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Lock. She said his name. It was an admission. A validation of everything I’d suspected. They had a relationship. He lied to me. There was some part of me that still didn’t want to believe it. My mind became a kaleidoscope of disjointed thoughts and fears.

“This is still my house,” I said. “I’m not leaving without a court order.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “Lock will take care of the legalities next week. You’re embarrassing yourself. There’s still time for you to salvage some of your dignity. Lock doesn’t want you.”

“I want to talk to him. He asked me to come. He wants to see me.”

“You sure about that? He’s letting you take whatever you want out of this house. Your clothes. Your jewelry. You didn’t pay for any of it. If you want me to help you, I’ll be glad to.”

She knew what Lock texted me. Had she been right beside him when he did it? Had they discussed it together? “Why are you here? Why isn’t he?”

She rose and walked toward me. “Because he feels guilty. He’s not a monster. He did have feelings for you. But you stomped those out when you became violent toward me. He came to his senses and realized he’s still in love with me. Face it, Mina, you were the rebound girl.”

“You came to the police,” I said. “You sat in front of a table of law enforcement and accused him of stalking you. You knew what you were doing the whole time. What was the game? To see how I’d react when you mentioned the red ribbon? If you love him, why would you put him at risk like that? What has he really done? If you know, you need to tell me.”

“I wanted to see for myself,” she said. “Understand what Lock saw in you. See how loyal you really were to him, if you’d protect him the way I do.”

“From what? Did you think he killed all those women?” I asked. “Did he?”

Her face contorted with rage. “You don’t know him at all. You don’t deserve him. I knew you didn’t. I knew I could prove it. Now Lock knows it too. He’s finally woken up.”

“Where is he?” I demanded.

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “How could he turn off his feelings for you so quickly? What you’ve never understood is that you were just a substitute.”

“You’ve been manipulating both of us from the beginning,” I said. “You were never afraid of Lock… of Matt Woodson. The rest of this has been some sick mind game you’ve been playing. Showing up to be interviewed by TRACE. You saw me on the news. That initial press conference. Is that it?”

“Isn’t that what I just said? You’re supposed to be this hotshot prosecutor,” she said. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Roy put a call out for people with bad experiences on WhisprMatch. Then I saw you at that press conference. It felt like fate. It shocked me what a liar you turned out to be.”

“What are you talking about?”

Corrine lifted her arm and pulled back her sleeve. She had a red silk ribbon tied around her left wrist, just like the one I wore.

“You knew what this was. And you said nothing.”

“Which is it, Corrine? Is Lock a monster or the love of your life? You filed a police report on him five years ago. I didn’t even know him then.”

She let out a haughty laugh. “That’s between Lock and me. I’ll admit. We had a bad breakup five years ago. I regret filing the police report. I don’t regret that it brought us back together, finally. We were always meant for each other. He has a way of taking over your life, doesn’t he? You feel like you’re the only person in the world when he shines his light on you. But when he turns away from you, the world becomes pretty frigid and bleak. I know that’s where you are right now. The sooner you accept what’s happening, the easier it will be for you.”

“The note. The paint on my car. The dead dove. That was all you? You were trying to send me a message? Why not just come talk to me? The both of you. Why all of this?”

“Lock’s too nice. You know how hard it is for him to cut people out of his life. Even the toxic ones. He always trusts the wrong people. He’s never known who his real friends are. He can’t see who’s truly on his side.”

“You tried to frame him!” I yelled. “The underwear you brought in. You knew they were mine. What if they had his DNA on them? You’re not trying to protect him. You’re trying to destroy him.”

“Never! I would never hurt Lock. That underwear was for you, Mina. To see if you’d tell the truth. To see if you would protect Lock. You didn’t. You said nothing!”

The woman was absolutely depraved. “Get out of my house,” I said. “You expect me to believe all this was just his or your way of what… letting me down gently? It’s sick. It’s criminal.”

Her face hardened. Corrine came out from behind the island and stood right in front of me. She turned sideways then and ran a hand over her abdomen. Was there a bulge there? My whole body started to tingle.

“I didn’t want to be cruel,” she said absurdly. “I know how hard it’s been for you trying to conceive. But you need to face facts. I was able to give Lock the thing you couldn’t. His child.”

“Why should I believe a single thing you say? You aren’t just trying to break up my marriage. You’re trying to destroy my life. You need help, Corrine.”

“You knew you didn’t deserve to be in Lock’s world,” she said. “Piper tried to tell him. She’s been right about you all along. We had dinner with the Shepherds the night before last, actually. They had quite a few things to say about you. Eli could not be more thrilled Lock is filing for divorce. He feels like he’s finally getting his friend back.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said. She had to be lying. I had just talked to Eli. No. Eli tried to tell me without telling me. What had he said? I’m his friend. No matter what.