"I'm so sorry."

It was like the hundredth time Hope had said that in the last hour. Josie just wouldn't stop crying. The sound was crushing Hope.

"'I just can't believe it," Josie would sputter between gasps. MG put his arms around her shoulders, but she shook him off.

"Jo, come on," he said quietly. "Let us help."

"Yeah, come on, Jo." Lizzie moved in. "It's gonna be okay. There's gonna be someone new."

"She didn't get dumped, Lizzie." Hope narrowed her eyes. "Her girlfriend died."

"I know that," Lizzie said quickly. "It's just ... you didn't even know her that long."

Josie pulled away from her friends, glaring at Lizzie through her tears. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I just mean -"

"Lizzie, how about you go to the guest bedroom?" Hope suggested.

Lizzie knew it wasn't really a suggestion. She took the slow, painful walk to the guest bedroom with one last glance at her sister. Hope felt sorry for her. She knew Lizzie meant well but if she could just learn to shut her mouth.

Hope sighed. "I'm sorry, Josie."

"I think I'm just gonna sit by myself in your office, if you don't mind?" It's not exactly like she could go to the guest bedroom where they had just exiled her sister.

How could Hope say no? "It's all yours."

Josie left, wiping at her eyes as she went.

"I think we're gonna turn it for the night," Hope told MG. She took Landon's hand and headed for the stairs. It wasn't that she was tired or that she was foolish enough to think she could actually go to sleep, but she wanted to be away from the watchful eyes of her friends. At least if she could convince Landon that she was actually going to sleep, she could be free of his watchful eyes too.

He fell asleep surprising fast as she tossed and turned next to him. She couldn't believe that he could just turn off so easily after a night like that. He didn't even stir in his sleep. There was no sign that he was troubled by it at all.

Hope watched his sleeping face. Maybe there was a reason for that. Maybe he wasn't affected by all the horror because he was the one committing the horrors. She sat up and physically shook her head, like she could drop the thoughts out of her mind that way. She didn't actually think her husband could be her stalker. She was just tired and letting her mind run away in the dark. That's all it was.

It definitely wasn't intuition.

So why was she listening to that small part of her brain that said her paranoia was her gut?

She wasn't sure if she was still awake when she heard the screaming. She didn't remember falling asleep. She didn't remember dreaming.

She jolted all the same, as if she was waking up from a deep sleep, when she heard MG's shouts. Landon awoke next to her, stirring a little too slowly for how loud their friend was yelling.

Hope ran through the dark house, trying to locate where MG was. Her heart pounded as her mind raced through all the possibilities she could brace herself for.

Had someone broken in? Were they hurting MG? Were they going to do worse to him?

Were they already in the house when Hope had gone upstairs?

But as she rounded the corner to the bathroom, MG was fine. Well, physically.

In his arms, he held Lizzie, limp and paler than Hope had thought humanly possible. She was fully clothed but soaking wet, and as MG shifted her, Hope could see the deep gashes in her wrists that were horrifying devoid of blood.

Her stomach turned as she followed the trail of water on her bathroom floor back to the bath, filled to the brim with red water – blood.

"She doesn't have a pulse," MG sobbed. Hope slowly realized he was rocking back and forth. "I checked. She isn't breathing."

"I'll call 911," Landon offered. Any excuse to leave that bathroom. As he turned, he almost knocked over Josie who looked almost as pale as her sister.

Her voice came out smaller than Hope had ever heard it, "Lizzie?"

"No, Josie -" Hope tried to push her out of the bathroom. She didn't need to see this. Not after the night she had already had. Josie pushed her out of the way and rushed to her sister's side.

"No, Lizzie ..." Josie pulled Lizzie's body from MG's arms, holding her tight like if she could just squeeze her hard enough, she would come back to life. She didn't.

MG stood up, brushing off his pants as if that would get rid of Lizzie's blood stained across his sweatpants. He leaned against the sink, the hand he used to hold himself up brushing against something paper. He picked it up wordlessly, unfolding it.

Dear Hope,

I think this thing has gotten out of hand. It's time to put a stop to it – to put a stop to me. All I ever wanted was love. Something beautiful that grew over time. A love that I would do anything for.

You know I'm in love with you.

What you don't know is the anything I did for it.

I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I only wanted to make you and Landon divorce, but when I heard that you were having an affair with Ryan, I just lost it. Maybe I had missed my meds that morning. I don't really have an excuse for it. I cut his brakes. I was hoping he would die, but first times, worst times. And then when I found out Rafael had feelings for you too, it was too much. Hope, I can't explain the rage. I stabbed him so many times and then I panicked and made it look like a mugging.

I swear I was only going to get rid of Landon at first. I didn't want to hurt anybody. I just wanted you to feel what I feel. I wanted you to love me back, and you couldn't do that if Landon was still in the picture.

I didn't kill Penelope, I swear. I know it seems like it, like maybe I was jealous of how happy Josie was with her and wanted something like that with you. I think her parents really did kill her, Hope.

But tonight, when I poisoned Landon's drink and it ended in another casualty, it was the final straw. I knew I had to be stopped. I don't think I have the guts to stop any other way.

Please forgive me,

Lizzie J. Saltzman

Hope took the note from MG, reading it over and over and over, willing the words to make sense.

"No." She shook her head, folding it back up.

"What does it say? Let me see." Josie held out a hand. Hope let her take it, leaning backwards into where Landon stood behind her, not saying a word.

"It makes sense," MG said after a long minute.

"Did Lizzie ... tell you?" Josie asked.

"Tell me what? That she was a killer? No."

"No, it says 'You know I'm in love with you.' Did she tell you that before she died?" Josie pushed.

"Well, yeah. She might have confessed that to me."

Josie nodded slowly.

"But that doesn't make her the killer!" Hope added quickly. "None of that makes sense."

"It actually fits right into our theory," MG said quietly. "That the killer was someone close to you. Someone on the inside. Someone who secretly had feelings for you and wanted the competition out of the picture. No one was more competitive than Lizzie. No one was more willing to go to extremes for the ones that they loved."

Hope just shook her head again.

It wasn't true.

It couldn't be.