Helen’s life had been one of luxury ever since she’d turned eighteen years old. Although the years before that were spent moving from one foster home to another, reaching that last, liberating birthday was like being handed a magic wand. She could go wherever she wanted. Do whatever she wanted. The only thing standing in her way was… well, the world.
Luckily for her, the world was easy to manipulate. Everyone fell into one of two categories: they either took everything at face value and rolled with the punches, or they theorized one crazy scheme after another. They were wildly different, but they all had one thing in common. A thing she used to her advantage every single day.
They believed what they wanted to believe.
Helen gave them little nudges here or there, buying into business deals, borrowing money and never paying it back on a technicality. With this useful tool, she had dominated the business world. People had fallen at her feet, pleading for financial mercy only to be wrung dry once again. It had become a habit, lodged so deep in her psyche that she never stopped to think about the moral worth of it all. It wasn’t until now that she considered something was wrong.
Ever since Logan had dove into his car, all she could think about was how fast he was to react. Only one person in her entire life had raced to protect her without hesitation, and he was gone. She’d been caught up in avenging him, barely considering the turmoil she’d brought into Logan Fox’s life. Was it possible she’d done a cruel, horrible thing?
No, she thought. He deserved it. It wasn’t her fault he’d believed it all, was it? If he didn’t want to get involved, he had the option of saying no. But she did have a hand in it. Helen couldn’t deny this, and so these thoughts went round and round in her head, blurring the lines between accountability and weakness.
She took these thoughts with her as she followed him back to his apartment, parking out of view and standing among the crowd while Logan selfishly raced inside. Minutes later, he came out with a woman in his arms. He carried her to the stretcher beside the ambulance, yelled something at the cops – who disappeared around the corner – then went back inside.
Helen spent a long time out in the cold, watching the building and wishing somebody would care for her that much. But the truth was, nobody had fought for her since her husband. Was she really so bad a person that she repelled all the good ones? With each passing moment, she was starting to believe it more and more, and when Logan came back outside with a woman in a wheelchair, aiding her into the ambulance with the use of its ramp, she knew it was true.
She had done something so wicked and horribly wrong. There was no coming back from that – no path of redemption on which to walk, save her temptation to help Logan.
It lasted only seconds before she realized denial was easier.
This was no longer her mess, and she wiped her hands of it quickly.