Daphne
She watches the courtyard from her window, the glass warm beneath her fingertips. Then—movement. It’s her. Slipping down the stairwell from the celebrity shrink’s apartment.
“Lili!” Daphne calls, her voice straining as she bolts into the courtyard. “Lili, please!”
Lili halts just past the steps, breath catching as she sees her. “Stay away from me, Daphne.”
But Daphne doesn’t stop. “You have to understand! I never meant to hurt you.”
Lili turns, planting her feet, forcing her voice to hold steady. “You stalked me. You tormented me. Lied to me.” She almost stutters over the words, a sob lodged in her throat. “If that wasn’t your goal… then what was?”
“I was jealous. I was lost! I didn’t know how to stop! I thought if you felt even a fraction of what I felt—”
“Is there more? Something you haven’t told me? About you and Casey?”
“Lili, no. Never. I swear on everything. I would never do that to you. Whatever else I’ve done… I’m not that person.”
She’s a liar. But something in the desperation feels honest—too raw, too messy to be rehearsed.
“You made me feel unsafe, Daphne. In my home. In my own mind.”
“Lili, listen to yourself. Why are you giving me so much power?”
The slap cracks through the courtyard. A bird jolts from a nearby branch. “Get help, Daphne,” Lili says calmly, like it’s the only thing left to say, leaving no space for pity. Then, without another word, she walks away.
Daphne drops to the ground. Shoulders shaking, breath trembling. Then, she goes still. One breath. Then another. She wipes her face. Tilts her head to the wide, indifferent sky. Tears still cling to her lashes. Then slowly her mouth bends into a defiant smile.
Minutes later, she’s tearing through the streets of LA. Horns. Brakes. Screams of traffic. None of it registers. Her heartbeat drowns out everything as she swings into the parking lot.
Inside, faces blur past—the receptionist’s gasp, side-eyes from cubicles, but Daphne doesn’t stop. Doesn’t slow. Only one thing matters. Only one door.
She shoves it open, rattling the frame. Casey jolts up from his desk, his face dropping the second he sees what’s arrived.
Stolen story; please report.
“Please,” she rasps. “Just listen.”
He’s across the room in two strides. Grabs her arm. Slams her back against the wall.
The door snaps shut behind them. His hand clamps around Daphne’s throat. “You have some fucking nerve.”
“I didn’t want to lose you,” she chokes out. “I didn’t know how else to fix it. How to fix us.”
Casey shoves her before he lets go. She stumbles, catches herself on the cabinet’s edge.
“There is no us,” he snaps, voice rising with fury. “Not after the shit you pulled. How the fuck did you think this would play out? Threatening me? Cyberstalking my wife?”
Casey turns to grab the phone, then stops. Sees the look on Daphne’s face. The ache in it. “You’re crying now? Give me a break.”
“I just wanted you to be as angry as I am. Both of you.”
He lets out a low, incredulous laugh, like she’s just confirmed his worst suspicion. “Mission accomplished, Daphne. You know what else? The irony? What you did brought Lili and me closer than we’ve been in years. Who needs therapy when a psycho bitch fixes everything for you?”
He doesn’t wait. He snatches up the phone. Dials. “I need security in office 25-B.”
“I’ll tell her everything!” Daphne says it too fast, almost pleading now, like she’s afraid the moment might slip away.
Casey goes still. For a moment, it’s like the world slows around him. Then, without a word, he sets the phone down.
His gaze lifts. Finds her across the office. “No, you won’t. You’re too scared. You always were.”
“No!” Daphne barks, the words tearing out. “You’re the coward! Not me.”
Casey doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. And it’s the watching that undoes her. That silent, unreadable stare…
Like I never meant anything.
“Fine,” she says, aiming for calm, but the tremble in her voice betrays her. “Tell security we’re good. I’ll escort myself out.”
The hours unspool in silence. Outside, afternoon blurs into dusk. The building stirs, windows and television screens blinking on as darkness seeps in.
Inside her apartment, Daphne paces barefoot. The room lists. Or maybe she does. She takes another swig, the past twenty-four hours flashing through her mind—
The shove. The slap. The fire. Their faces, frozen in shock. And Casey. The way he looked at her. The way he laughed. Like she meant nothing. Like she was nothing.
A jagged laugh scrapes out of her throat as she stumbles outside. Across the tile, the pool shimmers darkly under moonlight. “You left me! All of you,” she slurs, her voice breaking. “But you’ll remember me—”
Her foot skids against the wet tile. A jolt of terror flashes through her, too fast to stop herself, as the bottle slips from her hand and shatters.
Daphne topples. The crash of water and glass. A gasp of pain—
The pool swallows her, ripping a breathless scream from her lungs. She sinks deeper. The world above fracturing. A thin ribbon of blood unfurls from her palm, blooming through the water. Her lungs seize. Her arms grow heavy. And for a moment, she thinks he’s really there…
Casey. Above the surface. On the other side. Through ripples and light and fog. Looking down at her as she drifts deeper…
Her arm reaches up. Is it voluntary? Or just the slow physics of water, dragging her upward even as she falls into the void…
He’s come to save me. He wants me. He needs me. He loves me…
And before it all goes black, she hears her own mind echo through the dark—
No, he doesn’t. He never did. He didn’t lie to me…
You just lied to yourself.