I Saw Her Goodness Too Late

Five days before the three years were up, Rita's phone rang.

Winnie's bright, tinkling laugh came through first, followed by Seth's warm, overly patient voice.

"Be good. Quit messing around. I need to talk to her," Seth said, sounding a little helpless.

That soft, indulgent way he talked to Winnie made Rita's chest tighten. Her fingers tightened around the phone before she even realized it.

Then, as soon as he spoke to her, his voice went cold. "Winnie asked that psychic about you. If you plant 999 roses yourself, you can finally get rid of all that bad luck hanging over you."

Rita's heart lurched. The moment she heard Winnie's name, her gut reaction was to say no. She didn't even get the word out before Seth cut her off again.

His voice stayed low, but there was a weight in it that didn't need yelling to sound like a threat. "I'm telling you. I'm not asking for your opinion."

The line went dead, and something in her chest gave way.

A second later, her screen lit up with a new text. It was an address. Only then did it occur to her that Seth had pulled her off his blocked list just to fulfill Winnie's wish.

Their last message thread had been sitting there untouched for three years. That day was supposed to be their sweet, perfect wedding. Instead, Seth lost Tara and took Rita down with him.

When the memory slipped away, Rita realized she was standing in front of Everrose Estate, caught in a long, dazed pause.

She took in the heirloom roses climbing the wall, the antique copper mirror carved with tiny floral patterns, the rolling waves of hydrangeas.

The place looked like it had been pulled straight from an old-world painting, soaked in the soft, romantic magic she'd always loved.

And all of it had been the proposal gift Seth planned for her three years ago.

Rita remembered that sunny afternoon, how he'd tucked half his face into her hair. His arm had been warm and steady around her waist, his smile soft and effortless.

"My Rita deserves to be the happiest princess in the world."

But now, the estate felt like a gravestone, marking the death of what they'd been and feeding the first shoots of hatred.

Gary kept urging her forward, but it barely registered with her. Rita followed in a fog, and she was a step from the rear garden when she froze. The sight ahead hit her like an eyesore.

Winnie had her arm draped around Seth's neck, grinning as she pointed at the grapes on the tray, nudging him to feed her.

And the man who was usually all ice actually smiled back, warm and relaxed. He peeled a grape with slow, careful hands before lifting it to her mouth.

Rita was still staring when Gary shoved her. She stumbled and caught herself just in time. When she looked up again, she ran right into Seth's sharp, cutting stare.

The moment he saw her, his face tightened. Like even acknowledging her was a bother, he flicked his chin at Gary, telling him to take her to the wild, overgrown garden in the back.

Then Seth turned to Winnie again, though the way he peeled the next grape wasn't nearly as smooth.

The overgrown garden was bigger than Rita expected, and the sun beat down even harder than she'd imagined.

While Seth held a parasol over Winnie, sweat blurred Rita's vision.

She planted the roses with her bare hands. The thorns stabbed straight through her fingertips, unforgiving. Blood dripped into the soil, each drop feeling like it mocked how pathetic she looked.

But Rita didn't stop. She kept telling herself that pushing harder might drown out the ache in her chest.

That was when a raspberry margarita appeared beside her. She stepped back fast when she met Winnie's eyes.

Winnie offered the drink, her voice soft and pleading. "Rita, take a break. This is for your own good."

They pushed at each other, and Rita yanked herself loose. A sharp crack snapped through the air as the glass shattered.

Winnie slipped and tumbled down the long steps, ending up at the bottom in a pool of blood and broken glass.

Rita's eyes flew wide. She rushed to help Winnie, but the second she reached out, something heavy slammed into her and sent her crashing backward.

The rose bushes ripped across her back like blades. Blood soaked through her clothes, spreading fast.

Pain broke over her, leaving a cold sweat down her spine. When she forced her eyes open, she met Seth's, red-rimmed and blazing.

He snapped his teeth together. "Rita, Victor ruined Tara's life. And now you're trying to kill Winnie? If anything happens to her, I'll drag the whole Searle family down with you!"

Exhaust from the Maybach clawed at her lungs, leaving her skull pounding. She curled on the ground, her tears disappearing into the blood on her shirt.

Her thoughts kept slipping away until she couldn't hold on. The darkness finally swallowed her.

…

She had no clue how long she'd been out when her eyes blinked open again.

An agreement was sitting right in front of her.