CHAPTER <b>0050 </b>


    ric’s POV:


    “What?” she sputtered.


    The look on Juniper’s face right now was fucking priceless. “What do you mean you’re my brother–in-


    ” </b>


    “I mean,” I drawled, hardening my stare. “I’m married to your sister. Meadow.<i>” </i>


    I waited for that information to sink in, not looking away from her even as she stared down at the table


    like she was trying to understand what was going on.


    “You’re…” Her voice cracked. “You’re lying. You can’t be married to Meadow. There’s no fucking way. She


    was in love with Tyler and-”


    “You thought she’d be miserable?” I cut in as something roiled in my chest.


    “Yes!” she gritted out, rising to her feet as well. “Tyler broke her heart. I made sure of it. So don’t think you


    cane in here and spit fucking lies, expecting me to believe that Meadow would be married to—<i>” </i>She


    let out a bitterugh. “They gave me a higher dosage today, didn’t they? Might be why I’m hallucinating


    this shit.”


    I let a full minute pass by without saying anything. The fact that Meadow had someone like Juniper as a


    sister made me want to keep her here forever.


    This was the same person that Meadow was pleading for. The same person she wanted released, and here she was, showing nothing but hate toward her own sister.


    “Sit,<i>” </i>I said simply.


    Juniper scowled at me, but she didn’t dare protest, instead, she sat back down. “This is insane,” she muttered. “Fucking insane.<i>” </i>


    “Insane would be you stabbing someone just because you want attention, Juniper.” I sat back down. “That is insane. And you’re going to get punished for that.”


    Her eyes snapped up to mine, panic shing in them. “What?”


    A smirk pulled at the corner of my mouth. “You know<b>, </b>Meadow pleaded for your release. And I was going


    to do so this weekend. But with what you’ve done, Juniper, stabbing someone so hard she needed surgery


    ”


    I trailed off<b>, </b>clicking my tongue. Juniper’s eyes grew wild and teary. “No no no–no,” she stuttered as paned her tone. “Please, please let me go. I’m losing my mind in here. Just please-”


    “You hurt your sister,” I cut her off. “You beat her up and you ask that fucking bastard to rape her and you


    don’t think you’ve already lost your mind?” A sharp breath escaped my lips. “I would’ve had you killed if you were anyone else.”


    Her lips quivered. “Does that mean… you didn’t kill Tyler, did you?” Juniper’s voice shook. She was assuming the worst. And maybe I was going to let her assume.


    I leaned in. “And what if I did?”


    For a second, she was quiet, and it seemed like she was letting the information sink in. But then something dark crossed her eyes and she lunged across the table for me, Reaching for my shirt.


    “You fucking-”


    However, before her fingers could graze the fabric, I caught both wrists in one of my hands. Juniper let out a loud gasp.


    Probably sensing the danger or hearing the noise, the door flew open and Trip stepped in. He took one look at the situation and his expression darkened.


    “Don’t bother, Trip,” I said firmly. “I’m alright.”


    Hesitantly, he backed out the door, and then I turned to Juniper. “Wrong move, darling.”


    She struggled against my grip. “Let me go,” she seethed.


    Juniper had just made a fucking mistake. Although I couldn’t feel it, I knew my grip was tight around her wrists. And the fact that I couldn’t feel it made me want to tighten it even more.


    So I did.


    “Stop!” she cried, breathing heavily as her eyes watered. “Please, you’re hurting me.”


    <b>I </b>froze<i>. </i>


    Her cries… they sounded exactly like Meadow’s, and that hurt me more than I would care to admit. It felt like I was hurting her.


    Clenching my jaw hard, I released her wrists, and she whimpered, falling back into her seat as she nursed her wrists.


    “I don’t hurt women, Juniper,” I muttered, my gaze narrowing at the edges. “Don’t make me break my fucking rules.”


    “Why are you keeping me here?” She sobbed, shaking her head. “I didn’t do anything to you-”


    “But you


    did to your sister.” My fists curled. “And not once have you even expressed your remorse ever since I came in here. Not about what you did to your sister, and not about the woman you nearly killed-”


    “I was only trying to get someone’s attention, I swear it. I woke up here, having no idea who took me or


    why. I couldn’t keep living this way! I can’t…” her voice broke. “I can’t keep living this way.”


    I leaned back, watching her spiral while trying not to lose my fucking shit. All she was focused on was herself. Not what she did to the orderly. Not what she did to her sister. Not even her own boyfriend after I just gave her an unsure answer as to whether he was alive.


    Just… herself.


    And I couldn’t help but realize how familiar it all fucking felt. That selfishness. From family, friends….


    Lovers.


    But Meadow wasn’t like that. She wasn’t like her sister in any way.


    “Are you… are you really married to my sister?”


    She took my silence as an answer. “But… how? How is that even possible? It’s only been two weeks.” She


    swallowed. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”


    I had no idea exactly how long Juniper and Tyler had been fucking behind Meadow’s back, but on the


    night we first met, all she said was that they yed her for years.


    “You crave your own sister’s misery,” I said slowly, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why?”


    Juniper’s nostrils red then, and she mmed her fist against the desk, shaking with anger while tears


    stained her cheeks. “You have no idea what she’s done. No idea the kind of person she is. So before you startbeling me as the bad, terrible sister who tried to get her fiance to rape her, maybe you should ask


    her what she did to deserve it.”


    Her voice went lower. “Because that bitch deserved what she fucking got.” She smirked. “And so did the


    orderly.”


    A chuckle escaped before I could control it. “You’re not ready to get out of here, then,” I said, keeping my voice low and cold. “Because if you were, you’d be on your knees begging me to let you go.”


    Leaning in, I continued. “I can make you suffer, Juniper Russell, in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine. And I’d make sure your sister stops caring. I’d make sure she forgets about you.”


    Fear shed in her eyes, just like I expected it to.


    Juniper was obsessed with Meadow–I could tell that much from this conversation. She wanted to see her suffer, wanted her to be miserable, and someone like that wouldn’t just disappear.


    Not unless someone made her.


    And that’s where I came in.


    “Please, let me go.” Her eyes watered again and she ran her hand through her hair, pushing it away from


    her face. “Please. I’ll do anything, I swear. Just let me go. Please.”


    I rose to my feet, shoving my hands into my pockets as I stepped away from the desk. I knew she was


    following my every move with her eyes, worried that I was just going to walk out.


    “You’ll do anything I ask, huh?”


    “I swear it,<i>” </i>she breathed.


    A full minute passed before I turned around to face her again. My gaze dropped to her hands that she was


    wringing in herp. Nervous. Terrified.


    I stepped closer. “The first thing you will do if I let you go is to beg Meadow.”


    “What-”


    “You will get on your knees and give her a sincere, heartfelt apology, tell her you’re going away. And then you’ll pack all your belongings–or don’t. I don’t fucking care–and you’ll get the hell away from Seattle.


    Away from Meadow.”


    I was now in front of her, towering over her as she cowered in the seat. “Because she could use a fresh


    start not surrounded by the obvious toxicity you bring into her life.”


    Juniper swallowed. “You want me to… disappear? To stay away from my own sister?”


    <b>“</b>You’ve hardly been a sister to her.”


    For a long while, she was silent. She stared up at me, her jaw tight, eyes unreadable.


    And then, finally, she spoke.


    She started softly. “The day I leave Meadow alone… is the day I stop breathing.”


    <b>I </b>froze.


    I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.


    “So by all means, kill me. Or keep me in this fucking padded box, I don’t fucking care.” Her voice went


    higher. “But I am not leaving my sister. Especially not when it looks like she’s about to get everything


    she’s ever wanted from a rich guy like you.”


    Juniper’s smile grew. She was a sociopath. She had to be.


    I exhaled slowly, my jaw ticking once.


    She wanted to know who put her here? Well, at least now she knew. Because she was going to spend a long fucking time here.


    “So be it,” I muttered, turning to the door. “Get the orderlies, Trip.”


    Juniper bolted up as panic flooded her eyes. “No–no you can’t! Don’t you dare, you fucking bastard!” She lunged again but the orderlies burst through the doors and caught her in time.


    “Maybe I should give you some time to think about it,” I said firmly, walking out the door while she


    screamed out loud behind me.


    Her cries didn’t matter to me, and they never would.


    Her fate was sealed.


    And I had a wife to get back to.