Chapter 2 - The Gates
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Four hours earlier, I'd been standing in the cemetery parking lot, phone pressed to my ear.
"You understand what you're doing?" The voice on the other end was calm. Professional. "Once this goes out, there's no going back."
"I understand."
"Your husband. His family. They'll come after you."
"They're already coming after me. I just need to make sure they can't win."
A pause. "The evidence is... significant. It implicates a lot of people. Powerful people."
"I know."
"You could die for this."
"I could die anyway. At least this way, I die on my terms."
Another pause. Then: "The gates. Noon. I'll be waiting."
I hung up. Looked at the cemetery. The rows of headstones. The open grave at the far end—the one they'd dug for Ethan's father. The one they'd claimed was for a "private ceremony."
I'd known it was a trap. I'd known for weeks.
But I'd walked into it anyway.
Because I needed them to think they'd won.
I needed them to be careless.
I needed them to make a mistake.
And they had.
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Now, lying at the bottom of that grave, dirt piling on my chest, I watched their faces change.
Confusion. Fear. Panic.
"What do we do?" Aunt Margaret whispered.
"Shut up." Eleanor's voice was sharp. "She's bluffing."
"I'm not bluffing."
"Who did you send it to?"
"The police. The FBI. The media. Everyone."
"You're lying."
I pulled my phone from my pocket. Held it up.
"Want to see the sent folder?"
Ethan lunged for it. But I was faster. I threw it. It sailed over their heads. Landed somewhere in the grass.
"Get it!" Eleanor screamed.
Half the family ran. The other half stayed. Staring at me.
"You think that matters?" Eleanor's voice was shaking. "We'll destroy it. We'll destroy you."
"You can't destroy what's already out there. The emails. The uploads. The scheduled posts. It's all automated. Even if you kill me, it goes out."
"You're lying."
"Am I?"
She stared at me. I stared back.
Then I heard it.
Sirens. In the distance. Getting closer.
Eleanor's face went pale.
"You—"
"I told you. I sent the evidence. And I told them where to find me."
"You bitch."
"Maybe. But I'm a bitch who's about to watch you all go to prison."
The family scattered. Running in every direction. Like roaches when the light comes on.
Only Ethan stayed. Looking down at me. His face twisted with something I couldn't read. Regret? Anger? Fear?
"I loved you," he whispered.
"No, you didn't. You loved my silence. And now you don't have it anymore."
The sirens got louder. Tires screeched. Doors slammed.
Ethan ran.
I lay there. In my grave. Dirt up to my waist. Blood in my eyes.
And I smiled.
Because I'd won.
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