Chapter 17: The Woman Who Ran

Three days after Diana's arrest, the police found Pilar's abandoned car.

She had left Manhattan without taking the baby.

Reed was now caring for the child alone.

For the first time, Pilar had no one left to hide behind.

My attorneys continued working with the authorities.

The evidence against her was growing every hour.

Then Daniel called me late one evening.

“Fernanda, they found her.”

I sat up.

“Where?”

“At a private house in Connecticut.”

“She's being taken into custody now.”

I closed my eyes.

The woman who had destroyed my marriage had finally run out of places to hide.

The next morning, I was asked to come to the police station.

Pilar was waiting in an interrogation room.

She looked nothing like the woman I remembered.

Her hair was messy.

Her face was pale.

And for the first time, there was no confident smile.

She looked at me through the glass.

“Fernanda.”

I walked inside.

We sat across from each other.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Finally, Pilar whispered, “I never wanted this to happen.”

I looked at her.

“My parents?”

She lowered her eyes.

“I didn't plan for them to die.”

“But you knew the car was unsafe.”

She said nothing.

“You knew,” I repeated.

Tears filled her eyes.

“I told Marcus to scare them.”

My hands tightened.

“I wanted them to stop investigating.”

“I never told anyone to kill them.”

I stared at her.

“You don't get to decide what counts as murder after putting them in danger.”

She began crying.

“I was afraid.”

“Of losing Reed?”

She nodded.

“He was supposed to choose me.”

I almost laughed.

“He chose you.”

“You still destroyed everything.”

Pilar wiped her tears.

“I loved him.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“You wanted what I had.”

She looked away.

“Your parents' money.”

“Your marriage.”

“Your life.”

“You wanted all of it.”

Her silence confirmed everything.

Then she whispered, “There is something else.”

I waited.

“The baby.”

My expression hardened.

“What about him?”

Pilar swallowed.

“Adrian was never supposed to know.”

I frowned.

“What does Adrian have to do with this?”

“He wanted nothing to do with the child.”

“So I used Reed.”

“I told Reed the baby was his because I knew he'd protect me.”

I stared at her.

“You built your entire life on a lie.”

She nodded through her tears.

“Yes.”

I stood up.

“Then live with the truth.”

Pilar reached toward me.

“Fernanda, please.”

I stepped away.

“Don't call me your sister again.”

“You lost that right years ago.”

I walked out without looking back.

Outside, Daniel was waiting.

“It's over,” he said.

I shook my head.

“Not yet.”

He looked surprised.

I held up the final document from my father's files.

“There is still one person who hasn't told the whole truth.”

“Who?”

I looked toward the courthouse.

“Reed.”

Because Pilar had confessed to what she did.

Diana had been exposed.

But Reed had spent eight years protecting them.

And I needed to know exactly how much he had known.