Juniper's amused smirk widened even more as she watched the myriad of emotions flicker across Alice's face.

  She knew just how to press her buttons, and she was loving every damn second of this.

  So, she just sat there, lounging on the couch and studying Alice's reaction with an almost predatory gleam in those dark eyes.

  When she finally spoke again, her tone was low, dangerous even.

  "First... I have a question of my own.”

  Juniper leaned forward slowly, her playful demeanor shifting into something razor-sharp.

  "What makes you think," she purred, tapping one manicured nail against her bottom lip.

  "That Juno even wants to be found by you?"

  The words landed like a knife between Alice's ribs. The cruelest possible question wrapped in perfect pop-star cadence.

  Alice froze.

  Those words hit her like a freight train; an icy cold knife driving straight into her heart.

  She stared at Juniper, mouth agape, completely speechless as she tried to process what the pop star had just asked her.

  That couldn't be true. Juno would never...

  "You..."

  She could scarcely think through the sudden rush of nausea rising in her chest.

  "You're lying." She managed in a voice that was suddenly far too steady.

  Juniper’s smile didn’t waver, but something dark flickered behind her eyes, sharp and knowing.

  "Oh, I don’t lie," she murmured, tilting her head. "I just let people believe what they want to believe."

  She reached for the strawberry shortcake again, plucking a berry between her fingers with deliberate slowness before popping it into her mouth. A trickle of juice trailed down her lower lip as she spoke around it:

  "And you? You really wanna believe your best friend is out there waiting for you... don't you?"

  Alice’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, nails biting into her palms as Juniper’s words twisted deeper.

  "Stop it."

  The demand came out raw, less anger and more something broken. Something Juniper clearly heard, because her smirk only grew.

  "Or what?" she taunted, licking strawberry juice from her thumb with deliberate slowness. "You’ll cry? Scream? Beg?" She leaned forward, voice dropping to a whisper like she was sharing a secret: "I bet you would."

  A beat of silence stretched between them, Juniper watching with gleeful cruelty as Alice trembled, caught between fury and devastation, before the pop star finally sighed and rolled her eyes.

  "Ugh, fine. You want answers that bad?" She waved a hand toward the balcony doors behind them where city lights glittered coldly in the night. "Your precious Juno's halfway across the universe by now, working alongside..." A pause. "...Gabrielle."

  Alice's breath hitched, like she'd been punched straight through the ribs.

  Gabrielle.

  That name alone sent a flood of memories crashing into her, Gabrielle's cold disposition, the way Gabrielle easily ripped through the Black Snake mob members like a chainsaw against wet toilet paper, Gabrielle laughing as she ripped everything away from Elara...

  Juniper watched with delight as Alice’s face drained of color, then pressed further: "Ohhh? Did I strike a nerve~?" She twirled a lock of hair around one finger. "Guess I was right about you not liking what I had to say."

  Alice swayed on her feet, the room tilting slightly as Juniper's words detonated inside her skull.

  Gabrielle.

  Of course it was Gabrielle. The same woman who'd broken Elara, who'd turned everything to ash just for the sake of chaos, of course she was tangled in this too.

  Juniper watched with unholy amusement as Alice’s knees nearly buckled under the weight of it all, then added cheerfully: "Oops~ Did I forget to mention? Juno left a little note." She flicked her wrist, a slip of paper materializing between her fingers like magic, before reading aloud in a singsong voice:

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "'Tell Alice... I chose this.'"

  A beat. Then she crumpled it into nothingness with a grin. "Aaaanyway~!" She clapped once, bouncing to her feet with artificial pep. "Enough sad stuff! Who wants cake?"

  Alice's world narrowed to a single, white-hot point.

  She didn't realize she'd moved until her hand was already wrapped in the front of Juniper's designer top, slamming the pop star back against the balcony railing with enough force to make the glass doors rattle.

  "You." Alice’s voice was barely human, a ragged thing torn between fury and grief. "You knew, this whole time you, " Her grip tightened. "Where is she really?”

  Juniper just laughed breathlessly against her hold, pupils blown wide with something far too close to delight.

  “Cute.” She rasped, not even struggling as her spine bent precariously over empty air thirty stories up. “But threats only work if I care whether you drop me~”

  It was like that smug, cold response was a switch. Anger exploded in Alice’s veins so suddenly she found herself shaking with the force of it. This entire time, this entire conversation, Juniper had been playing her. Like a damn puppet.

  She wanted her to react like this.

  Just the thought of that made Alice's grip tighten on Juniper's shirt. "Shut. Up." She forced out through gritted teeth. "Stop playing games. Now.”

  Juniper's smirk only widened.

  She wasn't afraid. Not even now, with a three decade drop into the city lights at her back and someone half-crazed with anger holding her life in their hands. No. Instead she just leaned in, closing the gap between their faces until they were inches apart. Her voice dripped with poisoned sweetness:

  "Or what?”

  A thousand thoughts went screaming through Alice's brain, thoughts of everything Juniper had put her through. The fake sympathy, the taunts, the twisted truths... It was all a game. A twisted, sick game to get a reaction.

  And with every second that passed, every smirk and every word out of Juniper's mouth, the urge to hurt her became more and more overwhelming.

  But that was what Juniper wanted. She didn't care if she ended up splattered across the pavement thirty stories down, as long as it made for good reality TV.

  So, with a shuddering breath:

  Alice closed her eyes, trying to force herself to calm down. She'd been played like a damn piano this whole time. Juniper had been in complete control. Every. Single. Step.

  She wasn't going to give that smug pop star the satisfaction of seeing her break. Not completely.

  So she released Juniper's shirt, letting the pop star drop to the balcony floor with a satisfying thud.

  Juniper just laughed, actually laughed, as she hit the floor, like being slammed into concrete was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her. She even giggled as she pushed to her feet, straightening her designer clothes lazily as she did.

  "Aaaah, that was fun~!" Juniper chirped, not even bothering to brush off the dust on her shoulders. "You should've seen the look on your face! I honestly thought you were gonna throw me off the balcony for a moment there.”

  "Shut up."

  The words came out between clenched teeth.

  They were supposed to sound cold. Furious even.

  But even Alice could hear the raw emotion that cracked through her voice, the pain and anger and hurt bleeding through that one strangled syllable like an open wound.

  So much for not giving Juniper the satisfaction.

  The pop star just raised an eyebrow, grinning with a savage delight that Alice hated. "You're kinda hot when you're angry, y'know? You've got this whole 'killer pixie' vibe goin' for you.”

  Juniper's grin only sharpened, feline and cruel. She twirled a lock of hair around one finger as she stepped closer, deliberately invading Alice's space again.

  "Ohhh~ Is the widdle warrior gonna cry now?" Her voice dripped with false sympathy. "After all that big tough talk about finding your friend?"

  She leaned in until their noses almost touched, breath ghosting over Alice's face as she whispered:

  "Guess what? Juno didn't just leave you..."

  A beat.

  "...She RAN."

  Alice froze, every single muscle in her body seizing up all at once.

  No. That wasn't true. It couldn't be true. Juno was her best friend, there was no way in hell she'd run away. She might be cold, she might be reserved, but Juno cared about her. She loved her.

  "You're lying." She forced out, voice suddenly very, very small.

  Juniper clicked her tongue sympathetically, reaching forward to pat Alice's cheek like she was a child. "Awww," she crooned, her voice dripping with mock consolation. "Did I hit a nerve~?"

  She tilted her head, studying Alice's face with a cold, detached amusement, watching her every breath, her every movement, before leaning closer once again to whisper:

  "I'm not lying. Your sweet, precious Juno LEFT YOU, and she's not coming BACK."

  Juniper watched the words land like poison in Alice’s veins, her satisfaction palpable as the color drained from the smaller girl’s face. She could practically see the fractures spreading through Alice’s resolve, each syllable chipping away at whatever fragile composure remained.

  And then,

  "Prove it."

  Alice’s voice was raw, barely audible. But her eyes burned with a defiance that made Juniper pause mid-smirk. The pop star arched one perfectly sculpted brow, intrigued despite herself.

  "...Excuse me?"

  Alice stepped forward, trembling but relentless, a wounded animal baring its teeth one last time before collapsing entirely:

  "You want me to believe you? Then PROVE IT. Show me this 'note.' Let me hear her say it. Do anything besides taunt me like some washed-up reality villain." Her hands clenched at her sides. Or shut your damn mouth and stop pretending this is anything but a game to you."

  Juniper stared at her for a long, silent moment, and then burst into laughter. Not her usual performative giggles, but something darker. Something real.

  She wiped an imaginary tear from her eye before reaching into the pocket of her designer jeans and pulling out a folded slip of paper. With deliberate slowness, she flicked it open, revealing Juno’s precise handwriting in stark black ink:

  “Alice,” Juniper read aloud, voice devoid of mockery for once. “You deserve better than someone like me.”

  A beat passed before she flipped the note around so Alice could see it for herself, the words unmistakable, the penmanship painfully familiar. But it was what came next that made Alice’s stomach drop:

  “Goodbye.”