After the Ex Games by J. S. Cooper, Helen Cooper Page B

I’d stayed.”
    “Why did you leave?”
    “I felt like I owed her.” I sighed. “I don’t know anymore.”
    “Will you give me another chance?” He reached his hand out to me.
    “Yes.” I smiled, and he pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight.
    “I love you, Nancy. Please always remember that I love you.”
    “There’s something you should know.” I looked up at him. “Patsy’s pissed.”
    He made a face. “She’s always pissed.”
    “No.” I shook my head. “She’s really pissed. When she found out that Katie was pregnant, she got really mad.”
    “What?” He froze and looked down at me.
    “She said—” I started, and then we heard a loud noise.
    We all froze and looked towards the door. Patsy walked in with a gun in her hands. She looked at me with a sneer and then started laughing.
    “Well, what do we have here?”
    “What are you doing here, Patsy?” Greyson stepped towards her, and she pointed the gun towards him.
    “Stop!” she screamed. “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
    “Patsy, you don’t want to do this.” His voice was soft. “Please just give me the gun.”
    “So you can shoot me? I don’t think so.”
    “Patsy,” he said again, and she made to pull the trigger.
    “Shut up!” Her eyes turned cold. “Just shut the fuck up or I’ll shoot.”
    “Patsy.” Brandon spoke up now and took a step towards her.
    “Stop right now, Brandon Hastings. I swear I will shoot you through the heart if you take one more step.” She paused and laughed. “That’s if you have a heart.”
    He stopped still, and I could feel my heart racing. I was scared. More scared than I’d been when David had had me in the room. I hadn’t minded dying then, but now? Now I wanted to live, and I needed for Brandon to live as well. I wanted my father in my life. I wasn’t going to lose him now.
    “Patsy, please don’t do this,” I said, and she looked at me with bitter eyes.
    “I can’t believe you turned on me. I thought we were in this together.”
    “I never wanted to hurt anyone, Patsy. I just wanted answers.”
    “They discarded us, Nancy. Don’t you get it? We don’t mean anything to them.”
    “Patsy, I’m sorry that I never loved you,” Greyson said, and she turned to look at him again.
    “I loved you, Greyson Twining. I loved you so much.” Her voice cracked. “That night with Brandon was a mistake. I made a mistake. I fucked him, yes. Yes, I fucked him and a part of me knew it wasn’t you. And a part of me didn’t care, but then I got pregnant. I got pregnant and I was so excited. I thought this was it. This was going to cement our relationship. We were finally going to be together. And then it struck me. What if it wasn’t your baby?” Her voice broke. “What if it was Brandon’s? You’d never take me back then. You’d never want me. So I took care of it. I took care of it because I loved you. And I wanted you to forgive me and take me back.”
    The room fell silent as she rambled on. “We could have been a happy family. We could have had a baby together. We could be parents right now.”
    “I never knew.” Greyson’s face was white, and I could see that he had no idea what to say.
    “Brandon ruined my life.” She pointed the gun at Brandon. “If he hadn’t slept with me that night, I would have known who the baby’s father was. I would have known it was yours. I would have kept it. We would have been together.”
    “Patsy.” Greyson took a step towards her.
    “Stop!” she screamed. “He ruined my life. I will never forgive him.”
    “Please don’t shoot him, Patsy,” I begged then. “Please.”
    “Oh,” she laughed evilly then. “I’m not going to shoot Brandon.” She looked at him with distaste then. “Shooting him would be too easy. I want him to feel the same pain he’s caused me. He won’t feel that if he’s dead in a casket.” She took a few steps and pointed the gun at Katie. “I’m going to shoot her.” She laughed. “I’m going to