Original subtitles

We're at Verity Crawford, in the Vermont

Where she lives with her husband, and their twins.

I'm going to run out of superlatives

to describe her. Here goes:

phenomenon, sensation,

wonder,

others would say she rocks, I'll go with that.

You are considered one of the best-selling authors on the planet.

Let's take that in for just a second.

On the planet, have you had time to take it all in?

What it is like to be able to provide such a beautiful life for the people you love so much?

To me, it's all a miracle.

Yeah, but some could say it's a miracle built on villains.

Like he's been waiting for me longer than he should have.

Makes me second-guess my assumptions.

I try to imagine a serial killer named Louis Longstetter.

I almost laugh at the absurdity of it, but being a woman about to embark on weeks of isolation, the thought that he could be a threat sticks in my mind, unwanted

and uncomfortable.

It's time.

I'm sorry.

Hi.

You're not in a bookstore.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, this is a good time.

Hey.

Hey, how'd it go?

I don't want to talk about it.

Where were you?

You said you were going to be here.

You know, I would have missed it if I didn't have a good reason.

I sent bug group calls.

They want to meet you.

For what?

Who wants to meet me?

I would say it's all very top secret.

When?

3 p.m. Sharp.

I'll meet you there, okay?

Oh, please, and dress nice.

All right?

All right.

Wait, Cory.

Wow.

Like me, belong in overpopulated cities.

Tiny town where I grew up.

I'm not going to sleep with you.

Is it on my face?

There should be bathroom in this top shop over here, okay?

Hey, what are you doing?

I'm ready to go.

Here,

um, let me put this on.

I can't tell if you're calm or if you're in shock.

I don't know what I am.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

I've seen worse, unfortunately.

Are you a doctor?

I'm in real estate.

Or at least I used to be.

What happened to you?

Do you really want to know?

I pulled my eight-year-old daughter's body out of a lake last spring.

Sorry.

My mom died last week.

Oh.

What happened to her?

Uh, cancer.

I was taking care of her in my apartment.

She died in there, in my apartment.

She died.

Sorry.

I have a meeting.

I should...

Yeah, me too.

Thank you for your help.

Of course.

I'm Jeremy, by the way.

Love it.

How can I help you?

I'm here to see Amanda Thomas.

Hi, I'm sorry I'm late.

You're not late.

You're on time.

The actual meeting isn't until 3.30, but I'm sorry to be late.

I told you to hurry.

Sorry.

If you had told me that, I could have...

What are you wearing?

Uh, it's like a fashion thing.

Cory, Lauren, I'm Amanda's assistant.

I'll be out.

Thank you.

I'll show you to the conference room.

Lauren?

I'm not sure I'd order to take a look.

I don't need a lawyer.

All she left me was duh.

Showtime.

Right, sorry.

Oh.

You must be Lauren Ashley.

I am Amanda Thomas, senior editor here at Hatchet.

Lauren.

Nice to see you.

Lauren.

This is Beryl Stevens, our lawyer, and Jeremy Crawford, our client.

Please, have a seat.

So, I'll just cut to the chase.

One of our authors is unable to fulfill a contract due to extenuating circumstances.

We are in search of a writer who has experience with the same genre.

She needs a little help.

Before we continue, I would ask that you sign the non-disclosure agreement.

We would like to keep our author's current situation out of the media.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Verity Crawford is her name.

I'm sure you're familiar with her work.

Verity has a wildly successful series, The Noble Virtues, which we would hate to see go unfinished.

We need a writer who's able to step in and accelerate a timeline.

So, when will you need her back?

We're already behind.

So, we're looking to have the next book in the series within six months and the final two in the next 24 months.

Three books.

75,000 per book.

So, how does this sound, Lauren?

I appreciate the offer.

I don't know that I can write for another author.

I'm especially someone as popular as Verity Crawford.

Her fans know her voice.

They would know it's not her.

I'm sorry.

Let me talk to my client.

We'll step out.

We have two other writers in mind, so if you can let us know something by tomorrow afternoon.

We'll discuss, all right?

Thank you.

Can we possibly have a word

in private?

Sure.

Got it.

Are you okay?

20 minutes ago, you watched someone die.

So, did you?

Like I said, I've seen worse.

You must have questions.

Sure do.

Shoot.

Okay, well, for starters, did you go shopping or do you carry around spare shirts in your pocket?

My hotel's just around the corner.

I went back and got changed.

Why can't your wife finish the series?

Verity had a car accident.

I'm sorry.

Open-ended.

It was one of Verity's favorite books last year.

She read one of my books?

Yeah.

She said that you are a brilliant, undiscovered voice.

I'm not undiscovered.

I am published.

I'm just not in a big way.

If anyone was to take over her series, I want it to be someone whose work she respected.

You would have spent some time at the house, in an office.

She has years of notes and outlines, stuff I would not make sense of.

Also, they're low-balling you.

You should ask your agent to ask for half a million.

We live in Vermont.

You can stay for as long as you need to.

I hope you change your mind.

Wait.

Did you know who I was earlier?

Not until you said your name.

Aren't there many low-ends running around?

If you do come, bring my shirt back.

Verity, welcome to Call for Daddy.

Who doesn't love a dirty, twisted thriller?

Uh, maybe just my husband.

Oh, is it hard for him to read your work and then sleep next to you at night?

Uh, I mean, your characters are pretty evil.

Yeah, well, um, um, he was wondering if I was, like, the sociopath that was doing it.

And I think he was maybe just checking.

For sure.

It's just, like, let's just, I just, you know.

Hope I'm not intruding.

I'm here to celebrate your new gig.

Okay.

I can't live here anymore.

I'm also getting evicted, so it all works out.

Well, maybe with the money you'll get from this deal, you'll finally get a cover for that futon.

Excuse me, that is not a futon.

It's a mattress.

Let's toast, yeah?

I can't believe you're staying at the house.

There's, like, years worth of notes and outlines that somebody needs to sort out.

You don't need to know them.

All I'm saying is that you have to be safe.

Saves?

Have you even read one of her books?

I don't read books that you can buy in an airplane.

I'm afraid I'll like it and then I won't be able to remember her.

Don't be fooled by her success.

She's very, very dark.

Like you.

How's Becca?

Who's Becca?

There's pictures of you guys all over Instagram.

It's just a fling.

She looks sweet.

You should take that seriously.

Okay.

I'm happy for you all.

He deserves it.

I reach the door, push it open without knocking.

I smell the blood before I see it.

Blame is hunched over, the knife stuck under his chin.

A steady flow of crimson seeps through his knuckles, pours down his arm.

He reaches out to me, desperate for my help.

I meet him halfway and use my palm to push the knife in deeper.

I stare into his eyes, wanting him to know how much I enjoy this.

Hey, you made it.

Hi.

Uh, a little sooner than expected.

Sorry.

No, no, no, no.

It's totally fine.

This is who I was talking about, buddy.

I'm Loan.

What's your name?

Hi, crew.

He's so cute.

He's a little shy.

That's okay.

I'm a little shy too.

Come on, let me take you back.

Of course.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Is that a field?

It's a lake.

Marie, you must be.

It's such a long drive from the city.

Crew and I are having PBJs and sliced apples if you want some.

I'm sure we can rustle up some.

I'm okay, thank you.

Yeah?

Okay, well, bridge is fully stocked if you want anything.

Just help yourself.

Can I go see mommy?

Of course, buddy.

Just go talk to Anna first, all right?

You get the main bedroom.

I hope you don't mind.

We all sleep upstairs now.

So we just thought that this room would be best because it's closest to Barry's office, which is just right down there.

Bathroom is all yours.

There should be toiletries in there, but if there isn't, just let me know and we can get whatever you need.

Wow, thank you.

So do you want some time to just, like, get settled?

Or do you want me to show you the office?

The office.

She saved everything on her computer, in boxes.

There's no order to it, though.

She wasn't the most organized person.

Most writers aren't.

Wow.

Which one is your favorite?

I want to say I haven't read any of them since the first one.

I didn't like either head.

Can I meet her?

This is Lo and Ashley, the author I was telling you about.

Hi, crew.

Lo and this is Anna, Barrity's nurse.

Hi, nice to meet you.

Hello, Lo and nice to meet you, too.

It's not a good time.

We're just about to take a walk.

This is Lo and Ashley.

Barrity, how are you?

I should have copied you, dude.

Things close.

Because the media.

And if it should find out, just be it.

There's no way I can help her write.

I can't.

Barrity was inspired by your writing.

You're the only writer who could do this.

I'm certain of it.

Books are from the villain's point of view.

Authors note.

The thing I abhor most about autobiographies are the counterfeit thoughts draped over every sentence.

A writer should never have the audacity to write about themselves unless they are willing to separate every layer of protection between their soul

and the book.

The words should come directly from the center of the gut, tearing through flesh and bone as they break free.

Ugly and honest.

Exposed.

Autobiography encouraging the reader to like the author is not a true autobiography.

No one is likable.

From the inside out.

One should only walk away from an autobiography with, at best, an uncomfortable distaste

for its author.

Yet, even with my generous warning, you're going to continue to ingest my words?

Because here you are.

Human.

Curious.

Pfft.

Carry on.

But know one thing.

There is no light where we're going.

Chapter one.

I sometimes think back on the night I met Jeremy and wonder, was it my destiny to suffer from the beginning?

Or is my tragic end the result of poor choices?

I wouldn't say I was lost before I met Jeremy, but I had certainly never been found.

I had no interest in love.

I was just looking for a well-funded fling.

And judging by the looks of Jeremy, I was going to leave that party an overachiever.

You serve early, one of the rest of the evening.

I'm perfectly capable of knowing what I've had enough to drink.

I'm sure you are.

I'd like another.

I'm sorry, ma'am.

I've been out of such a soothing water.

Is this my crime?

I've been watching you since I walked in.

You've had three drinks in the last 45 minutes.

I think you are in a great position.

Uncomfortable.

It's getting late at the gate.

To make that choice, I'd like you to be sober.

I'm not a walker.

Make that two.

I'm not a walker.

I'm in trouble.

But, love is like that.

Top of my side.

How long do we have ?

Where is the driver ?

I don't know.

This is not my car.

Excuse me ?

I have a Honda Civic.

What the fuck you guys do in my Limo ?

Before we knew it, we were locked in the junkies.

I was his drug, and he was mine.

Until he discovered the one thing that meant more to him than I did.

I hate him.

It's noisy.

Oh, for the love of God, you scared me.

I didn't mean to.

It's Verity's hospital bed.

I can turn it off if you want me to.

No, it's fine.

It's on timer.

It just takes the weight off her pressure points.

It's really late.

Are you hungry?

Anna usually does meal prep, but I am a genius when it comes to putting a slice of pizza in the microwave.

Wow, thank you.

Joy, how's the excavation going?

You were right, it was a lot.

Yeah, she was constantly taking notes.

There was this one time that we were at the zoo, and she didn't have anything to write on, so she took a Sharpie and she

wrote character names on Cruise's diaper.

How did you and Verity meet?

We met at a party.

She was wearing pretty much the most amazing dress I'd ever seen.

So we left the party together.

And when we got outside, there was a limo.

And I opened the door to it, and she got in.

And then the driver came back, and I had to admit the limo wasn't mine.

One night he suggested I move in with him during sex.

He does that sometimes.

Makes huge decisions about our lives together while he's fucking me.

Jeremy was transferred to another city for work.

I didn't think I could survive.

And that is when I became a writer.

My days were filled with thoughts of Jeremy.

And if I didn't figure out how to fill them with thoughts of something else until he returned, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hide how much his absence gutted me.

I wrote an entire novel in the few months he was gone.

I created a fictional Jeremy and called him Lame.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined where it would all lead.

But Jeremy finally returned home.

It was the middle of the night.

I was fast asleep.

What?

Wake up.

What do you mean?

I read your manuscript.

What?

No.

Jeremy?

No, I told you not to.

You said you would.

You promised.

I could help myself.

Don't do that.

It's good.

It's really good.

Say it again.

You're fucking brilliant.

It was the first taste of what it felt like for a reader to enjoy what I had created for them.

That one comment, that one sweet, simple comment meant so much to me.

You've been there.

You deserve it.

Then she just suddenly turned and looked directly at me.

Didn't you just say she can't move or talk?

I know, I know.

She can't.

I feel like I'm losing my mind.

You are going through a lot right now.

It's a lot you have to deal with.

You're craving.

You're stressed.

Just keep your head down, okay?

You just need to do what you're there to do.

And then you should adopt all God in it.

Okay?

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

I don't know what I'm doing.

Right there, not over here.

Over here, right?

No.

Oh no you didn't.

Hey.

Hey.

Hi.

You've been in there all day.

You making progress?

Yeah.

Starting to piece it all together.

Yeah.

What are you doing?

You making a big pile of wood?

There's a rotted out shed up there.

Crew is deforming.

Cool.

But big pile of wood, yeah.

Lola?

Hi.

I'm heading out to the store.

Okay.

No artistic in and out.

Okay.

Yay!

Hi, Crew.

Hi.

I was just taking a little break from working.

Can I come play with you?

Um...

I'm hoping I can.

Okay.

We can play another time.

Okay.

It was around the third month, a few weeks after I found out I was pregnant, that I started to notice the difference.

My hands were out of my stomach and I felt something foreign.

It was disgusting.

Are you still attracted to me?

You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met.

I'm so proud of you.

It was a lie to make me feel better, but I was grateful.

I squeezed his hands.

He spun me around the face.

It's stiff between my legs.

I was completely naked.

The only thing between us were his pants and the grotesque pooch I was still trying to suck in.

By six months, I felt like I was about to pop.

Someone's hungry.

I am not.

I'm not in bed.

Because now you're babying them.

Did you feel that one?

Yeah.

Do you love them?

I love them more than anything.

More than me?

Different from you.

But that's how it should be, right?

Do you feel guilty because you love them more than you love me?

Don't feel guilty.

You should love them more than you love me.

Our love for each other is conditional, but our love for them isn't.

My love for you is unconditional.

Yeah, baby, my love for you is unconditional too.

It's one of them.

I started wishing I never got pregnant.

I fantasized that if we had no children, he would make me his priority again.

But there's no turning back.

Jeremy wanted them, and so that was that.

Are you ready to move on to the next one?

Yes, I am, thank you.

To you.

To you.

Huh?

Did any part of your cozy Chelsea apartment where you wrote your first book serve as a reference?

You know, it's where our family started.

It's where my career as a writer started.

I still have a twelve-year-old, but I have a three-year-old.

I love being able to tell my children stories, and I love to, like I said, show myself up in my lair, and terrorize the rest of the world.

I hate myself for thinking that I could do this, and everything would be all right.

Everything was not all right.

Crew was fairly quiet, but Harper cried constantly.

It was like she was trying to punish me, telling me I was a bad mother, I'm certain of it.

When Jeremy finally went back to work, I was terrified of being left alone with them.

They couldn't afford a nanny, because the advance I had received for the sale of my first book was too small.

However, him leaving turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.

He would leave at seven in the morning, and I would wake up with him so he could see me caring for the twins.

I would put them in the clears, unhook their mothers, and go back to bed.

I began getting more sleep than I think I'd ever gotten.

Every night when he'd walk in the door, the babies would be calm.

The smell of dinner would be coming from the kitchen, and he'd be blown away by how well I was tackling everything.

And the twins would sleep all night from the exhaustion from crying all day.

It was probably good for them.

The best part was, I was able to write most nights while everyone slept.

The only place that was lacking was in the bedroom.

Jeremy talked a lot about sins.

Most fascinating was that it's hard to tell the difference between sins and suffocation.

To accept this personal hell, we're happy forced to raise these children and act like I love them for the rest of their lives.

Can I help you find something?

Is there any alcohol in the house?

Yes.

Thank you.

Sure, what's going on?

Your wife.

She has this.

Her books freak me out.

And yet, you write in the same genre.

Yeah, well, sometimes my own writing freaks me out too.

Maybe you should switch to romance.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I probably will.

You missed dinner.

This is still warm if you want some.

Okay, I should eat.

Okay.

Thank you.

Mm.

Can I ask a question?

Please do.

Just tell me if I'm being too mousy.

But is it possible that Verity could make a full recovery?

I'm sorry.

No.

Don't do, don't think she'll ever walk or talk again.

So she's paralyzed?

There wasn't any damage to her spleen and cord, but her mind is, I mean, she has basic reflexes.

She can eat and drink and clink and moodle and, but none of it's intentional.

We hope that with continued therapy, she'll be able to improve a little bit more.

But who knows?

Daddy.

Hey, buddy, what's up?

Ready for bed.

Okay, yeah.

Did you brush your teeth?

Yeah.

Okay, good.

Let me see.

Let's go say goodnight to mommy.

Goodnight, mom.

Goodnight.

That's hard work.

What was she like?

She was, she was amazing.

I'm sure Verity understood the way I did.

She had trouble expressing her emotions, but I felt like I could just read what she needed, you know?

I knew what made her tick, what made her happy and what made her sad.

Even when she had a tough time revealing all that to the world.

But she was amazing.

Were they close, Pepper and Krim?

Yeah.

They were.

I don't know.

He hasn't even asked about her.

Not once.

Hasn't even mentioned her name.

I sent him to therapy for a couple of months and I was just afraid that maybe it was a weakling reminder of everything.

So I pulled him out, but I'll bring him back.

He shows any signs of needing it, making sure he's okay.

And you?

I love you.

How are you?

Dad!

Yeah, buddy?

I can't sleep.

Okay, I'm coming.

Hi Loan, so where are you in the process of marketing a BRT but eager to get an announcement - that is all pending our approval, right?

Yes, of course, but we do need some lead time that's Loan is a very fast writer.

Right Loan?

Yes,

I pretty much made it through all the notes, so I'll probably start writing soon.

I think I'll leave in the next day or two.

Yeah?

Yeah, thank you for letting me stay.

Yeah, I wish it could have been a little longer.

I feel like I barely got to know you.

What do you want to know?

What's your birthday?

God.

What's so funny?

My birthday was yesterday.

Shut up.

Seriously?

You're lying.

I'm not lying.

We have to celebrate, obviously.

No.

Yeah, there's one good restaurant in town.

It's the best Bavarian restaurant in rural Vermont.

Hands down.

It has amazing Wiener Schnitzel.

Wow, that sounds really irresistible.

I'm really not a celebration person.

Okay, could be fun.

We can get dressed up, order some good wine.

I didn't pack for a special occasion.

Ferdy has lots of fancy clothes if you want to borrow something from her closet.

Hi.

Hi.

Can I tell you a joke?

Yes, please.

What is a T-shirt for?

Tell me.

Because he has a little ice.

He has a little ice.

That's a good one.

Um, knock knock.

Interrupting cow.

That's a new one for the Graffiti Dwarf.

That's a new one for the Graffiti Dwarf.

Anna, we're leaving now.

I'll see you when we get back.

We're probably moored in the morning.

Okay, be good for Anna, all right?

I love you.

All right, I love you too.

Okay, so what's your process?

My process?

Yeah, all writers have processes, don't they?

What's yours?

Oh god, um, um, uh, well, I start writing,

and then I hate everything I write, but I keep writing, and then I finish the book, and I pretend I'm happy.

That sounds healthy.

It's a really fun time.

Okay, I have one more question.

Are you hating this?

Are you having any fun at all?

I'm having fun.

It's an olive book I'm having in.

I can't tell from here.

That's just my face.

I have a resting bored face.

I get that a lot, but I am having a good time, I promise.

This is by far the best Bavarian restaurant I've ever been to.

I told you, it's the best.

The lederhosen is a really nice touch.

Makes me feel overdressed.

No, no, it's sweet.

It's like sharing a formal way.

Can I ask you one more question?

Yeah.

Do you think that I should get crew back into therapy?

Yes, definitely.

Have you ever been in therapy?

Yeah, it's the best thing that ever happened to me.

I was really troubled as a kid, and this therapist helped me understand that there wasn't something

wrong with me.

After years of being told that, I started to believe it.

Did your mom go with you to therapy?

No, no.

We were just very distant.

She actually reminds me a lot of the

main character in Meredith's books.

Oh, that's bad.

You really haven't read them?

Only the first.

Why?

Because I couldn't fathom and that all came from her imagination.

She would always get so angry at me for not reading her manuscripts.

She needed my validation for some reason even though the whole world was validating her.

Where do you get your validation?

I don't.

My books aren't popular.

I mean, maybe I got like a nice review here or there, but I've never had the experience of somebody

saying to my face, your writing matters to me.

I imagine that that would be nice.

I have to tell you something.

Verity didn't read your book.

And why would you say that?

I read your book.

It was phenomenal.

And I'm sorry, but I just knew that it wouldn't mean as much coming from me as it would

from Verity.

And for some reason, I really wanted it to mean something to you.

Because the thing is, your writing matters to me, Lohan.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to Lohan.

Happy birthday to you.

Do you know what the secret

is to such a delicious cupcake?

Tell me.

It's vanilla pudding.

Pudding?

That's very good.

Yeah?

I told you.

You got ice cream?

Wait.

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you before I left the house.

She was standing right there.

She was standing.

She was standing right there.

Your fucking wife.

So there's no one at the house.

I had to run out.

Cruz was asleep.

Verity wasn't there.

This is my fault.

You've been working non-stop.

You're exhausted.

And then I just, you know, and I just feel like.

Yeah, you're right.

It's probably paranoia and guilt.

This place is insane.

Jeremy, you are a prisoner in your own home.

Cruz is a prisoner.

He needs to get away from here.

You need to go back to work.

Take moments, Jeremy.

You can take selfish moments.

It's hard to have a life where you have moments that have nothing to do with her and have everything to do with just you Yes.

You.

I want you, Laura.

I want you.

Daddy, you're supposed to take us canoeing.

Sweetie, well, we can take you.

Awesome.

I want to hear all about it when I get back.

Okay.

I'll be back.

Bye.

What's this?

For you.

Isn't it so pretty?

I love it.

It's okay.

I love you so much, Harper.

I love you.

You be good for mommy, okay?

Okay.

Bye.

See you.

Harper was sitting in the front of the boat.

Cruz was wearing light vests.

Then I shifted on my way to work.

Laura, I'm leaving now.

There it is, watching TV.

Okay.

Good night, Laura.

Hi, Cruz.

What are you doing?

I'm just playing with the camera.

Can I ask you a question?

Yeah.

Did you ever have a canoe?

Yes.

Do you remember being in the canoe with your mommy and Harper?

Cruz, how did the canoe tip over?

Mommy said I should talk to you if you ask me questions about her.

Your mommy talks to you?

Cruz, is your mommy pretending like she can't talk?

Jared!

What happened?

He bite the knife.

Did I come with you?

No, it took a while.

I need somebody to stay here with Mary.

Why did you be so cruel, selfish, Machiavellian cunt?

The police took my report twice.

It's their job.

Harper leaned over at the edge of the canoe?

The questions are simple enough, easy to answer.

They tipped over.

We all went under the water, but Harper never came up.

And I tried to find her, but I was running out of air, and I needed to get Cruz safety.

I think my performance was so good, it made them uncomfortable to ask me more questions.

Jeremy was shattered, but I figured it would pass, and finally he was going to be mine again.

The irony was, I instantly started writing again.

The words were flowing out of me then, with Jeremy acting like such a sad sack, and no one inside.

It feels as though there's nothing left to say, no future, past, or

deep.

He's become such a drag now that Harper's dead.

Six stitches and a bunch of pain meds, but he'll be okay.

He's out cold for the rest of the night.

The power goes in and out when a storm's like this, so I'm going to take a shower while I still can.

I am covered in blood.

It's kind of starting to be our thing, being covered in blood.

Why do you have this?

Why is your camera dirty, sir?

I can explain that.

We...

we need to talk.

Your wife is not who you think she is.

She's not.

She has been lying to you since the day you met her.

Loan.

Crew told me that she talks to him.

She's helpless, Loan.

I know you have a writer's imagination, but are you listening to what they're saying?

Goddammit, Jeremy!

She killed Harper!

What?

She killed Harper.

Read this.

Read it.

It's a confession.

It's Verity's confession.

She wrote it.

I found it on a thumb drive.

You need to know the truth.

Straight to the police.

And you will be locked up.

And you will never see crew or I again.

Unless you tell me what exactly is happening in this house.

Explain.

You've just been...

Don't hurt me.

What?

Please don't hurt me.

Please.

Don't hurt you!

Not until she stops breathing.

It's okay.

The story and the truth is just going to

stay with us.

Just between us.

Forever.

We did the right thing.

People.

It's okay.

You are free from Verity.

No longer touch us.

Or crew.

Did you have any interaction with Verity last night?

No, I was working in the office.

I was hired to help her write.

And then I went to bed really early.

Maybe, I don't know, ten?

Did you hear or hear anything?

Any idea when she might have left the house?

No.

No.

She's been bedridden, you know, so...

But she's in and out of bed every day.

I can't even imagine what her mental state would be.

I'm just afraid that she might have been confused or distraught and gone looking for a harbor or something.

Anything you don't remember about last night?

Anything that could help?

I'm sorry.

I wish I could be more helpful.

Okay.

Thank you.

There is one more thing I have to ask.

What?

Were you and Verity, by chance, working on the new Noble Virtues book?

Perhaps.

I'm sorry.

I'm such a fan.

I've been waiting so long for this one.

Don't worry.

It'll be the best one yet.

Hello?

Hey, good morning, sunshine.

Happy moving day.

Thank you.

I just got here.

Hi.

Jeremy and crew are almost ready to go.

I came to pick you up.

I should have approved the outline for the next book, so you are good to start writing.

Oh, wonderful.

But I'm actually going to need you to ask them for an extension.

I can ask.

Okay.

Talk to you soon.

Oh my God, I missed you.

Hi.

Hi.

I have something.

What?

I have a thing.

Okay.

What is it?

Close your eyes.

Close my eyes?

Close your eyes.

Okay.

Put them here like this.

Don't move.

Okay.

Okay.

Should I keep reading?

Yeah.

Okay.

It's amazing.

It's an advanced copy.

You're the first to have it in your hands.

I can't wait to read it.

That's me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm so proud of you.

You did it.

We did.

Mama!

Hi.

Hey.

Be careful with your little sister.

He's okay.

Hi.

I'm so happy to see you.

I missed you.

Are you excited for our next adventure?

It's a really long drive to Southport, North Carolina.

Yay!

Yay!

Okay.

Let's go.

Do you want to say goodbye to your room?

Oh, my pictures.

What pictures?

Crew.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Don't scare me like that.

What are you doing?

I got my pictures.

See?

Where did you get these?

From my secret hiding place.

Can't tell you where you can't tell.

You better tell me where it is.

You better tell me where it is right now.

Why don't you go wait outside, and I'll be there in a second.

Dear Jeremy, If you're reading this letter, it means that Crew and I are somewhere safe.

As much as I try to forget where it all started to go wrong, I was cursed with this mind.

That never forgets a sequel thing.

It was at dinner with Amanda.

I was discussing my next novel.

I don't know if you tuned this part of the conversation out, but I'm guessing you did, because writer talk always bored you.

That's when she told me to try an exercise she called antagonistic journaling.

It's a writing exercise I guarantee will help get into the mind of an evil character.

You start by writing a journal of your life, except you flip your inner dialogue to the opposite of what you were thinking on the day, the opposite of who you are.

Try it.

Write a journal of your daily life, and layer in sinister inner dialogue.

To be the evil, twisted self-serving...

Sure.

Buckle up.

It's really simple.

Harmless.

I got better and better at being inside the mind of a villain.

It was exhilarating.

And it helped.

It helped immensely, which is why I was able to create such realistic, terrifying characters in my novels.

It's why they sold.

Because I was good at it.

After Harper's death, my mind was in such a dark space.

I was trying anything I could to help me process.

Every day, pushing would make my writing more jarring, more disturbing.

And then the day came.

I left the file open on the computer, and you read it.

But it was just an exercise.

It was real.

You haven't read anything of mine in so long.

After all those years of marriage, how could you, even for one second, believe any of that manuscript to be true?

I mean, seriously, Jeremy.

Do you know me at all?

Every memory we had ever had as a family was erased with every new word of the manuscript that you had read.

Gone.

There's nothing left inside you but hatred.

I'll never forget the look on your face as you stood there and looked

at me.

It was complete and utter misery.

All dizzy.

All I saw were trees.

And in that moment, I knew what you were doing.

You were going to kill me and make my death look like an accident.

I had unknowingly written my own death into the last two sentences of my manuscript.

Did it, Jeremy?

So, I made a plan.

I knew you wouldn't believe me if I tried to deny that manuscript.

And if you are aware that I have recovered, please, refinish the job yourself.

I needed to escape and take Kru with me.

Sharing so many memories together makes me ache for you.

Everything I've done from the day I woke up has been for Kru.

My Kru.

He's the only one who knows I'm still in here.

I still have thoughts and a voice in me.

Are you sure?

It's just a weird emotion all day.

Yeah, I know it.

Okay.

I'm going to get into the city for dinner.

Yeah, I'll be there in a second.

I'm just going to do one last sweep.

The truth.

The only question that remains is which truth was she manipulating?

So, each novel in your series is based on nine moral and ethical guidelines.

Which of those themes was the most fun to corrupt?

Truth.

And I wanted to see how far you could push it.