---- thoughts. As he turned to leave, he heard Elena's voice from the hallway. "...Don't worry, he has no idea. Those animal rights groups are doing a great job. We need to make Victoria suffer... Yeah, keep up the pressure. It would be best if she just left New York..." Finn felt like he'd been struck by lightning. The blood froze in his veins. He pushed the door open. Elena snapped her phone shut, her eyes wide with panic when she saw him. "You... you heard that?" "Those people who attacked Victoria," he said, his voice dangerously low. "That was you?" "Finn, let me explain-" "She helped you," he sneered, "and this is how you repay her? Why?" ---- Elena put on a look of wounded innocence. "I just... 1 was so afraid of losing you..." Finn didn't say another word. He tossed the necklace box onto the table. "We shouldn't see each other for a while. I need to think." She reached for him. "Finn! We've known each other for so long, you can't do this over some outsider-" But Finn pulled his hand away and walked out without a backward glance. When he returned to Mount Pleasant late that night, there was no warmth in the empty house. Victoria's slippers were gone from the doorway. There was no late-night snack waiting for him in the kitchen. Even the familiar scent of lavender had vanished from the air. ---- Finn stood in the center of the living room, a profound emptiness washing over him. The will to fight drained out of him. For the first time, he felt utterly and completely alone.