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“What the hell, Theo? What are you doing?” Tyler shouts.
“This is all her fault. All of this is her fault.” I can barely keep it together, my heart pounds in my chest. “Mary, I should kill you right now, you lying bitch.”
“Theo, what’s happening? What did she do?” Tyler asks. I look down and see him holding Kelly.
“Get the fuck off me. Where is my husband?”
Oh fuck, not this again.
“Great, now we have to deal with Sophie in the middle of this,” Sara mutters, throwing her hands up as she rushes over to comfort Sophie. My attention snaps back to Mary. I walk closer and closer as she scoots backward, looking up at me.
“What did I do?” begs Mary, and I can tell she is terrified. It takes everything in me not to reach down and break her arm again.
“Tell the group what you did. Tell them why we’re all trapped in this nightmare because of you.”
“What is he talking about, Mary?” Tyler asks.
“I can explain; it wasn't supposed to happen this way,” Mary pleads.
“What wasn't supposed to happen this way?” Xander asks.
“Tell them what you did.” It’s taking everything in me not to choke her right now.
“Wait, Mary too?” shouts Tyler, sounding confused.
“Yes, tell them everything you did before I throw you overboard. No one will stop me once they learn the truth. Tell them!”
“Okay, I promise it wasn’t meant to happen like this. The explosion that took out the ship wasn’t an accident.” Everyone gasps, and Kel– or, I guess, Sophie now– lets out a scream.
“Guys, I think the baby is coming,” shouts Sara. But now everyone else is too focused on Mary to look away.
“The explosion was meant to kill Theo and disrupt communications,” Mary says, causing everyone to gasp again. “But then the storm came out of nowhere, pushing us off course. After that, we got lost. All of this was Julie's idea; she’d been planning it for years.”
“What do you mean she’s been planning this for years?” Tyler asks.
“She reached out to me years ago with an offer to help take down the Parrish family,” says Mary.
“How? When Julie met Theo, she had nothing,” says Tyler, then he turns to look at me.
“She said she’d pay me once she killed you and Theo and inherited all the money,” Mary responds.
“She was going to kill me, too?” asks Tyler.
“Yes! It's all right here in the letter,” I answer, shoving the papers at Tyler.
“Your mother killed Julie's mother in that car accident twenty years ago, and your father orchestrated a cover-up that framed Julie’s mother as the drunk driver in the accident,” says Mary. “I begged her for months not to go through with it, but she was hell-bent on getting revenge.”
We all stand there in stunned silence until a guttural groan rips through the air.
“Guys… I really think the baby is coming,” says Sara.
“Grab the medical bag!” Mary calls out.
“Shut the fuck up,” Tyler snaps right back at her.
“Look, I get that you’re all pissed at me, but let me help her. Please,” says Mary. Everyone else springs into motion, but I can't move. The world suddenly feels like it’s moving in slow motion.
“I think you've already done enough,” Sara snaps. I turn to Sophie and watch as she grunts, clenching her teeth and grasping at Sara’s arms.
