Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
“Oh, please, save it.” Alex straight rolled his eyes. “You got the look down, but for personality and mannerisms it’s an F-minus. The woman I married is cruel, selfish, greedy, and narcissistic. But you...?” he cried, leaning back and holding his hands out to me. “You’re perfect.
“You’re sweet, smart, funny, loving, and gorgeous.”
I couldn’t help it. Even then, his compliments made my heart flutter.
“You are my fucking dream girl, whoever-the-hell-you-are, and a change like that simply doesn’t happen overnight.” He gave me a wry look like I was a misbehaving parrot. “So, come on, out with it. You’re Sue’s sister, right? Her twin sister? Either that or you’re some psycho fan who got plastic surgery to look like my wife.”
“Sister,” I snapped. “I’m her twin sister, Sarang.”
That irritating smirk melted away as understanding dawned. “Sarang? So that’s why Omma kept calling you that.” He cursed under his breath like he was pissed he missed something obvious. “The whole time I thought she was being sweet, but I should’ve known better. That woman did not have a sentimental bone in her body.”
“Don’t you dare!” I shouted. “Don’t you dare speak ill of my mother now after you—after you—!”
He cupped his hand to his ear, making a show of leaning in. “After I what?”
“After you killed her!”
“And there it is,” he crowed. “You’ve accused literally everyone else on the planet, it was only a matter of time before you worked your way to me. The only problem is that I didn’t do it.
“I didn’t kill your mother.”
“Then how do you explain this?” I ripped the tux out and shook it at him. “Let’s hear your slick-ass explanation for why the clothes you were wearing that night are covered in blood? Are you going to claim it’s someone else’s blood?”
“No,” he drew out. “It’s Omma’s blood.”
“I—” I choked. He came out with it so easily, my heart stopped.
“But I didn’t get blood on it from killing her,” he breezed, “and you can see that for yourself. The person who attacked Omma would’ve been covered head to toe, whereas I only got some smeared here and there on my tux.”
I couldn’t breathe. “What the hell is wrong with you? How can you stand there casual and lying like you did nothing wrong?”
“Because I did nothing wrong.” He took a step and I shouted, making him throw his hands up in surrender. “All right, all right, chill.” Alex actually sounded a bit annoyed with me. “It’s not as big a deal as you’re building up in your head. I did go into your mother’s room that night, but she was already dead,” he dropped on my head like a ton of bricks. “The minute I saw her, I knew my time was up. I needed to find that thumb drive before a forensic team found it for me.
“I’d been looking for it for months—”
Visions flashed through my mind of that first day when I walked into Omma’s room and found Alex being all shifty and suspicious.
“—and I wasn’t going to pass up my chance,” he continued. “Reynard was gone for the night. Everyone was downstairs preoccupied with the party, and there was an entire three-hour window before you were expected to look in on her. I had to find it, and stumbling on her dead body wasn’t going to stop me.”
The callousness in his voice reflected the emptiness in his eyes.
“All that looking around got some blood on me,” he said, nodding at the plastic bag. “But I finally found it in one of the bed posts. I unscrewed the top and there it was.” Alex shook his head, a tiny smirk tugging at his lips. “Excellent hiding place, I’ve got to give Omma credit for that. I wouldn’t even have thought to look there if the internet hadn’t given me the idea. Truly well done.”
I gaped at him. He’s nuts. A true and proper psychopath stands in front of me.
“Anyway,” he said. “I had to climb on the bedside table to reach it and I accidentally knocked over the clock and broke it. It occurred to me that I could use that to my advantage, so I moved the hands back.” He shrugged. “Simple, see? I didn’t kill your mother.”
“Simple, huh? Fuck you!” I bellowed, blowing his brows up. “Because you’re lying. You’re still lying! I don’t believe for a second that you were in her room and Rhodes was kicking it next door, and neither of you knew! What’s even on this flash drive? Did you think it was another copy of the emails? Is that why you three planned the second dumbest heist in history!”
Alex cracked up. “Hey, no need to be mean,” he hooted. “Our first one wasn’t that dumb. We did get away with it after all.”
“You doorknobs spilled all the details in trackable, recoverable emails! You went to the same fucking school, why wasn’t it possible for you to do all your planning in person without a record?”