012

EPILOGUE

TWO WEEKS LATER

HALLÉ

I ran my hands over my black monostrap vera wang dress for what must have been the fifth time that minute.

I took a deep breath in to still my thoughts; I had worked too hard for it to all fall apart now, it was time to say my final goodbye to Michael.

....................................

"You know I was the first to arrive at the church today,I knew ya'll would be here in around twenty minutes but Lord knows I needed that time to myself" I started off releasing a small smile and a dry chuckle, then watching the congregation do the same.

"I wanted to go over the speech I had been trying for days now to write but sitting there I realized there are no words, because I am not ready to say goodbye; because nothing can describe the pain and betrayal Michael's death and the circumstances around it brought; because no statement or speech can ever define how much I loved him, how much I still love him" I paused releasing a deep breath to stop myself from crying.

"He was it and no matter the end, he was a good husband, and an amazing friend and brother. They say forgiveness is the first step to healing and so Michael James Hayes wherever you are I need you to know that you should be at peace because I forgive you for the mistakes you made and could never apologise for, and I hope that one day I can forgive my sister for the mistakes that she made that led to this and then in hindsight forgive myself for being so blind"

I felt a tear roll down my cheek "You were my rock, my love and my strength; I thank you for that. You saw all the broken parts of me and cherished me still and that is how I will forever choose to remember you; I love you and I will always love you. Thank you for coming into my life" with that I wiped at my eyes and moved from the podium so Pastor Brown could handle the next order of events.

This really was the hardest part

I took my seat next to Gomez who looked as much of a mess as I did.

I took his hand and squeezed it tight. He turned towards me and acknowledged it with a thin smile; "I couldn't help but notice that brother shout out for me"

I returned the smile. He looked at me with the utmost sincerity and guilt "If you ever need anything-"

I shook my head and simply replied "I know"

Truth was, I already got everything I wanted

..................................

THREE MONTHS LATER

SOLANGE

I jumped out of my skin at the sound of the rattling at the bars.

"INMATE 1402-C, get up! You have a visitor!"

"Alright, alright"

I was so close to just cursing out the guard, but my lawyer had advised it was better to be on my best behaviour; to lessen my whole aggressive criminal image.

Reminding myself that it was better to fight in court rather than in here, I quietly stood up and waited for the guard to swipe open the cell.

As he handcuffed me and dragged me towards the visitation room.

As I was moved roughly towards my assigned seat, I saw my sister looking my way from the other side of the glass.

I sat down, staring at her for a while wondering what to say before she finally moved first, picking up the makeshift receiver hanging on the pane of the glass.

I quickly mimicked her move, just really not wanting to cause any more grief. I cleared my throat before speaking "Hi".

She released a thin smile in response "Hi Sis".

I shook my head "I'm sorry and you're right. I don't deserve anything from you but I just need you to know if there's any chance of us moving on from this- I didn't kill him"

I was so stuck in my rambling that I didn't see the first smirk or hear her when she responded "I know"

"-And I know you won't believe me again but I just need you to know that I am not a murderer, I know I've made some mistakes-"

Then I paused; my brain finally just registering the implications of her words and the malicious tone with which she responded; my blood went cold.

I didn't know how exactly to respond so I just repeated back her reply "You know?"

"I know"; this time I did register the full fledged smirk and the white hot anger beneath it.

My entire body froze, and my eyes nearly blew wide open "No..Hallé what did you do?"

At my question her smug facade fell off and I was just left with the smoldering heat of her anger "Don't you dare take that tone with me, don't you dare make me the villain in our story"

I subconsciously moved closer to the glass screen separating us, trying to get closer to her and see if *she* was really all there "Hallé, what are you talking about?"

This time she laughed; no *cackled* before she replied "Solange darling, where's the brilliant sister I used to love; surely you didn't waste all that brain on stealing my husband. You must have figured it out; there had to have been at least a little voice that said none of this adds up and there's only one person it leads back to".

No; I don't believe it

She cocked her head to the side "No, well damn. Okay sweetheart we really don't have much time so I'll go right to it- I. Set. You. Up."

My hands shook "I mean, there was no one else and I did make mistakes but I never thought...Hallé you love him, you cried about him for days, you had dreams and you told me yourself you wanted the person who killed your husband".

She laughed bitterly "I did. And I have. You."

"No Hallé, I'd never-"

"You killed my husband, the day you decided you wanted him for yourself"

"I didn't mean-"

"Don't sell that bullshit, you meant it and you did it. You wanted him for yourself the first day you laid eyes on him; you really think I believed that crap about you and Luiz? But I let it be; I thought it's harmless. My sister would never do me like that"

I shook my head "Hallé-"

"But you just couldn't leave it, I saw the way he looked at you when I got back. I saw the guilty glances but I let it be but it ate me up inside so imagine how broken I felt when Pastor Brown told me everything including how you threatened to out him"

"I know I messed up but he was the love of your life, how could you even kill him?"

She smiled "I didn't"

My head hurt from how confused I was "I really don't understand"

"You know if there's anything I really love about the Chief of police it's her tenacity for serving Justice and it really does seem everyone in her family is blessed with this personality kink"

I shook my head "I don't-"

"Especially her little niece Molly, more than anyone else. It really was destiny that I had to speak to her on that karaoke night"

Molly?, the intern?

She smiled smugly at my confusion "You remember, don't you sis? The young dark skinned beauty with a big voice; she sang the heck out of my song? Well I guess you wouldn't know, she did have a mask on. But that specific night, I felt something different with her; as if I just had to know her and I did; We were girl toilet pals. So when I told her about the great injustice that was done to me, of course she was happy to help"

I shook my head in fear "You had her kill him?"

"He betrayed me, I gave him my entire heart and he betrayed me"

"How'd you do it? HOW DID YOU PULL THIS OFF"

"Calm down, all will be revealed. Well it's easy really; She was already in the house. Remember Michael and I went on that date, and thankfully all people know how to do in that estate is mind their business and lordddd that girl is stronger than she looks"

"That's why you had me follow you around all day, why you went on the impromptu date with him and why you made sure I went to that concert. Did he even want to meet up or was that you too?"

"Michael's never been good at keeping secrets"

"Now you're going to make me go down for it. How could you do this, I know I was wrong but he's the love of your life"

"No you don't get to play the victim, you knew I could never give Michael kids and yet you slept with him and *then* got pregnant, you knew I loved him more than anything and you still couldn't stay away and then you used Pastor brown's sexuality against him because you refused to own up to the fact that no matter how powerful you claim to be, no matter how confident; you are nothing but a home wrecker who can't bear to see another woman happy"

Now it was my turn to laugh "At least I didn't murder someone I claimed to love more than anything"

"Not directly but baby girl make no mistake, his blood is on *your* hands"

I scoffed "Why are you telling me all this? There's no way I'll keep this to myself"

"Because I want you to know,I want you to continually think about this while you're out there in court fighting to get your life back. I need you to know that I am the reason why and you can't do one thing about it. You have no evidence, no witnesses and barely any friends remaining and anything you say right now will just make you look more guilty"

This wasn't her, she was never this devious

"Hallé is this really you?" I took a closer look and just like I assumed her eyes looked dazed; almost as if, she wasn't all there.

"Why? You don't think I can achieve all this without *her*"

It definitely wasn't her

"Hallé you need help-"

"You know I got so worried about what might and might not have been happening between you and Michael. I felt so lonely and tired, so I stopped taking the medications. Then I heard *her* voice again and I felt less empty. *She* told me you were both going to betray me and Lord was she right".

*oh no*

I nearly shook at the information being thrown my way "Okay fine, you both want me to suffer. You got Michael killed to punish him and to make me pay; but is that really all? There's something else just looking at you I can tell"

"Finally using that brain of yours; Thank God. You're right. I just wanted to know that you're taking care of my baby properly"

My heart dropped.

"*What?*"

"I mean you do know, you wouldn't be allowed to keep the baby and thankfully mum and dad both agree I'd be the best person to raise the child; The paperwork is already in the process, just thought I'd let you know earlier; out of the goodness of my heart and all"

I assumed she'd want nothing to do with the child especially; I thought at least if mum and dad... I could convince them to let me see her regularly even in spite of everything; I mean I was still their daughter-

But now...

"Hallé, please don't do this...she's my child..please don't...don't use her as a pawn in your game...at least if you ever loved Michael-"

She slammed her palms down on the gla"IT IS BECAUSE I LOVE HIM-"

At her raised voice I saw eyes turn towards us curiously and the guard behind me begin to shift nervously and Hallé obviously took notice.

She sighed and smiled wryly "I'm not here to argue about the past. I just came to tell you what would be happening. This is the last time I'll be here from now on I'll be checking in on your progress through the doctor and the warden. Good bye and be well sister"

Now it was my turn to laugh maliciously "Hallé I know you're not in your right mind, but if you dare use my child as a toy or some weapon in your arsenal, I will ruin you. You may think this all well and done but it is not over yet, as long as I'm still alive it is *not* done"

She smiled so wide, like she got off on my anger and I no longer recognized the person in front of me.

"But it is done and so is this conversation; goodbye".

At that moment, it was like seeing her walk away like she hadn't just imploded my life was just all too much for me and it just made me snap;

I jumped to my feet and started screaming "YOU WILL NEVER GET YOUR HANDS ON MY BABY; HALLÉ I KNOW THIS ISN'T YOU. YOU NEED HELP- PLEASE DON'T LET HER DO THIS. HALLÉ I KNOW YOU'RE STILL IN THERE. HALLÉ PLEASE!"

That's when the guard jumped into action and the last thing I heard before slipping into the darkness was the faint clicking of Hallé's heels as she turned and walked away.

It isn't done yet.