Chapter 4: Too Late to Believe Her

Kevin stood frozen outside the ICU.

"She doesn't want to see me?"

Mrs. Hart's face remained calm, but her eyes were cold.

"No."

"Did she say why?"

"Do you really need her to explain it?"

Kevin lowered his eyes.

No.

He didn't.

Every cruel word from that phone call replayed in his mind.

Every time he had dismissed Michelle.

Every time he had prioritized Violet.

Every time Michelle had tried to tell him she was hurting and he had called her jealous.

He had finally reached the moment where an apology felt necessary.

But Michelle had reached the moment where his apology no longer mattered.

"Can you at least tell her I'm sorry?"

"No."

Kevin looked up.

"Please."

"She almost died, Kevin."

"I know."

"No, I don't think you do."

Mrs. Hart stepped closer.

"She woke up terrified. She remembered the countdown. She remembered being tied down. She remembered calling you because she thought you were the one person who would believe her."

Kevin's jaw tightened.

"And instead, she remembers you accusing her of lying."

He said nothing.

"She doesn't need your guilt sitting beside her bed right now."

"I understand."

"Do you?"

"I'm trying to."

Mrs. Hart stared at him for another second, then turned away.

"Try somewhere else."

The ICU doors closed between them.

Kevin sat down.

For the first time in his life, waiting felt like punishment.

The next morning, Detective Cole returned.

"We found Mercer's accomplice."

Kevin stood immediately.

"Alive?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Caught crossing state lines with a stolen vehicle."

"Did he talk?"

"A little."

"And Mercer?"

"Still missing."

Kevin clenched his fists.

"What did the accomplice say about Michelle?"

Cole watched him carefully.

"He said Mercer believed you would come running the moment Michelle called."

"I know."

"There's more."

"What?"

"He said they were shocked when you didn't."

Kevin's face went blank.

"Shocked?"

"Apparently Mercer had monitored your routine for weeks."

"Why?"

"To understand your weaknesses."

"And he thought Michelle was one of them."

"Yes."

Cole opened his notebook.

"According to the accomplice, Mercer told him that anyone who watched you and Michelle together would know she mattered to you."

Kevin stared at him.

"That's not true."

"Maybe it was."

"Then why didn't I believe her?"

Cole didn't answer.

Kevin laughed bitterly.

"Exactly."

Cole continued.

"The accomplice also claims they planned to leave Michelle alive if you arrived."

Kevin's expression changed.

"What?"

"The bomb was leverage."

"Then why did it detonate?"

"Because Mercer panicked after realizing you weren't coming."

"So he left her to die."

"Yes."

Kevin turned away.

His chest felt tight.

"If I had believed her..."

"Don't do that."

"If I had believed her, they might've waited."

"Maybe."

"She wouldn't be in there."

"Maybe."

"Stop saying maybe."

"Because that's all we have."

Cole's tone remained controlled.

"You didn't plant the bomb, Kevin."

"I know."

"You didn't kidnap her."

"I know."

"But if you're asking whether your choices mattered, then yes. They did."

Kevin looked at him sharply.

Cole didn't soften.

"You told me you wanted the truth."

"I do."

"Then stop asking people to make it easier."

Those words stayed with Kevin long after Cole left.

That afternoon, Violet returned.

Kevin saw her near the elevators.

He immediately stood.

"Why are you here?"

She blinked.

"I came to see how Michelle is doing."

"She doesn't want visitors."

"I wasn't going inside."

"Then why come?"

"Because I care about you."

Kevin stared at her.

"That's exactly the problem."

"What is?"

"Everything always becomes about me and you."

Violet crossed her arms.

"You're exhausted."

"I'm finally awake."

"Kevin, please don't start blaming our friendship because Michelle got hurt."

"I'm not blaming our friendship."

"Then what?"

"I'm blaming what I allowed it to become."

Violet's face tightened.

"You make it sound like we did something wrong."

"Didn't we?"

"No."

"I had a girlfriend."

"And?"

"And you called me every time you were scared, lonely, bored, upset, inconvenienced, or simply wanted company."

"Because you're my best friend."

"And I always went."

"Because you wanted to."

"Exactly."

Violet looked frustrated.

"Then this is on you, not me."

"It is."

Kevin nodded.

"But I'm not pretending it was healthy anymore."

"Healthy?"

"Michelle told me for years that something was wrong."

"She was jealous."

"You keep saying that."

"Because it's true."

"Was she jealous when I abandoned her parents at dinner?"

"You knew I hated the dark."

"Was she jealous when I missed her birthday because you had a panic attack?"

"I thought I couldn't breathe."

"Was she jealous when I cancelled our anniversary because your ex got engaged?"

Violet went quiet.

Kevin continued.

"Every time Michelle asked me to stay, I treated it like an attack on you."

"She wanted to control you."

"No."

"You don't know that."

"I know now."

He looked toward the ICU corridor.

"She wanted to know that she mattered."

"And she did."

"Not enough."

Violet's eyes filled with tears.

"So what happens to me now?"

Kevin almost laughed.

There it was again.

Michelle was recovering from an explosion.

And somehow Violet's first question was what happened to Violet.

"I don't know," he said.

"You're throwing away twenty years because your girlfriend got jealous?"

"Don't call her jealous again."

Violet stared at him.

"You're choosing her over me now?"

Kevin's expression changed.

"I should have done that a long time ago."

Violet went completely still.

"You don't mean that."

"I do."

"Kevin—"

"Go home, Violet."

"You're going to regret this."

Kevin looked at her sadly.

"I already regret enough."

She left without another word.

That evening, Michelle finally asked to speak with Detective Cole.

Kevin learned about it from a nurse.

He wasn't invited.

He sat outside while Cole entered her room.

Almost an hour later, the detective came back out.

"How is she?" Kevin asked.

"Tired."

"Did she remember anything useful?"

"Yes."

"What?"

Cole hesitated.

"She remembered Mercer talking before the kidnapping."

"About what?"

"About you."

"What did he say?"

"That he'd been following you."

"We knew that."

"She remembered something else."

Kevin waited.

"Mercer said he knew you would come because everyone knew Michelle was the woman you planned to marry."

Kevin's face changed.

"Planned to marry?"

"Apparently Mercer had seen something online."

"What?"

"A ring purchase."

Kevin stopped breathing.

"How would he know about that?"

"We're investigating."

Cole studied him.

"Did you buy one?"

Kevin looked toward Michelle's room.

"Six months ago."

"But you never proposed."

"No."

"Why?"

Kevin's voice was barely audible.

"Because every time I planned something... Violet needed me."

Cole said nothing.

He didn't need to.

Kevin leaned back against the wall.

For six months, the engagement ring had been hidden in the bottom drawer of his desk.

Six months of waiting for the right night.

Six months of cancelled dinners.

Six months of telling himself there would always be another chance.

The ICU door opened.

Michelle's mother stepped into the hallway.

She looked at Kevin.

"Michelle agreed to see you."

His heart jumped.

"Now?"

"For five minutes."

Kevin stood so quickly the chair scraped across the floor.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me."

Mrs. Hart's voice was quiet.

"And don't mistake this for forgiveness."

Kevin entered the room.

Michelle was awake.

Her eyes met his.

For four years, he had known every version of that gaze.

Happy.

Angry.

Sleepy.

Loving.

Jealous, he had once called it.

Now there was nothing in her expression.

"Michelle," he whispered.

"Hi, Kevin."

He nearly broke at the sound of her voice.

"I'm sorry."

She looked toward the window.

"I knew you'd say that."

"I should have believed you."

"Yes."

"I should have listened."

"Yes."

"I should've chosen you."

Michelle looked back at him.

"But you didn't."

Kevin swallowed.

"I know."

"Do you?"

"I do now."

"That's convenient."

He flinched.

"Michelle—"

"When I called you, I had less than ten minutes to live."

"I know."

"And you were angry because I interrupted you saving Violet's cat."

"I know."

"I begged you to listen."

"I know."

"You called me a liar."

"I know."

Her eyes filled with tears, but her voice stayed calm.

"Then what exactly are you apologizing for?"

Kevin couldn't answer.

"For the phone call?" she continued.

"For Violet?"

"For four years?"

"For making me feel like I had to compete for my own boyfriend?"

"For telling me that if I couldn't accept Violet coming first, I should forget about marrying you?"

Kevin's eyes burned.

"All of it."

Michelle looked at him for a long time.

"I loved you so much that I kept changing my definition of love just to make what you gave me fit inside it."

Kevin closed his eyes.

"But when that timer reached one minute, I finally understood."

"Michelle..."

"I wasn't afraid of dying because I hadn't married you."

Her voice trembled.

"I was afraid because I had wasted years waiting for someone who had already chosen somebody else."

Kevin stepped closer.

"I never loved Violet."

"Maybe not the way you loved me."

"Then—"

"But you chose her like you did."

That silenced him.

Michelle wiped a tear from her cheek.

"I don't hate you, Kevin."

Somehow, that hurt more.

"I wish I did."

"Michelle, please give me a chance to fix this."

"Fix what?"

"Us."

She stared at him.

"There is no us."

Kevin went pale.

"Don't say that."

"Why?"

"Because you're angry."

Michelle smiled sadly.

"No."

"Then you're hurt."

"Yes."

"So don't decide now."

"Kevin, I decided when I sent that goodbye message."

He couldn't breathe.

"I survived the bomb," she whispered.

"But what I felt for you didn't."