We walked back to the Range Rover, and all I thought about was if Connor knew this. But I knew there was no way he did because he would’ve told me. My husband would’ve told me something as crucial as that.

“Do you think Connor knew about this?” Peyton asked, as if she read my mind.

“No. There’s no way Connor knew.”

We climbed into the vehicle, and I put my forehead on the steering wheel.

“Now what, Elle?”

“Now, we go to Ashlyn’s apartment.”

I heard Peyton gasp when I said that. I didn’t care if it was wrong or not. I was going to see her one way or the other.

“Do you even know where she lives?”

“Of course I do. Remember, Connor was the one who bought her the damn apartment.”

We drove an hour back to the city and headed straight to Ashlyn’s apartment. I was furious that she was out on bail, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“FUCK!” I screamed. “How the hell did she get out on bail? I yelled as we pulled into a parking space.”

“Calm down, Ellery.”

As Peyton and I took the elevator up to the floor that her apartment was on, my body was shaking with anger. The fact that she could burn down a building, admit it, then change her plea, and get out on bail was too much for me to handle. We stood in front of her door, and I gently knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened and Ashlyn stood there. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I want to talk to you,” I replied.

“Get the hell out of here!” she exclaimed as she tried to shut the door.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Peyton said as she threw her body against the door to stop it from shutting.

The two of them struggled while Ashlyn tried to shut the door and Peyton tried to keep it open.

“Please, Ashlyn. I just want to talk to you,” I pleaded.

Peyton managed to push the door all the way open and knock Ashlyn back a few steps. We walked inside and Peyton shut the door.

“You better make it quick or I’m calling the police,” she said.

My pulse was racing, and my skin was on fire as I stood in front of the woman who was ruining my family.

“Why, Ashlyn? Just tell me why you want to ruin my family.”

As she looked at me, her eyes grew even darker. “You ruined my life.”

“How did I ruin your life?” I asked.

“You took the only person I ever loved away from me. You walked into his life, and he completely ignored me. He was the only person that ever paid attention to me.”

Standing there, I could see how unstable this woman really was.

“You burned down Connor’s building. You hired someone to destroy it. Now you have to suffer the consequences for your actions. Did you think you wouldn’t get caught?”

“I wouldn’t have gotten caught if that weasel wouldn’t have said anything.”

“Ashlyn, do you have any regrets about what you did?”

“No, I don’t. Connor hurt me deep down to the very core, just like he did my sister, and now I’m going to make him pay for what he’s done. I’m going to make sure he never hurts me again, even if I have to destroy you and his precious little baby.”

A fire burned through my body like never before and an anger I never knew I had emerged from deep within my soul. She threatened my daughter. To threaten me was one thing, but to threaten my child was another. She had just crossed a dangerous line. I felt like my body was out of control as I lunged at her and knocked her ass to the ground. I sat on top of her as I clutched her face with both my hands.

“Don’t you ever threaten my daughter. Do you understand me, you psychotic bitch?”

Ashlyn struggled and managed to break from my grip as she pushed me off of her.

“I’m going to fucking kill you, bitch! It’s something I should have done instead of burning down that building!” she screamed.

She came at me and grabbed my hair, knocking me down as I hit my forehead on the table. I heard Peyton scream as she tried to grab her. Suddenly, the door flew open and two men came running in. Connor grabbed me from behind and Denny grabbed Ashlyn and restrained her.

“Ellery, you’re bleeding,” Connor said as he wiped the blood from my head.

“She threatened Julia,” I said.

“What?!” Connor yelled as he looked at her.

Peyton went and got a cloth from the bathroom and handed it to Connor as he held it over my cut.

“You’re in big trouble,” Connor said as he applied pressure to the wound.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked.

“We aren’t talking about that now.”

“Believe me, we’re talking about it, Connor.”

Two police officers walked into Ashlyn’s apartment and took her from Denny.

One of the officers walked over and asked me what had happened.

“She just went crazy and came after me. She knocked me down, and I hit my head on the table,” I said innocently.

“Would you like to press charges for assault and battery, ma’am?”

“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Connor said.

I glared at him in disbelief at what he just said. “Yes, I do want to press charges,” I said.

Suddenly, Ashlyn yelled. “She came after me first. It was self-defense!”

The officer looked at Peyton. “Were you a witness, miss?”

“Yes, I was, and that woman made a clear threat to kill her and then she came at her and pushed her into that table. I was so scared, I couldn’t move.”

As Ashlyn was screaming in her defense, the officer handcuffed her and escorted her out of the apartment. Denny looked at me and smiled as he walked over to me.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he took my hand.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Connor removed the cloth from my wound, and it was still bleeding. “You’re going to need stitches, Ellery,” he said as he shook his head. “I’m so angry with you right now.”

“Save it, Connor. I’m in no mood for a lecture.”

“Henry’s at the hospital. I just talked to him, and he’s waiting for us. I’ll drive the Range Rover and meet you there,” Peyton said.

I looked at her and nodded my head as I asked, “Did you get it all?”

“I sure did.” She smiled as she held up the little device she had in her hand.

As Peyton walked out of the apartment, Connor and Denny helped me up.

“It seems to me I’ve done this with you before.” Denny smiled.

“What did Peyton get?” Connor asked as we walked out of the apartment.

“Evidence.” I smiled.

Connor helped me into the limo and then shut the door. He walked around and slid in next to me. The pain in my head was starting to get worse, and I didn’t need him yelling at me.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Trying to save our family.”

“I told you to stay away from her and you disobeyed me. You know how unstable she is. She could have killed you, Ellery.”

“Connor, please stop yelling. My head really hurts,” I said as a tear sprang from my eye.

“Lay off, Connor. The two of you can talk about it later. The most important thing is that we get her head looked at,” Denny said.

Connor turned away and looked out the window. I reached for his hand, but he pulled away. The last time he was this mad at me was back in Michigan when he found out about the cancer. Denny pulled up to the emergency entrance, and Peyton was waiting for me with a wheelchair. I opened the door myself and started to get out. Connor came around and grabbed my arm. I jerked away from him.

“Don’t touch me,” I snapped as I sat down in the chair.

Peyton looked at him and then at me. She wheeled me to the registration desk and the nurse took me back into a room right away. She took the cloth from my head and looked at me.

“Dr. Henry can fix that up for you.” She smiled as she patted my hand.

After she walked out of the room, Connor stood at the side of the table. I couldn’t stop thinking about how he and Denny knew that I was at Ashlyn’s apartment. It was bothering me on a whole new level. As I was about to ask the dreaded question that I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to, Henry strolled into the room. He stood in the entrance with a smirk on his face.