Literally Die in His Tenderness

Chapter 8

"Aubrey, I didn't realize you were so sharp, managing to find the little cutie inside me and ruin my whole plan. Tell me, who did it?" Terra's smile didn't reach her eyes. Her usual sweet, innocent demeanor was gone, replaced by something much darker, much colder.

I forced myself to stay calm, but my palms were sweating. "Ms. Joyce, I should be the one asking you that. We've got no history. Why are you trying to harm me?"

She shrugged, as if it were the most casual thing in the world. "Oh, you were just the most convenient person at the time."

She went on to explain that she'd wanted to go abroad, but Troy wouldn't let her. He'd proposed, and she wasn't ready to settle down. "I was too young for that. I didn't want to be stuck in marriage, so I came up with the idea of a stand-in. I knew that once I came back, Troy would still be mine, after all, I gave him that ‘love poison' in high school."

I didn't even know how to respond to her twisted idea of love.

"Does Troy know about the poison?" I asked, my voice steady but tight.

Terra's expression morphed into something almost proud. "Of course not. At first, he thought of me like a sister. But now? He's like a puppy begging me to marry him. I didn't have to do much, just told him I wasn't into you, and bam, he accepted it. It was almost too easy."

Then, suddenly, she leaned forward across the table, her voice dropping low. "I'm not afraid to tell you this, Aubrey, but you're lucky you weren't home last time. If you had been, you might not be here right now."

My stomach dropped as I instinctively leaned back, trying to put some distance between us. "Are you threatening me?"

"Threatening?" she scoffed, her eyes gleaming with mania. "You should be scared. You'd better tell me who ruined the plan. Since whatever was inside you is gone, and you've been a stand-in for four years, I won't make things difficult for you. Just tell me who or where that person is."

I cursed myself for coming to meet her alone. Terra was completely unhinged. But I couldn't tell her about Sarah, she had warned me against seeking revenge. So, I decided to play it cool.

"I'm the one who's been wronged here," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "I don't think you've been hurt. I'm not here to mess with you and Troy. I just want to know the truth. After that, I don't want to see you again."

I stood to leave, but Terra wasn't having it. She lifted her sleeves, and I froze.

Her arms were a mess of scars, long, jagged, deep, shallow. My stomach churned as I tried to hold back my reaction.

"Scared?" she sneered. "This is what happens when I try to break the impasse. The backlash made me cough up blood, but a few days later, my body was covered in these scars. It hurt like hell, and now they itch. Someone's trying to kill me."

The scars on her legs, those looked eerily familiar. They were almost identical to the ones Troy had left on me in my past life. The pain, the way every inch of my body had felt shattered, it all came rushing back. I recognized the pattern.

Could it be Sarah? She'd told me not to seek revenge, that everything would have its consequences. Maybe this was one of them.

Terra saw me go still, and before I could react, she reached out to grab my hand. But before her fingers touched me, Gordon appeared out of nowhere, pulling me into his arms.

Terra flinched back, as though she'd been shocked. She covered her hands and took a few steps back, eyes wide.

"There's something on you," Gordon muttered, his voice tense.

I looked down in a panic, and there it was, a small, colorful spider crawling up my arm before it scurried into my hair.