Shay's roommate piled clothes into a suitcase.

"I'm sorry, Dierdre, really I am, but you're overreacting. You don't have to leave our apartment just because I'm in trouble with the law." Saying that sent an electric charge up her spine. It sounded dangerous and mysterious. She was a badass, and even though Paul DeAngelis had been arrested for Goldie's murder, Shay would always feel like she knew something the police didn't. Just because one person was guilty didn't mean another person was blameless. "The media won't bother you too much when this all blows up for me."

Dierdre hoisted her backpack onto her shoulder. "God you're stupid. I've seriously had enough of you for a lifetime."

"That's rude. I've been putting up with your moody shit for how long now? Why are you acting like this right when I need your support?"

"I've been supporting you all along and you've been failing to understand all along. Like seriously, from day one. Why do you think I even moved in here with you?"

"Because you needed a place to live."

"I had a place to live. What I needed was someone..."

"What?"

Dierdre scanned the room. "I cannot stand you, and that's why I'm going to tell you this. I hope it hurts. And when I'm done talking, I'm gone. You won't have the faintest clue where I am, which is exactly what you're going to tell the cops whenever they show up."

"Why would the cops care where you are? They care about me."

"They don't give a shit about you, Shay. No one does."

"Why are you being such a bitch? If you're going to tell me something, tell me. Otherwise, leave!"

"'You were at Bacall Tower last night. So was Tam Martin. Are you guilty? One of you is.'"

Shay blinked. "How did you...? Have you been reading my texts? Paul sent me that."

"Your source sent you it, not Paul."

Shay's breathing grew shallow. She backed away from Dierdre. "I don't understand."

"Look at me, Shay!" Dierdre pointed at her own face. "You said it to me so many times. I've got those eyes. Those piercing blue eyes. Maybe you caught a likeness, but people resemble a lot of other people and it doesn't mean they're related. Only in my case..."

"Paul, he... doesn't have any other children besides Jasper."

"Try again."

"You can't be."

"I didn't even know myself, not until two years ago when my mother admitted it to me. And even then, it was hard to believe. But of course, I was curious. I found out you, a self-described Goldie stan, needed a roommate, so I jumped on it. You always knew where Goldie was. Even found out where she lived. It was easy then, to watch you watching that family, to find a time when I could confront him somewhere where he couldn't cast me off but where I wouldn't be publicly humiliating him. So, that's what happened. We talked."

"You're seriously Paul DeAngelis' daughter? Jasper's sister?"

"I grew up without a father and when I finally had him standing right there, you know what he said? 'You can be in my life, but only if you tell no one.' He claimed I would destroy him if the news of my existence got out. Can you imagine? I'd destroy him."

"He was probably in shock."

"Shocked for the last whole year? No. He didn't want Jasper or Becca or Goldie to know. He was thirty-four when he got my mother pregnant. She was sixteen. Think about it, Shay. His perfect family—so rich, so successful, up and coming. Growing more and more famous each day. He couldn't have that ruined. Becca, she'd probably take everything in a divorce. So, I became his secret. Meanwhile, there was Goldie. Goldie who got to grow up with him, Goldie who he took care of and made a career for. And she wasn't even his real daughter!"

Shay's pulse raced. She was the one with the secrets and obsessions. Dierdre's role in Shay's drama was that of her mild-mannered roommate, the one who kept her grounded and made sure she didn't skip too many meals. None of this made sense.

"What I realized was that I could be useful to him. More useful than Goldie. I got a job cleaning for this company that he told me about. You find out all sorts of things when you're just the cleaning lady. No one cares what you're thinking about as long as the toilets sparkle."

"What does any of that have to do with Goldie?"

"You think she's the influencer because her image is everywhere. Because her face sells makeup, and she can charge a company more than I'll make in a lifetime just by mentioning their product in an EpiGold?"

"It makes her one of the most powerful influencers ever, yes."

"No, it would have, Shay." Dierdre's face reddened, her voice wobbled as she spoke. "Goldie squandered her chance. She wouldn't listen to Paul, after all the work he had done for her. After everything I did, finding out what made Aiden tick, leaving out magazines with Goldie on the cover for him to find. His people made a deal with Lucre because of me. They approached her because of me. Because Paul understood all along what needed to happen. And at first, it all worked. We were about to make her the biggest star. Everyone in the world would adore her. And Paul, he talked to me more and more. He was so excited. And proud of me. He never said it, but I could tell. I'd helped make it all happen. I influenced everything!"

"Half of what you're saying sounds like bullshit. The cops mentioned Aiden to me, so who is he? What deal are you even talking about? The cosmetics deal?"

Dierdre shook her head. "It doesn't matter, does it? It all fell apart. She started having doubts and I told him, 'you can't let her back out of this. It's too important. You say yes to them and you can never say no again.' But that's what she did. Can you blame him for being angry? He realized then what he should have long ago. He chose the wrong daughter."

"Did you kill her?"

"You were there that night," Dierdre sad. "You tell me."

"I didn't see who did it."

"Don't be dumb, Shay. Did I push her or did Paul? Does it matter? What happened to her happened and I wasn't sad about it."

"You seemed sad. You cried that morning."

"I was emotional," she said. "Goldie had already cost us so much and now I had to worry about the affect her death would have on my father. Everything became so complicated, even if it was better that she died."

"It was better? How can you say that?" Shay hadn't felt this discomposed since Jasper had surprised her at the zoo. "I had no idea how awful you were."

"I'm awful? You styled your hair like her, made up your face to look like her, went to her stepbrother's house to, I don't know, fuck him or fuck with him. You tried to set up a woman for Goldie's murder, tried to get her murdered too—but sure, I'm the bad guy. Face it, we both wanted to replace her, just in different ways. We were both willing to commit horrible acts to achieve that end."

"At least I did what I did because I believed Tam was guilty, but you—you were willing to make it seem like I'd murdered Goldie, when you knew all along who'd done it."

"I'd only had my father in my life for such a short time. If he went to prison, I'd never see him again. Tam was an easy target. He'd already told me she was there that night. It was believable, to pin it on her. But that only worked for so long. Her life took only days to ruin. And hers, arguably, was less despicable than yours. If she wouldn't go down for Goldie's murder, why not you? You're complicit. You wove your web, you wanted to be an influencer and you got what you wanted. You made the whole internet believe a lie. You made sure an innocent woman received death threats. You destroyed her. Don't say you're undeserving of whatever is coming."

Shay slumped into a chair. "What is coming, then?"

Dierdre engaged the handle on her suitcase and pulled it along behind her as she made her way towards the apartment's exit. "You want this to wrap up like a tidy EpiGold? Everyone accounted for, all the guilty parties paying for their crimes. But that's not life. In real life, sometimes people get away with their crimes." She opened the door and walked through it. "Sometimes, the police show up, and they're already gone."

______

Dierdre... how much responsibility does she bear for everything that has happened? Were you surprised that she was involved? Do you think she'll truly get away?

One more chapter to go!