Chapter 195
Nancy's POV
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out, keeping one eye on Elena's tear-streaked face as she stared at me, defiant even in her terror.
The screen showed an unknown number, but I knew exactly who it was.
I hit accept.
"Nancy." Ethan's voice came through smooth and controlled. Nothing like the gentle professor act he'd put on for Elena all those years. "I assume you have her?"
"Both of them," I confirmed, watching Elena's eyes widen as recognition dawned. "Mother and daughter, just like we discussed."
"Good." I could hear the satisfaction in his voice. "And Sterling?"
"Still at the hospital." I smiled at the memory of Elena's panicked face as she'd fled with Lila.
Ethan's laugh was cold. "Excellent work. I'm about fifteen minutes out."
"There's something we need to clarify," I said, my grip tightening on the phone. "About the arrangement."
"Oh?"
"I want Sterling," I said flatly. "That was always the deal. You get the woman, I get my revenge on Julian."
"Of course," Ethan agreed. "But there's one condition. The child has to die."
The words hung in the air between us. Elena made a strangled sound behind me, straining against her bonds.
"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Because she's his." The venom in Ethan's voice was unmistakable. "Sterling's spawn. Every time Elena looks at that brat, she'll think of him. I won't have that. I won't be second to a dead man's memory."
I understood that feeling all too well.
"And if the kid lives?" I pressed.
"Then you get nothing," Ethan said simply. "No Sterling, no revenge, no satisfaction. But help me with this, and I'll make sure Julian Sterling suffers in ways you can't even imagine. I'll send him proof that Elena chose me. That she's building a life that erases him completely."
The offer was tempting. God, it was tempting.
"Fine," I said. "But I want to watch when you tell her. I want to see her face."
"Deal. See you soon.”
---
I pulled out my knife, let the blade catch what little light filtered through the grimy windows. Walked over to Elena slowly, deliberately.
"You know what I think?" I said, waving the knife in front of her face. The metal gleamed, hypnotic and deadly. "Why do so many people like you? This world is really unfair."
Elena's breath came in short, terrified gasps as she tracked the blade's movement.
I pressed the flat of the knife against her cheek, felt her flinch. "What makes you so special? Julian. Alexander. Even Ethan—God, especially Ethan. Do you know how obsessed he is with you?"
I pulled the knife away, started pacing. The rage was building, hot and familiar in my chest.
"Want to know something funny?" I said. "I followed Julian from London. Every step of the way. Watched him at JFK, looking like a man possessed. "
I stopped, turned to face her. "That's when I saw Ethan. He was watching you too. Standing in the terminal, staring at you and that little girl with Alexander like you were the only three people in the world."
---
Flashback - Five Days Ago
JFK Airport, Afternoon
I'd been trailing Julian for hours, watching him pace the terminal like a caged animal. He'd barely sat down since landing, just kept checking his phone, scanning the crowds.
Then I saw you.
You, with your brown hair pulled back, holding a child. Julian standing beside you.
There was a man standing by the newsstand. Tall, academic-looking, with wire-rimmed glasses.
He was staring in Julian and Elena's direction with an intensity that made my skin crawl, hesitating as if deciding whether to leave the airport.
And I recognized that look.
Because I'd worn it myself, staring at Julian for years.
Obsession.
I approached him carefully. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"
He startled, turned to look at me. Up close, I could see the dark circles under his eyes, the way his hands trembled slightly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, but his eyes drifted back to you.
"Elena Vance," I said. "Or Hunt, as she calls herself now. You know her."
His jaw tightened. "Who are you?"
"Someone who understands." I gestured to where you were disappearing into the crowd. "Someone who knows what it's like to want something you can't have."
"I have no idea—"
"Your name is Ethan Blackwell," I interrupted. "You were Elena's professor at Parsons. You had a period of time with her in Florida."
The color drained from his face. "How do you—"
"I make it my business to know things." I smiled. "And I know you've been looking for her. Ever since she disappeared four years ago."
He was silent for a long moment. Then: "What do you want?"
"The same thing you do." I watched you vanish into the terminal. "I want Elena Vance to pay for everything she's taken from me."
His eyes narrowed. "Taken from you?"
"Julian Sterling," I said simply. "The man who just watched her walk away. He's mine. Or he was, until she came along."
Understanding dawned in Ethan's eyes. "You're Victoria Astor."
"I was." I touched my face. "Now I'm Nancy Fairfax. New identity, new face. But the same goal."
"Which is?" He asked.
"Revenge." I met his gaze steadily. "And I think you want the same thing. The question is: are you willing to work together to get it?"
Ethan was quiet for so long I thought he'd refuse. Then he said, very softly: "What did you have in mind?"
---
"I did my research on you," I told Elena, still pacing with the knife. "Found out everything. How you trusted him. How he pretended to be your friend while secretly obsessing over you."
I laughed. "We met for coffee the next day. Talked for hours. And I realized we were perfect for each other. Both of us desperately in love with people who didn't want us. Both of us willing to do whatever it took to change that."
"You're lying," Elena whispered. "Ethan wouldn't—he was kind, he was—"
"He was acting," I said. "Just like I was. Just like we've all been acting."
I heard a car pull up outside. Footsteps on gravel.
"That'll be him now," I said, checking my watch. "Right on time."