Sam’s POV
If someone told me six months ago I’d be stuck in the middle of a half-romantic, half-criminal warzone with Cassie, Rhia, and Eli—I’d probably have laughed, cried, and then packed snacks. Because obviously, it was going to be that wild.
But this wasn’t a joke anymore.
Not when the people we loved... turned out to be the ones who stabbed us first.
“Everyone ready?” Cassie asked, her voice sharp like her heels clacking on the rooftop tile.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I muttered, double-checking the tiny wire hidden in my sleeve. “You sure this mic won’t fry my wrist off?”
“It’s not even hot,” Rhia said while adjusting her mirror to check her lipstick. “Try having hair extensions glued to your scalp for eight hours.”
“Okay, Princess Problems,” Eli said, rolling his eyes. “Focus. Seth texted me. He’s coming to the location we chose.”
“It’s literally tech from NASA. Relax,” Rhia said while reapplying her gloss like we weren’t about to face a literal criminal. “My lashes are heavier than that mic.”
Eli gave a nervous laugh. “Alright. Seth messaged. He’s on the way to the observatory.”
“Alone?” I asked.
Eli hesitated. “He said he would be.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes. “Which means he’s not.”
We drove silently in the car, the city lights flashing by, and all of us lost in our own thoughts. The tension sat thick between us, like a storm waiting to break.
The abandoned observatory in the hills of Baguio had been our idea—Cassie’s idea, actually. She said Seth would never resist a dramatic view and a private place where he thought he could win.
We were already waiting inside when we saw headlights flicker in the distance.
The observatory was quiet. Cold. Perfect for a plan like this.
We stood our ground inside, waiting. The air smelled like betrayal, maybe even blood. (Okay, that was probably the broken AC.)
Then—
Headlights.
Seth stepped out, cocky as ever, all smug grin and ego. He looked around like we were the cast of some joke show.
“You all made it,” he said, eyes flicking to Eli, then to me. “Especially you, Sam. I was hoping to see you again. “And you even brought the entire circus.”
“Cute,” I said flatly. “But we’re not here for jokes.”
His eyes flicked to Rhia. “I didn’t think you’d be involved again.”
“I didn’t think your skincare could get worse,” she replied.
But Cassie—my girl Cassie—stepped forward like the queen she was. “Enough. We know you’re not alone. Bring them out. You’re not smart enough to do this alone. So where’s your little backup?”
“You really think you’ve figured it all out?”
Seth laughed softly, head tilting. “You’re right. I had help.”
Another car rolled up behind his.
I squinted.
Someone stepped out.
Familiar shoes.
Familiar walk.
Familiar—
“Wait—” I whispered, stepping back. “No. No, it can’t be—”
“CLARK?” Cassie gasped.
Eli stared.
Rhia literally dropped her compact mirror.
We all froze.
My heart actually stopped beating.
Her fiancé.
Her soon-to-be husband.
“Wait—what?” Cassie said again, stumbling back like her heels betrayed her. “No. That’s not—Clark?”
He looked calm.
Too calm.
He walked up beside Seth like he’d done it a hundred times before.
“I didn’t want it to be this way, Cass,” he said, voice soft.
“Don’t. Don’t you dare say my name right now.” Cassie’s voice cracked.
“I had to do it,” Clark continued. “You all were too powerful together. Too perfect. Sam, with her perfect heart. Eli, the golden boy. Rhia, the princess. And you… always leading everything.”
My knees went weak.
“No,” I whispered. “This can’t be real—”
“It was all part of the plan,” Clark confessed. “Seth needed access. I gave it. I got close to you. And the rest was easy.”
“EASY?” Cassie choked. “YOU PROPOSED TO ME!”
He shrugged like it was math homework. “That ring cost less than the camera you planted in Sam’s house.”
Cassie stepped forward. “I loved you. You slept beside me and lied to me for two years.”
Clark looked down. For a second—just a second—he almost seemed sad.
“But now it’s done,” he said quietly. “We broke you. That’s what matters.”
That was the moment Cassie snapped.
She didn’t yell.
She didn’t cry.
She just whispered:
“You shouldn’t have underestimated me.”
The rooftop doors BURST open.
Cassie’s tech team. Police. Detectives. Hidden cams had been recording every word. All that planning—she outplayed the player.
Seth tried to bolt.
Rhia, looking fabulous as ever, tripped him with her designer clutch. “You wish.”
Clark froze, realizing way too late that he was surrounded.
Cassie walked up to him—slow, cold, composed—and held out the engagement ring.
“You can keep this,” she said. “It’s fake, like you.”
The silence that followed was the loudest thing I’d ever heard.
Clark and Seth were arrested. Dragged out like rats caught in a storm.
And we just stood there.
Staring.
Breathing.
Still.
Then Eli moved beside me, quietly.
“You okay?” he asked.
I turned to him, nodded. “Yeah. I think I really am.”
Cassie leaned against me, still shaking, but strong as ever. “Remind me never to trust a man who wears skinny ties again.”
Rhia blinked back tears and cleared her throat. “...Can we go get milk tea now? I need sugar before I burn something.”
We laughed.
And I knew—despite everything—
We’d made it through.
Together.
Bruised, broken, betrayed…
But still standing.
And free.
------
>We now know that this is a fresh start.
 Where Healing Begins.