Her eyes widened at the statement. Death was something Rosalie thought she would stare at the moment she was ready-but, she wasn't even ready to die at all. She wanted to run, leave this house and never see this person again. But it looked like it wasn't going to happen as she took a step back, grabbed her glass, and looked around to see where she could run.

The dark chuckle made her snap her head back to them, the golden mask almost mocking her. "What's wrong?" they asked, watching her move away from them. "Not ready to die yet, bitch?"

"Why?" Rosalie asked, her voice shaky as she placed her glass down. "Why me? What did I do to you?"

"Live. You're still breathing, Lady Rosalie. I need you to die so you can live happily ever after with your husband. But you don't want that, don't you?" they asked, watching her with cold eyes as they followed her towards the kitchen door. Rosalie's back hit the door, watching with wide eyes and shaking hands as she reached for the door handle. She twisted the knob, hoping and praying it would open that she wasn't drunk enough for this, but the door didn't even open.

"What the hell do you know about what I want?" she asked, shaking the doorknob while her heart thundered in her chest. "You don't know jack shit about me, buddy."

The figure stopped, looked at her, and turned his head to the side. Rosalie didn't know if they were trying to read her or what, but she was terrified and wanted to leave this godforsaken house and never see that man or whoever this was ever again. "Oh, but I do. You're in the news all the time, pet. It's not that hard to do some research on you-the bitch that ruins everything she touches." The part came out as a growl, making Rosalie yelp as their hand reached up and wrapped around her neck.

Her heart was thundering in her chest, Rosalie tried to move, but their hand around her neck made her gasp as she felt her breath cut off. She let out a weak scream as she tried to fight them off, but their grip on her neck tightened. Rosalie could hear their laughter as they rose from her feet, her back going up as she tried to breathe. She reached out and tried to tear their hand off her neck, but it wouldn't move.

Fear crept into her mind as she started to struggle.

They laughed as they watched her struggle, gripping her harder. "That's it," they said, watching the light dim from her eyes. "Die."

Shutting her eyes as her breath started to leave her body, all Rosalie could think about was her best friends, her family...Olivier. She'll never have a chance to tell him that she loved him-it'll be all because of this fool choking the hell out of her. Slowly, she moved her fingers towards the side, her fingertips touching something long.

If only she could reach a little bit...more...

The darkness around her eyes started to fade as she reached for the long thing, curling her fingers around it while the thing chuckled at her struggle.

She was getting fucking tired of that damned chuckle.

Rosalie wanted it to end. Fuck him.

With a battle cry, she swung her long thing straight at the head, hoping to bash its head. It let out a yelp as they dropped her, making her crash on the floor Coughing and catching her breath, Rosalie looked up to see half of the gold mask knocked to the side, along with a cough, their hand on their neck. "You little bitch!" they screamed at her, struggling to get up. "You little conniving bitch, I'll kill you so you can join your husband in hell!"

The threat made her gasp as she crawled backward, turning her head to look back. Snapping her head back towards him, she turned around and ran to the door. Grabbing it, she tried to twist the doorknob, turning her head to see if the Stalker was coming to get her, but it wouldn't budge. No...no, please, Rosalie thought, jerking the door harder than ever. A hand shot out and grabbed her hair, and she yelped painfully as the Stalker threw her to the ground and dragged her back into the middle of the room.

They were breathing hard by the time they let her go, leaving her there as they went over and grabbed the silver fire poker. Rosalie was breathing hard by the time she tried to sit up, only for them to try and hit her across the face with it. With a yelp, she rolled over, making them miss before they swung again, finding their mark on her side.

Pain flared up her whole body as she let out a moan; it hurt so much that she wanted to curl up in bed and pray this entire damn day away.

They hit her again several times, and she flinched from each strike on her side, her belly. "Why the fuck did you think you can have children when you can barely take care of yourself? I have no idea," the Stalker said with a shake of their head once they were done beating her. They threw the fire poker down and reached down to yank her head back so that she could get a good look at them. "But I'm kinda glad you didn't have Elijah's brat. Then you'd be on top of the world if you did, huh?"

"Sh...shut up," she growled. "You don't know a damn thing about my husband or me."

"Want me to try?" The Stalker mocked. "I'm very good at trying. Besides, what's a harmless look through Google that can tell me about you and your husband? But then, why should I? When I've been stalking your husband for years now."

The news shocked Rosalie to her core. This Stalker had been stalking Elijah for years now? Right up to the end?? "Why?" she rasped, the pain too painful to speak. "Why him? What did he do you?"

A thought struck her as a knife was placed on her cheek. Where in the hell was Countess Cynthia? She thought. She'd guess that the old hag was hiding somewhere away from all of this, just to teach Rosalie a lesson, and then probably laughing about it somewhere.

"Everything," the Stalker growled in her ear. "Your precious Elijah was nothing more than a snake in the damn grass, stealing everything he could from people and turning them over like a goddamn modern-day Robin Hood. Such a shame, really. If he was still alive, I'd take everything from him and make sure the both of you were on the streets before the year was out."

Everything they just said made something click inside her mind. The only person that ever hated Elijah to the point of killing him was Taylor Drake, and he wanted her money so she would be out in the streets. But then, Taylor Drake didn't know about the lost child she miscarried three years ago. No one did.

No one except...

Reaching up, Rosalie tore the mask off their face, and her eyes widened when the face was revealed like a Scooby-Doo mystery was solved.

Breathing hard and glaring down at her, his blue eyes brightening in the light...was none other than Aiden Lockheart.

"Aiden..." she whispered, watching his perfect mouth twist into a smirk.

"Surprise, baby girl."