Jayden's POV
The scream cut through my heart like a knife.
Amara's terrified words echoed through the whole house, and I knew I had caused this. Me. The boy who was meant to love her and protect her.
"What did you do?" I yelled at Sheila, but she was already running toward Amara with that bottle in her hand.
Heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway above us. Mr. Kingston's words boomed through the house.
"Amara! What's wrong?"
"Hide the bottle!" I whispered desperately to Sheila, but she wasn't listening to me anymore. Her eyes looked crazy, like she had totally lost her mind.
"It's too late to stop now," she said, reaching for Amara again.
But Amara was faster. She ran toward her parents' bedroom, still screaming.
"Mom! Dad! Don't trust them! They're going to kill you!"
My stomach dropped to the floor. This was really happening. The girl I loved was running for her life, and it was all my fault.
Mr. and Mrs. Kingston burst out of their bedroom in their jammies. Mrs. Kingston ran to Amara and put her arms around her.
"Sweetheart, what's happening? What's wrong?"
"Sheila and Jayden!" Amara was crying so hard she could barely speak. "They're working with Chairman Crain! They're going to cause an accident! They want to kill you!"
The look on Mr. Kingston's face made me want to hide forever. He looked at me like I was a monster.
"Is this true?" he asked in a voice so cold it made me shiver.
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. What could I say? That I was being blackmailed? That I didn't want to hurt anyone? That I loved his daughter more than my own life?
None of that mattered now. I had still agreed to betray her.
"Jayden," Mrs. Kingston said softly. "Tell us the truth."
Her voice was so kind, even now. Even when I had just helped plan to kill her. That's when I realized how good Amara's family really was. They had always treated me like their own son.
And I had paid them back by planning to destroy them.
"I..." I started, but Sheila cut me off.
"He's confused," she said quickly. "Amara must have had a nightmare. You know how she gets when she's stressed."
"I'm not confused!" Amara screamed. "I heard everything! I heard them talking about the accident! I heard them say it has to look real!"
Mr. Kingston's face turned red with anger. "Get out of my house. Both of you. Right now."
"Mr. Kingston, please," I begged. "Let me explain—"
"GET OUT!" he yelled.
But as we started to leave, something terrible happened.
Sheila pulled out her phone and hit a button.
"It's me," she said into the phone. "They know about the plan. Do it now."
My blood turned to ice. "Sheila, what are you doing?"
"Making sure we finish what we started," she said with a scary smile.
"Who did you call?" Mr. Kingston commanded, stepping toward her.
"Let's just say your car won't be safe to drive anymore," Sheila said. "The brake lines have been cut. Tomorrow's accident just became tonight's accident."
Mrs. Kingston gasped and pulled Amara closer.
"You're insane," I said to Sheila. "This wasn't the plan. We were supposed to wait until tomorrow!"
"Plans change," she said. "Especially when little princesses don't mind their own business."
That's when I discovered the truth that made me feel sick. Sheila had never cared about the money or the company. She just wanted to hurt Amara. She wanted to destroy the girl who had everything she didn't.
"I won't let you do this," I said, stepping between Sheila and the Kingston family.
"You don't have a choice," Sheila said. "Remember what happens to your family if you don't help me."
She was right. If I didn't do what she said, the guys my dad owed money to would hurt my little sister. They would hurt my mom. Maybe even kill them.
But looking at Amara's scared face, I knew I couldn't let that stop me anymore.
"I'm sorry," I whispered to Amara. "I'm so sorry for everything."
Then I did something that shocked everyone, including myself.
I grabbed Sheila's phone and threw it as hard as I could against the wall. It smashed into a million pieces.
"You idiot!" Sheila screamed. "Now I can't call them off!"
"Call who off?" Mr. Kingston asked.
"The men who are already on their way here," Sheila said, her voice turning cold and mean. "The men who are going to make sure this family never causes any more problems."
That's when we heard it.
Car doors slamming outside. Heavy boots going up the front steps.
"They're here," Sheila whispered with a terrible smile.
Mrs. Kingston looked out the window and turned white.
"There are three men with guns," she said in a shaky voice.
Mr. Kingston ran to his bedroom and came back with his own gun. But I could see his hands shaking.
"The phone lines are dead," he said. "They cut the phone lines."
We were stuck. No way to call for help. No way to run.
"This is all my fault," I said, feeling like I was going to throw up. "I should have said no from the beginning."
"Why?" Amara asked, tears running down her face. "Why did you do this to us? I loved you."
"Because I'm a coward," I said. "Because I was scared, and I made the worst choice of my life."
The front door burst open downstairs. Heavy footsteps started climbing the stairs.
"Nobody has to get hurt," Sheila called out to the guys. "Just the parents. The kids are not part of this."
"What about the boy?" a deep voice called back. "The one who knows everything?"
Sheila looked at me with cold eyes.
"He's not important anymore," she said.
That's when I understood. Sheila had never planned to let me live through this. She was going to let these men kill me too.
"The back stairs," Mr. Kingston whispered. "We can get to the garage."
"What about the car?" Mrs. Kingston asked. "She said they cut the brake lines."
"We'll have to risk it," he said. "It's our only chance."
The footsteps were getting closer.
"Amara," I whispered as we started moving toward the back of the house. "I need you to know something."
"What?" she asked.
"Everything I said to you before, all those mean things? They were lies. I never stopped loving you. Not for one second."
She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Then why?"
"Because they threatened my family. And I was weak. But I'm not weak anymore."
We reached the top of the back stairs. The men were in the main hallway now.
"Where are they?" one of the guys shouted.
"Check all the rooms," another person said.
Mr. Kingston motioned for us to start going down the back stairs. We moved as quietly as we could.
We were almost to the bottom when the worst thing happened.
Mrs. Kingston stepped on a loose board, and it made a loud creaking sound.
Everyone froze.
"Did you hear that?" one of the men called out.
Footsteps started running toward the back of the house.
"Run!" Mr. Kingston whispered.
We ran toward the garage as fast as we could. Behind us, I could hear the guys shouting and chasing after us.
We reached the car, and Mr. Kingston jumped into the driver's seat.
"Get in!" he yelled.
But as we were getting into the car, I saw something that made my heart stop.
One of the men was standing in the garage opening, pointing a gun right at us.
And behind him, Sheila was smiling like she had just won the best prize in the world.