Just a chance.
Don’t fuck this up.
The silence stretches between us, thick and suffocating.
Lila crosses her arms, her posture screaming impatience, but her fingers flex against her sleeve, just once. A flicker of something beneath the anger.
I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.
Fuck.
I rake a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply. “I…I shouldn’t have left like that.”
She lifts a brow. “Which time?”
My jaw tightens.
I take a breath, steadying myself. “I was pissed, Lila. I thought—” I shake my head, trying to piece the words together. “I thought you were just trying to get back at me.”
Her eyes go wide, fury crackling like a live wire. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Before I can react, she shoves me. Hard.
“The fucking irony, Ben.” Another shove. Sharper. “You thought I was trying to get back at you?”
My ribs ache, but not from the impact, from her anger, her pain, all of it crashing into me.
I don’t move. I let her.
Her breath is ragged, her fingers curling into fists. “You’re the one trying to rip everything away from me.” She shoves me again. “You’re the one throwing money at our business, our home, trying to make us disappear like we’re just some fucking inconvenience and you have the audacity to stand here and say you thought I was out for revenge?”
She laughs, bitter and hollow. It’s the worst fucking sound I’ve ever heard.
She shakes her head, a humourless smile twisting her lips. “Oh, come on, spare me the act.”
What?
My stomach twists, my breath stalling in my chest. “Lila, what the fuck are you talking about?” My pulse pounds, confusion slamming into me like a freight train. “Lila, I—”
She doesn’t let me finish.
Her jaw clenches, her breath coming fast and uneven. “That night—” Her voice falters, and she exhales sharply, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes before looking at me again, gaze burning. “Fifteen years ago, it was a mistake.”
A cold, sharp pain rips through my chest. Like a blade, buried deep.
I don’t move. I can’t.
Her voice shakes, but she doesn’t stop. “I should have never—” She swallows, forcing herself to keep going, even as I watch her break. “You would have been with your mum.”
My blood turns ice cold. No.
Her voice catches, and she looks away, jaw clenched like she’s trying to keep herself from breaking. “And now you’re back. Tearing down the last thing I have left. Isn’t that what you wanted, Ben?”
Her eyes snap back to mine, and I see it.
Not just the anger.
Not just the fight.
