Chapter 139
“Don’t get me wrong,” I add, quieter. “I love my siblings. I loved raising them. I just wish I hadn’t had to give up my entire childhood so they could have one.”
—
There’s a long pause. Then I say, “Seth – one of my younger brothers — fell into the pool when he was five. He would’ve drowned if Mar hadn’t seen it from his window. I owe him my brother’s life.”
A ghost of a smile pulls at my mouth. “That’s how we met. His family had just moved in two weeks before, but with the chaos in my house, no one noticed. He jumped the fence, dragged Seth out, and my mum – true to form — nearly had a heart attack and called the police. After that… the rest was history.”
–
“The more I hear, the more concerned I become,” Emilia
mutters.
I offer her a crooked, sad little smile. “Don’t worry. It only gets worse.”
She reaches over and turns the volume down even lower.
“That same month, I left for hockey camp. Mar came to watch me play, but instead, he laid eyes on Elijah and decided he was done for. Love at first sight. I became their Cupid – played matchmaker, orchestrated everything. Not that they care now. Ungrateful fucks are both freezing me out.”
I glance at her. “Anyway. Jessica? She’s Elijah’s little sister.”
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“What?!” Emilia yelps, whipping her head toward me. “Wait- actually, now that you say it… I can see it.”
“But the vibes are completely different?” I say, smirking.
“Exactly!” she says – way too emphatically.
I huff a laugh. “That’s because they’re siblings, yeah, but their upbringings were night and day. Jess always had these… fixations. Started small – didn’t want to share her toys, her parents, Elijah. Then me.” My hands tighten slightly on the wheel. “Usually they faded. But her obsession with me stuck. And grew.”
The words feel heavier the more I say them, like I’m coughing up stones. I drive on autopilot, swerving through streets I’ve known my whole life, not really seeing them.
“When we hit high school, both our families thought it’d be smart to just… let it happen. A marriage between two powerful families, kill two birds with one stone. Secure alliances and stop Jess from potentially hurting herself over the idea that I’d never be hers.”
There’s a beat. Then Emilia whispers, “So Jessica…”
“Was my fiancée,” I say quietly.
And just like that, the air in the car changes.
Emilia’s expression darkens. “Is that why Elijah hates you? Because you called it off?”
“Not exactly.” I let out a breath. “He knew I didn’t love her. I would’ve treated her well, but it was never going to be love. He
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hates me because I spent years letting her believe it could be. I was a kid. I didn’t know how to say no. No one ever taught me how to set boundaries – especially not with a girl who hurt herself when things didn’t go her way.”
“And when it really mattered, I couldn’t protect her.” I clench my jaw. “Not even when my ex–girlfriend shoved her into a pool and closed the cover.”
Emilia tenses beside me, hands going still.
“Liam…..”
–
–
“I think about it every day,” I say, quieter now, “That party. That night. Zane thought sneaking Jess — a high school senior — into a frat party would earn him brownie points with me. Like that made any goddamn sense,” at the mention of his name, Emilia squirms a little in her seat.
“I found out she was there, but something just felt… off. My girlfriend wouldn’t leave the pool alone. Just kept circling it, like she was waiting for something to happen.”
I glance at Emilia. “What if I hadn’t gone looking? What if I hadn‘ t shown up when I did? Would Jess be dead? Would my complete inability to draw a line have gotten her killed?”
Her hand comes down on my shoulder, gentle but grounding. I almost flinch at how kind it feels.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“Wasn’t it?” I laugh, dry and sharp. “After that, I gave up on dating. Anything that might hurt her more – being serious about someone else, choosing someone else – I couldn’t risk it.”
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“Liam, that’s not fair. You shouldn’t have had to give up everything for her.”
“It’s easy to say that when you weren’t there.” My voice cracks a little. “She stopped leaving her room. She couldn’t be in small spaces — not even showers or bathtubs. Blankets gave her panic attacks. When she started therapy, I had to sit beside her every session, hold her hand, because she thought her therapist might try to drown her too.”
I blink fast. The road’s still there, but it’s hard to see.
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