Adam sat by the hospital bed while his mother had gone out. It had been a long morning, but he wanted to be with his father.

"So you found your wife?" Jonathan Hargrove asked, his eyes closed.

"Yes." Adam smiled. "Everything's going to go back to normal soon."

"Why hasn't she come by?"

Adam turned his head to stare at the heart monitor. "She will."

"When?"

"Does it matter? It's not as if you can have too many guests right now."

"She's my daughter-in-law. I want to see for myself that she's okay," Adam's father said. "Bring her here."

"Dad, now isn't the time to be thinking about Calista. You just woke up. You need to work on getting better."

"No, I need to see her. I need to...to apologize."

"Apologize?" Adam frowned. "Why would you need to apologize?"

His father opened his eyes. "It's all my fault."

"What is?"

"But I didn't have a choice. They're going to kill me now. Now that I'm awake, it's only a matter of time. I have to explain."

Adam grabbed his father's hand. "What are you trying to say, Dad? Did you have--"

"I need to get forgiveness."

"Don't. Don't tell me you had something to do with what happened to her. No, that's impossible. You wouldn't have. You and Calista got along so well," Adam was muttering to himself. "Dad, what's going on."

"You have to bring her," his father's breath was becoming ragged.

"I can't. I can't bring her," Adam insisted.

The beeping from the heart monitor was quickening.

"I need to apologize. It was greed. Now that she's alive, they'll come any minute. I know it."

"Who will come?"

"The people who want her dead. No one can save her. No one can save me. We're living ghosts right now. Living ghosts."

"Dad--"

Adam stood up, watching in horror as his father's breathing became more difficult. He pressed the button for the nurse, wondering who exactly wanted his wife dead and why.

They were alone in the dining room and Calista still couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with Sebastian after running out of his room, his laughter following her down the hall.

It wasn't as if she could continue like this. They had to discuss what happened whether she liked it or not. She cleared her throat. "This is uncomfortable but I can't ignore it. We need to talk about the giant elephant in the room."

Sebastian smirked and looked down at his lap before lifting his eyes back to Calista. "Giant elephant? Is that what you want to call it?"

Her cheeks heated in embarrassment and she pointed a finger at him. "Y-you...you know what I mean."

"No, please explain to me. What do you mean?"

"Last night, I-"

"Hid yourself in my closet to see me naked?" Sebastian said dryly as he poured himself a fresh cup of coffee.

"W-w-w-what?" Calista sputtered, putting down her glass of orange juice. "You think I hid in there on purpose? We had an agreement."

"And?"

"And? Y-you said we'd be brother and sister. Brothers don't purposely flash their sisters unless they're perverts."

Sebastian chuckled. "I asked you to be my fake sister. Besides, I wouldn't have done that but you decided to sneak into my room and hide yourself. I should be offended that you were trying to see me naked. Instead, I granted your wish."

Calista gasped. "You're seriously going to keep saying that? You're some kind of exhibitionist."

"For walking around naked in my own room? You're a voyeur."

"V-voyeur? I'm losing my mind," Calista whispered to herself.

"If you want me to treat you like a brother, then act like a sister. I told you before, that I'll help protect you."

Calista opened her mouth but only a squeaking sound came out.

"Is this one of Pop Pop's games? What sound does a...what sound are you making? An embarrassed woman? Ahh...I know. What sound does a voyeur make? Now I know." Sebastian laughed, mimicking her squeaking sounds.

Calista quickly closed her mouth and pointed a finger at him. "Listen, we need to make this clear. I'm only pretending to be your sister because I need help and because you were so nice to me when you thought I was your real sister."

"And?"

"And I'm not about to fool around with you. Don't you find it weird to even be flirting with me when I look like your sister?"

Sebastian shrugged. "It is a little off but you're not my sister."

"That's not what you said before," Calista reminded him.

"That was before you wanted to see me naked. I'm a man. If you want to make this a non-platonic relationship, I'm more than willing to accommodate."

"I've gone mad. This is madness," Calista muttered to herself. "I don't know what's worse. A possible murderer after me or you."

Sebastian picked up a roll and began to spread jam over it. "Definitely the murderer. You'd have good time with me."

"How can you be so blasé about this?"

Sebastian took a bite from his roll, swallowed, and answered, "Because I know I can protect you from anyone...even yourself. A murderer doesn't worry me."

"You're very arrogant. Do you know that? Aren't you worried about the real Calista? Your real sister?"

His eyes darkened and he carefully placed his roll down. "My sister will show up when it's to her advantage. Don't misunderstand. I don't hate my sister. I love her. Even so, she's a very selfish woman. Why else would she keep herself hidden when she knows I'd be worried about her? When Pop Pop would be worried?"

"Does she know?" Calista asked.

"Duckie!" Pop Pop's voice entered the dining room before him. His was using his cane as he entered carrying a large bouquet of roses.

"Oh those are beautiful!" Calista said as he placed them in front of her. "Did you get me these? What's the occasion?"

"I most certainly did not. I would never buy a woman flowers. Women don't like flowers. Not really."

"That's not true. I love flowers, Pop Pop."

"That's a lie. Do you know why?"

Calista shook her head, pressing her nose closer to the fragrant roses.

"Because flowers die. No, women don't need flowers. It's better to give them jewelry. They can keep jewelry. Remember that, Sebastian."

"Yes, sir." Sebastian grinned as Pop Pop hobbled out of the room.

"If these aren't from Pop Pop, who could they be from?" Calista wondered aloud.

"Don't tell me you sent them to yourself to make me jealous," Sebastian said from behind his newspaper. "I don't have time for games. All you have to do is ask if you want me to be more than a brother."

Calista rolled her eyes, and plucked the card attached to the flowers. She opened it up to see a typed message.

"Your husband is cheating on you."

For a moment Calista wondered if her heart would jump out of her chest. Her fingers trembled as she held the card, knowing it meant that someone else knew she was a fake. Was Adam really having an affair?

Sebastian looked up from his paper. "Is something wrong?"

Calista placed her hands in her lap. "You said you'd protect me, right?"

"Of course. What's wrong?"

She picked up the note and passed it to Sebastian. He tapped his fingers against the table. "So does your husband know you're pretending to be my sister?"

"He does."

"You should've told me sooner."

"I'm sorry. I thought it would be better for me to keep some secrets to myself."

Sebastian straightened his tie. "Well, now you know you were wrong about that. If you expect me to keep you safe, I have to know everything. Is that understood?"

"You do understand what that note means, right?" Calista whispered. "Someone knows I'm not the real Calista Dover."

Sebastian nodded, staring at the note.

"What if they expose me?"

"Us," he corrected her. "What if they expose us. We're in on this ruse together. It amazes me anyone would be brave enough to go against me."

"Maybe they don't know you're helping me," Calista said.

Sebastian made a scoffing sound. "I'm Sebastian Dover. Of course I'd know you weren't my sister. Granted, it took me a while to figure things out because of everything that was going on but I knew the truth as soon as you were out of the hospital."

"So, now what?"

"Now, we wait. Whoever this is won't stop at this note. And when he makes his next move, I'll be waiting."

"Waiting to do what?"

"Exterminate the problem. Whoever this is must be delusional to think it's okay to disrupt my life."

Calista nodded, biting her bottom lip.

Sebastian leaned forward. "So what are you going to do?"

"About what?"

His brows rose. "About your cheating husband?"

Nausea rolled its way through her. "I don't even know if this note is true. How could it be?"

Sebastian nodded, standing up. "Well, just let me know if you want to change our relationship. Like I said, I'm sure he'd be happy to accommodate."

"He? He who?" Calista asked, confused.

"The giant elephant in the room," Sebastian answered, his laughter trailing behind him.

Janelle waited three times before the person on the other line answered, "Did you do it?"

"You're such a nag. I told you I would. It's a done deal. I'll forward you the pics if you want proof."

"You took pictures?" Janelle gasped.

"What? You wanted proof, didn't you?"

"We had a deal," Janelle reminded the caller. "We aren't supposed to hurt Calista."

"What would be more harmful than finding out her husband is a total bastard? Listen, I told you I'd help you as long as we did things my way."

"Your way involves way too much scheming," Janelle whispered. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't. Listen, I only asked you for your help because I thought you cared about Calista."

"Of course I care about her. She's my best friend."

"Yeah, well she's my sister. Even if she doesn't know it. And that trumps best friend so stop acting like you care about her more than I do. Speaking of which, tell her not to get too chummy with my brother. I don't like it."

"You slept with her husband. I don't think that gives you the right to get angry about who she gets chummy with."

"Maybe you're right but that doesn't change the fact that my brother is off the table. I'd do anything for Sebastian. Anything. And I don't want to see my sister sleeping with him...especially when she has my face."

"Are you sure about that? Calista Dover, did you just admit your Achilles heel?" Janelle asked.

"Sebastian isn't just my heel. He's my everything," Calista Dover sighed. "My everything."