Jake and Cassidy's relationship had been on the edge of ending for quite some time. "This time", Jake thought, "She's gone too far". As he led her to the edge of the cliff, claiming "This has always been my favorite spot to look over the beautiful sunrise", she never saw it coming.
Last Saturday, Jake had taken Cassidy to yet another fancy fundraiser to flaunt his stunning girlfriend on his arm. After hours of Jake bragging about his control over her and a very public verbal altercation between the two, Cassidy had finally had enough. She sauntered over to the bar and soon found herself severely intoxicated. "How is this possible?", Cassidy thought, "I've only had three glasses of champagne and I feel like I've drank three bottles". Soon a burly man came up behind her and started gently leading her towards the spiral staircase leading upstairs. Right when the two made it one step onto the stairs, Jake suddenly saw it.
"What does she think she's doing?! Does she really think she can cheat on me?! Jake Silverstein?!" Jake sprinted to the stairs, punched the man in the face, and grabbed Cassidy's arm angrily, dragging her out of the house and into the car. Jake began yelling at Cassidy, calling her every ugly name he could think of. He soon tired of this, after realizing Cassidy was too drunk to stay awake. "You're going to pay for this", Jake thought. Despite his current hatred for this woman, he carried her into their bed and chose to sleep on the couch. Cassidy woke in the late morning, her head pounding. She rolled over to find Jake hadn't slept in their bed last night. "That's strange", she thought. Shaking the fog from her head, she tried to remember what happened last night, but couldn't remember anything past the fight with Jake.
Cassidy cautiously trod out into the kitchen, to find Jake waiting for her, with a full breakfast sitting in front of her usual seat. She looked at Jake warily, expecting a continuation of last night's beratement. Surprisingly though, that didn't come. Instead, Jake rose from his chair, smiled at Cassidy, and kissed her gingerly on the cheek. He gestured towards her chair and pulled it out for her. "Have a seat, my love, I've had Wanda prepare your favorite, biscuits, and gravy” Cassidy was shocked but hopeful, seeing Jake in a good mood despite their fight last night. She looked at him sheepishly and began "Jake, about last night, I'm so--", but Jake cut her off. "No need to apologize my love. I insulted the talented, independent woman that you are. I'm the one who should apologize".
Jake had a full day planned out for the two. When the day was close to an end, he told Cassidy "For a special ending to a special day, I'd like to show you my favorite spot on the property". He led her to a towering weeping willow tree near the edge of the cliff at the far end of the property. Jake led Cassidy right to the edge of the cliff and wrapped his arm around her waist lovingly, telling her "This has always been my favorite spot to look over the beautiful sunrise". Cassidy leaned her head onto Jake's shoulder. After a few minutes, Jake gently grabbed her chin to turn her face towards him. Jake looked into her eyes, his face suddenly contorting into the angry, fearsome face Cassidy had seen so many times before. "Last night was the last straw. You WILL NOT disgrace me by cheating on me!" Before Cassidy even had a chance to understand what was happening, Jake quickly moved both hands to the small of her back. And pushed as hard as he could, standing over the cliff to watch her plunge into the deep water of the lake that ran through the property. Jake turned with a sly grin, walked calmly back to his house, and went to bed.
The next morning, Jake woke as if nothing was wrong and went about his day as usual. Cassidy had shared very little about her family with Jake. An ex-boyfriend had targeted them before, which kept her guarded. Not that Jake had any interest in meeting any of them, anyway, being a middle-class family living in the suburbs. Therefore, the thing Jake did not know was that Cassidy had a sister, Lynn. A twin sister. A sister who knew all his dirty secrets and whom Cassidy had told to suspect if she ever turned up missing. After a week of not hearing from her, she filed a missing person's report, noting that Cassidy's last known location was at the Silverstein property. When questioned, unsurprisingly, the Silverstein family offered truly little information, with Jake denying they had even been together that night. The groundsman, Taylor, however, sneakily slipped Lynn a note. Once alone, she opened the note, which read "Meet me at the stables when you're done". Lynn was curious and headed straight for the stables to see what this man knew.
"Hello?", Lynn called. Taylor stepped into the light and gently grabbed her hand and pulled her into a darker area. "Miss Lynn, I'm so sorry for your loss. I say loss because I saw it. I saw Jake push Cassidy over the cliff one week ago. In fact, I filmed it on my phone". Taylor held up a hand as Lynn began to speak. She stopped and waited for Taylor to continue. "I know what you're wondering. Why didn't I go to the police? Well, Miss Lynn, Jake's father, Wes, has paid to cover up multiple crashes, DUIs, assaults, you name it. He has the whole police department and several judges in his pocket. Lynn began to sob. Taylor continued, I took the walkway down to the shore and found her body washed up there. I tried Miss Lynn, I tried with all my might, but I couldn't revive her. She was gone. Miss Cassidy and I were quite close, and she told me about you, so I carried her body back up and drove her to a friend of mine, a county coroner, a few towns over. She's safe there for you.
Lynn took Cassidy's body home and had a small, quiet funeral for her, just Lynn and her mom. Once her sister was buried, Lynn laid out a plan to exact revenge on Jake Silverstein. It would be easy to take the video to the police and simply turn Jake in. But no, the Silverstein's would surely find a way to get out of it, and besides, Lynn wanted Jake to suffer. So, Lynn and Taylor formulated a plan. Taylor's part would focus on the parents, Wes, and Laura, while Lynn's part would focus on Jake. Taylor's task was to confront Wes's wife, Laura, who was much softer than her husband, about the murder. Wes would surely try to dismiss him, at which time he would produce the smoking gun, a flash drive Lynn had created, containing the video of the murder. Taylor would hand the video over, only to reveal that he still has the original video, in a location they would never find. Taylor, of course, would leave immediately after the confrontation, with the arrangement to stay with Lynn until all of this was over. After that, Taylor would begin the extortion, and Lynn would begin the games.
Lynn and Taylor decided to play out this plan over the next six months. Each month, Taylor demanded an increasingly substantial payment from Wes. Meanwhile, Lynn slowly convinced Jake that Cassidy was haunting him. Lynn started subtly at first. Lynn would sneak into the pool house and leave subtle hints. Sprays of Cassidy's perfume, pieces of Cassidy's jewelry, short, cryptic notes, messages on his mirrors and windows in Cassidy's signature shade of lipstick, it went on and on. Then she turned up the heat. Lynn made late-night phone calls to Jake, with sinister messages, "Why did you kill me?" "You're going to rot in hell". As the final part of the deception, Lynn began appearing to Jake. She would attend the parties and fundraisers she knew he'd be attending and walk within Jake's eyesight, then casually disappear into the crowd, with Jake frantically pushing through the crowd to find her.
Wes was getting sick and tired of making the extortion payments and Jake rarely slept or ate anymore, whether that was out of fear or guilt. Laura and Wes finally confronted Jake. "Sweetheart, you know we love you", said Laura, "but enough is enough. You need to go to the police. Tell them the girl jumped. We can't keep making these payments to Taylor. Our financial advisor is getting suspicious". Wes chimed in, "And don't you worry about that original video. We'll find Taylor and take care of him like we should have done months ago". So that became their plan, and they were confident. And that...that is exactly where Lynn wanted them. The next day, Jake went to the local police station and told them an elaborate story of Cassidy suffering from severe depression and suicidal thoughts. Jake told them about the night he saw her standing at the edge of the cliff. He started running, but before he could reach her, she jumped. Jake apologized for waiting so long to come forward, but he had spent the last six months grieving and unable to come to terms with what happened. The police, of course, conducted no investigation and closed the missing person's case.
The next day, Lynn received a phone call from the sheriff, informing her of Jake's overview of events. Lynn played the part of the grieving sister. Later that afternoon, Lynn and Taylor walked confidently into the police station, in the next county over, telling them about the murder and showing them the video. This sheriff's office wasn't under Wes Silverstein's control, and they weren't going to let Jake walk away from this. Taylor also showed the sheriff his bank statements showing the hush payments Wes had been sending him. The sheriff questioned Lynn and Taylor on why they had waited so long to come forward. Lynn admitted she had wanted revenge and explained the plan, taking responsibility for all of it. The sheriff hung his head. "I promise you; Jake, Wes, and Laura Silverstein are going down for murder and the cover-up of that murder. I must tell you both though, you committed crimes also, and those can't be ignored". Taylor and Lynn both nodded, acknowledging that they assumed as much and were ready to accept their fate.
On a beautiful, sunny Friday, Wes, Laura, and Jake Silverstein were taken to jail to await trial. Taylor and Lynn both testified at their trial, which led to all three being charged with the maximum prison time for their crimes. Taylor and Lynn were charged with the minimum sentences for their crimes. Lynn knew she would never see her sister again, but she found pleasure in knowing that her murderer was brought to justice. Turns out, daddy's money didn't work this time.