Chapter 4
Rachel knew she couldn’t live like a ghost forever. She started with the last person she saw before her world collapsed—Helen.
She went to Helen’s old neighborhood, wearing a hoodie and keeping her head down. Some people still remembered the girl who had died in the hotel scandal, though now they only whispered about her like she was a cautionary tale.
“Such a pretty girl,” an old woman murmured, sweeping her porch. “Too bad she trusted the wrong friend.”
Rachel didn’t argue. There was no point.
But she didn’t come here for sympathy. She came to dig.
At a small diner near Helen’s apartment, she met a waitress who had been friends with Helen back in college. Her name was Lisa. After some hesitation, Lisa agreed to talk.
“She wasn’t herself near the end,” Lisa said quietly, wiping down the table. “She was nervous. Jumpy. Said someone was watching her.”
Rachel leaned in. “Did she say who?”
“No. But she kept checking her phone like she was waiting for something. The night she… died, she told me she was going to expose someone. Said it was time the truth came out.”
Rachel’s heart dropped.
Expose someone?
“Do you still have any messages from her?”
Lisa hesitated. “I deleted them. I didn’t want trouble. After she died, people came asking questions. Expensive suits. No badges.”
Rachel clenched her fists. This went deeper than she thought.
She thanked Lisa and left, her thoughts spinning.
If Helen had been planning to expose someone, that meant she’d been involved in something shady. And whoever she was going to reveal must’ve had the power to erase her—and frame Rachel while they were at it.
Rachel remembered that blurry photo from the night of the crime—Helen lying on the bed, bruised and lifeless.
But Rachel hadn’t been there.
She hadn’t even received that message from Helen until hours after the incident. So who sent it? And why did Helen send it to her of all people?
Rachel’s mind went back to Eric.
He had power. Connections. And more importantly—he’d refused to believe her innocence, not even for a second.
But was that because he truly believed she was guilty… or because he wanted her to be?
She shook her head. No.
Eric wasn’t the one.
But someone close to him might be.
Rachel started listing names—people who had access to both her and Helen.
And one name kept coming up.
Michelle Lang.
The famous actress. The woman who was now engaged to Eric.
Michelle had been Helen’s “friend” back in college too, but they’d never been close. Helen once called her “a snake with a perfect smile.”
Rachel pulled out her old phone, cracked but still functional, and began searching online.
Michelle had exploded into fame right after Helen’s death. A few days later, she signed a huge film deal.
Convenient timing.
Too convenient.
Rachel took a deep breath.
If Michelle was involved, she would be protected by money and influence. This wasn’t just about proving Rachel’s innocence anymore.
It was about unmasking a killer.
And Rachel knew—if she took one wrong step, they wouldn’t hesitate to silence her next.
But she didn’t care.
They’d already taken everything.
Now she had nothing left to lose.