the motel,” she said. “I texted her later saying I was coming back because I had a surprise for her. When I got there, I told her I’d seen Roman setting something up on the viewing platform of the clock tower back on campus. Some sort of romantic thing. Like… a proposal. She fell for it and followed me up there like a sheep. I knew she would.”
My nostrils flared as I tried to keep the tears at bay. “And then you stuck the EpiPen in her leg and shoved her through the window when she was weak and dizzy.”
“Yes,” she said in a hollow voice.
I nodded slowly. “Thank you,” I murmured. “For finally telling me the truth.”
Cherry suddenly lunged at me again. She grabbed my phone and hurled it to the ground before stomping on it, shattering the screen.
“Just in case you were secretly recording me,” she said, nostrils flaring. “Or if you were lying to me about that deal and planning to call the police right away.”
I shook my head. “I wasn’t recording your confession, and I promise, I wasn’t going to call the police,” I replied. “But… one of the others might call them. In fact, they’ve probably done it already.”
Cherry blinked. “Huh?”
I gave her a tight smile. “You know. Jeremiah, Ginny, Dylan. Any one of them.”
“But you said—”
“Yeah, it turns out you’re not the only one who’s good at lying,” I cut in. “The others have been here the whole time. Jeremiah and Dylan are right behind the curtain. They’ve been filming everything. And Ginny’s in the lighting booth. We thought putting the spotlight on you would be a nice dramatic touch. One last performance for the so-called theater queen.”
As I spoke, Jeremiah and Dylan appeared from behind the stage curtain. At the same time, Ginny stepped out of the lighting booth, clapping slowly and sarcastically.
Violet whirled around. “I… I…”
“Finally speechless, huh?” I said, lifting a brow. I raised my voice. “Julian, Roman, you can come out now too.”
The two Valcourt men stepped out from behind the other curtain, eyes blazing with fury as they stared at Cherry.
She gaped at them before turning back to me. “You… you said…”
