Page 103 of Untroubled Heart

“It’s not like I cheated.” He holds up his phone. “These are like two years old, and I never gave permission for photos to be taken!”

“We don’t have to give each other a play-by-play of our past, but I asked you, and you lied.”

“I was never ashamed of my past, I just didn’t want it ruining my future.” His chest heaves. “I didn’t want your feelings hurt, not when they’re the only thing that matters to me.”

My hand shakes—maybe it’s the cracking of my heart—as a tear drops on my phone, running down the photo before the screen fades to black.

“It’s not like you were honest either. You should have told me about Derek confronting you.”

He’s right. I should have. Maybe if I’d opened up first, he would have felt more secure to do the same. But I guess that’s a mistake I’ll have to live with.

“You’re right.” I step back, angling for the door. “I guess we’re both liars.”

Chapter thirty-eight

I didn’t sleep last night. I’m going on twenty-eight hours without rest, and that’s not helping me think straight. Beth and Grams have gone into recovery mode, while I’ve sat in my apartment, wondering how it all went so wrong.

“Mase?” Beth’s voice echoes through the otherwise quiet space.

“Out here.” My words are weak and brittle, having barely used them since my fight with Callie yesterday.

The balcony door slides open, and my sister joins me on the couch as I stare out at the marina and the endless ocean ahead.

“I managed to get all your appointments rescheduled or covered for the rest of the week,” Beth says, a timid version I barely recognise coming from her. “Grams, Mum, and Dad have sorted… everything else.”

I nod, already knowing after a text Mum sent me not long ago.

Emilia was fired from the tennis club for misconduct. Grams had Anna call her in, and she was faced by my parents and grandparents when they offered her a payout in exchange for a public apology for breaching my privacy and tarnishing my name. I did well enough to establish my own reputation, but until Emilia, it was all just public assumption.

But none of that can help repair the fallout between me and Callie. Only we can do that. I hate that she’s hurt because of something I did.

Giving Derek money was with good intentions, but it could have happened differently if she had spoken up, too.

I waited no more than thirty seconds before I chased her out of the office, but it was enough of a head start for her to reach her car, leaving me to watch her tear out of the staff car park.

My phone wouldn’t stop ringing. I had to deal with that first, even though my heart was pulling me to Callie. By the time I got to her house an hour later, she wasn’t there. Westley found me slumped against her front door. He’d seen the articles, and whilst he wasn’t pleased with how everything had unfolded, he told me not to give up and to let Callie calm down. He reminded me of all the changes her life has seen in the last year—some bad, some good, but changes nonetheless. Sometimes we respond with the highest emotion instead of the reasonable one, and you can’t always see reason until you’ve had time to process.

I sent her a text, begging her to at least let me know she was okay. Finally, just after ten that night, I got two words. I’m okay.

That would have to do until I figured out how to fix it.

“Have you heard from her?” Beth asks, kicking off her heels and tucking her feet underneath her.

I shake my head. “Not since last night.” I pick at a loose thread on the couch cushion. “I don’t know if it’s the money that’s worse or the shit with Emilia.” I drag a hand down my face. “It’s just all fucked.”

Beth takes a deep breath before slumping back against the couch. “If it were me, I think it’d be the other woman thing.”

“But I didn’t cheat!”

“I know.” Beth lays a hand over my knee. “And I’m sure she knows that too. But it’s one thing to know your partner has a history and then have the evidence shoved in your face. Some people couldn’t care less, but Callie’s mum was the other woman; some of her feelings are probably drawing on sympathy for her.”

I should have known Callie would have preferred me to acknowledge Emilia as a previous hook-up rather than try to protect her feelings. I think I was trying to protect what I had with her. It still feels so new, like I haven’t fully got my grasp on it, and it could slip through my fingers at any moment.

“Beth, what do I do?”

The doorbell rings before she has a chance to answer me.

“I’ll get it.” She disappears inside while I check my phone.