[Love Hits Hard Volume 2] Deception or Truth?

Ch7 : A South Beach Investigation

The phone vibrated in my hand. Alan's name flashing on the screen. Now , he was the only one who could help me unravel the tangled web of lies and deceit.

"Hey", I said , my voice shaky . "I need to know where Anna is right now and I need everything you know about her ", I said , pressing my lips together. "Please, Alan , just help me , understand."

Daphne is listening from the other end of the line. Before Alan called me I was talking to her .

"But why ? What happened, Emy?"

I explained him everything that how I found out that Noah hadn't committed suicide. He had been murdered , and Vincent , the man I suspected, had turned out to be a grieving father , manipulated by Anna. Anna had convinced Vincent that Noah was responsible for his daughter's death.

I could hear Alan taking a deep breath.
He hesitated , then he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper, " She is in Miami ."

He gave me a few more details and I jotted them down. Every word was like a piece of a puzzle, one that was slowly starting to come together , but with the edges still blurred.

"Thank you , Alan ", I whispered.

I ended the call and turned to Daphne , the urgency in my voice as thick as the grief that still clung to me.
"Now that I know where she is , I need to see her."

Daphne who knows me better than anyone , didn't try to talk me out of it.
"Be careful , Emy," her voice full of concern. "And don't do anything rash."

I drove to the airport, the city blurring past . My mind is racing, piecing together the fragmented clues. The image of Anna, always the pampered princess, flickered in my mind, contrasting starkly with the viciousness I had discovered.

Miami is a world away from the quiet town where we had all known each other. The air is thick with humidity, and the city pulsed with a frenetic energy that mirrored my own.

I found Anna's apartment, a luxurious penthouse overlooking the ocean.

She answered the door with a smirk, her eyes calculating. "Well, Emily," she said, her voice dripping with a mock sweetness. "This is a surprise."

"I need to talk to you," I said, stepping past her into the apartment. It is a space of opulent chaos, a reflection of Anna's personality.

She was trying to be nonchalant, but her voice trembled when I asked about Vincent. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, throwing on a coat of feigned innocence. "You are delusional , Emily. Noah was a jerk , a Playboy. Everyone knew it."

I took a step closer, my voice low and dangerous. "You're a liar, Anna. You made Vincent believe that Noah killed his daughter, and you did it to protect yourself."

We stood there, two women on opposite sides of a chasm of grief and betrayal. She tried to push past me, to dismiss me as a hysterical woman grieving for her lost love.

But I grabbed her arm, my grip surprisingly strong. "Tell me the truth, Anna. Why did you do it?"

Her eyes flickered, a sliver of guilt momentarily breaking through the icy facade. "I...I didn't hate Noah. But I didn't like the way he talked to me that day. The way he sided with you, humiliate me. And Cindy is my best friend. She asked me to do it. So, I did."

The confession hung in the air. Before I could even process her words, the world seemed to tilt on its axis. A shattering sound, a sharp pain, and then everything went black.

I woke up in a hospital bed, the sterile white walls a jarring reminder of my reality. I saw Alan talking with someone outside the room. Daphne was sitting beside me, her face etched with concern.

"You're okay," she said, her voice shaky.

"What happened?" I rasped, my throat dry.

"You were shot," she said, her voice tight. "A sniper. They got away."

"Anna," I whispered, my voice weak. "She's...she's dead?"

Daphne said nothing, just held my hand tightly. The truth was a bitter pill, leaving me with a hollow ache in my heart. Anna is gone, her secret buried with her.

I know that the fight isn't over. I am going to find out who is behind this, who had orchestrated this entire elaborate scheme. My love for Noah had been stolen, but my thirst for justice had only grown stronger. I would find the truth, even if it took the rest of my life.