Who?
1023 Words
REYNA'S POV
I folded my hands together on the table, making them look small, unsure. “Jessica,” I whispered, “I need to understand. Everyone says I’m wrong, or lying, or confused. I just want to know the truth.”
Jessica let out a slow breath through her nose. Then she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, acting like she didn’t care at all.
“The truth?” she repeated. “Reyna, you never liked the truth. You always lived in your own world.”
I let my lips part a little, like her words hurt. “Please. I’m trying.”
Jessica tilted her head, studying me. Then she leaned forward again, resting her elbows on the table. “What exactly do you want to know?”
I swallowed. “Did Jeremy ever talk to you about… that night? Or anything strange before it?”
She smirked. “Why would he talk to me? I wasn’t his wife.”
The way she said “wife” made my skin crawl.
Like she still believed she deserved that title more than I ever did.
“But,” she added casually, “Jeremy talked to a lot of people. He had… plans. You know how he was.”
My heart skipped. Plans. She said “plans” so naturally, like she knew them well.
“What plans?” I asked, pretending to be scared of the answer.
Jessica shrugged, looking almost bored. “You know Jeremy. He always liked to test people. See who was useful. See who wasn’t. He liked to keep secrets. You were part of that. Didn’t you know?”
My fingers tightened around each other. “What do you mean? How was I part of it?”
She blinked, then looked away for a second, too fast, too sharp.
Like she said something she shouldn’t.
She covered it quickly with a laugh. “Oh please, Reyna. Don’t act innocent. Jeremy didn’t pick people by accident. He picked them for reasons.”
I looked down at my hands, making my voice small again. “What reasons?”
Jessica’s jaw moved. Just once.
A tiny clench.
She suddenly became careful.
“You really don’t know?” she asked.
“I don’t,” I whispered. “He never told me anything like that.”
Jessica let out a dry laugh. “Of course he didn’t. You were too soft. If he told you everything, you would have broken sooner.”
Sooner. Why sooner? Why expect me to break at all?
I kept my face blank, but inside, my mind raced. She knew something. She knew more than she was saying.
I lifted my eyes slowly. “Jessica… did he tell you things he didn’t tell me?”
She hesitated. Only half a second. But enough.
“Nothing important,” she said quickly. “Just work things.”
That was a lie. It was in her voice, her eyes, the way she grabbed her cup too fast.
I leaned back slightly, like her words pushed me. “I just… I keep wondering if there was something I missed. Something that could have helped him. Something that could have saved him.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Reyna, stop acting like you could have done anything. Jeremy lived in a world you couldn’t handle. He had business ties, enemies, people watching him. You wouldn’t last a day in that.”
Enemies. People watching him. Things Nicholas hinted about too.
I held my breath for a moment. “What people?” I asked quietly.
Jessica froze. Only for a fraction of a second. But it was there. She looked away, like she wished she could take the words back.
“You’re asking too many questions,” she said sharply. “Why now?”
“I just need peace,” I whispered. “I can’t sleep. I can’t think. I keep remembering things Jeremy said. I keep trying to put the pieces together.”
“What pieces?” she asked, too fast.
I blinked at her reaction. “Just… small things. Things he did before he died. Things he said. Places he went. I don’t know what they mean.”
Jessica gripped her cup again, fingers stiff. “You’re starting to sound paranoid.”
“Am I?” I whispered. “Or did something happen that night that I wasn’t told?”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. Then she leaned across the table, lowering her voice.
“Reyna… if I were you, I’d stop digging.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“What?” I whispered.
“You heard me.” Her eyes darkened. “Some things are bigger than you. Bigger than me. Bigger than what you think happened.”
Sea-cold fear ran through my bones. But I didn’t show it.
“What things?” I breathed.
Jessica shook her head slowly, looking strangely tense. “You don’t want to know.”
“I do,” I said, barely audible.
She stared at me for a long moment, her eyes scanning my face like she was deciding something.
Then she leaned back, crossing her legs again, her cold mask returning.
“All I’m saying,” she said lightly, “is that Jeremy’s world wasn’t simple. He had deals. He had people he owed. He had promises he made. Promises you didn’t know about.”
Promises. People he owed. Deals.
Then, something clicked.
Jessica didn’t speak like someone guessing.
She spoke like someone who knew. Like someone who had been involved. But she wasn’t foolish enough to say anything clear.
I kept my voice shaking. “Jessica… please. Just tell me if there was something wrong. Something you saw. Something he said. Anything.”
Jessica lifted her chin with a small smirk. “Why would I help you?”
“Because…” I swallowed, letting my eyes soften, break, “I’m scared.”
She smiled wider, soaking it in. I let her. I needed her to feel powerful.
“I’m not the one you should be scared of,” she said.
My blood ran cold.
“Then who?” I whispered.
- Writer
