It was nearly midnight. The hallway was vacated. There were no signs of anybody walking down the halls. Hannah knelt on the floor in front of Estella's door. She tore a paper out of the notebook. She scribbled words across a paper fast as she can. She knew her handwriting was sloppy but she didn't have time to write words neatly in cursive. She folded it into a half before she slipped it under the door. She gave a few knocks on the door before Hannah jumped to her feet and ran behind the corner. She heard the door open.
Estella looked around with bewilderment, glancing down at the folded note on the floor. She picked it up and returned to her room. The door shut.
Hannah let out a long sigh. She hoped Estella got her message.
Next morning, Hannah was in her own room. She folded her own clothes before she settled them on the bed. The door left opened so she can see a view of the hallway or— just in case John and Douglas won't make a plan to ambush her. She can't imagine what they would do to her or Estella. It gave her the chills. She can't stop glancing up at the door in every minute, making sure they won't creep up on her—
"Boo!"
Hannah jumped at the voice and she let out a high-pitched scream. She whirled around. Estella giggled at Hannah's reaction. She shook her head, still can't stop chucking.
"You quite scared me to almost death." Hannah placed her hand on her chest. Her heart beat hard enough to explode.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just saying boo, that's all. You expect me to see you every day, right?"
Hannah panted. "Right…"
Estella noticed an anxious look on Hannah's face. She tilted her head like she looked at her strangely. "What's wrong? You seem vague and distressed."
"No, not at all. I'm not." Hannah lied.
"You can tell me anything. You know that. We always tell each other." Estella said gently.
Hannah pressed her lips tightly. Estella was right. They were best friends. They knew each other for a long time. They always shared secrets with each other that meant Estella still trusted her.
The whole John and Douglas thing had to stop. It had to be end now. Like she had no choice, she had to tell her the truth. She had to. Estella had the right to know she will make a big mistake by marrying the guy he was not who they think he was.
Hannah flopped down on the queen-size bed, "Just promise that… you wouldn't hate me forever."
"I would never hate you." Estella said as she sat beside her.
Hannah looked up into her eyes, "You promise?"
"I promise."
"Cross your heart and hope to die."
Estella gave her a look. "We are not twelve year olds anymore."
"Just say that."
Estella sighed. "I promise to cross my heart and hope to die."
Hannah fixed her gaze at her best friend to see if she was serious or not. She made a small nod. "Remember that day you got the note?"
Estella formed a dazed face at her. "That was you?"
Hannah nodded regretfully.
"You make a big mistake." Estella remembered the quote from the note. "What was that supposed to be mean?"
Hannah sighed. "I don't know."
"Y-you don't know? If you don't know, then why did you say that?"
"Because I'm trying to help you."
"Help me what?"
"To stop you."
"Stop from what?"
"Marry Douglas!"
Estella stopped and drew her head back as if Hannah spat terrible names at her.
Hannah turned her head away and took a deep breath. "I overheard John and Douglas's conversation. I hope it is not true but… it is."
Estella stared at her hard enough Hannah can feel her eyes burning on the back of her head.
"John planned to get Douglas to marry you so they could get money from you and then dump you… or maybe something else and I knew it will get worse." Hannah went on.
Estella blinked. She spoke nothing. She heaved on her breath. She furrowed her dark brows. She looked mixed with heartbroken and disorient which Hannah hated to see.
"Is that what you hear?" Estella finally spoke.
"I'm sorry. I am." Hannah couldn't bear to look in her eyes. Estella looked down at the floor. Hannah knew she hurt her badly but Estella had the right to know the truth. She closed her eyes.
"I'm such a fool." Estella murmured.
Hannah shut her eyes more.
"How did it happen? How did I miss that?"
Hannah remained silent.
"Hannah… Look at me."
Hannah opened her eyes, turning to her. Estella's beautiful eyes held her gaze. She reached out to take Hannah's hand into her own hands.
"I want you to know that I'm not angry." Estella said softly. "Not ever."
Hannah swallowed hard.
"You are my true friend. I always believe you. I understand that you are trying to protect me. I trust you with my whole life. I'm always counting on you. So all I want is say thank you… for telling me the truth." Estella said.
Hannah let out a long sigh. That's all she wanted to hear. It made her feel better a little. But the guilt filled it again as she thought about John and Douglas. They definitely will kill her if they find out she told Estella everything what she just heard.
Estella smiled sadly. She squeezed her hand before she got up and walked over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Hannah asked.
Estella swerved around to the innocent girl in the poor maid outfit. She paused. Then she spoke out. "I'm going to end it."
Hannah didn't say a word.
Estella turned around and left.
"It was my last time to see her." Kat ended the sentence.
"That's it?" Nick said.
"There are some last five pages missing." Kat said as she closed the book and waved it around in the air.
"Someone ripped it out." Scotty obviously seemed annoyed at the facts that someone kept ripping pages out of the diary.
"So Estella meant… she was going to end it. Marriage? The plan?" Kat said.
"I wanted to know what happened at the end." Nick said.
"We have to find out what happened." Lilly chimed in.
"How?" Scotty asked.
"We will figure it out." Lilly said.
