Page 24 of The Jealous Girl

He’d said it was worth it. It had been the moment that had made me stop and turn back to check he was okay. The moment that my guard had lowered at his vulnerability.

That moment had mattered.

So had the scar.

Charlotte had captioned the photo as being taken yesterday. But it couldn’t have been.

The cut had healed, but it had left a scar. Faint and faded. Maybe it would disappear completely in time. But not yet. Not so soon.

Would it?

I tipped my head to the side. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was remembering it wrong. Making it bigger than it was. More significant. More meaningful.

You always do that. Overthink things. Make them something they’re not.

Janine’s voice scolded, sharp and dismissive.

I clenched my teeth as my grip tightened around the phone.

No.

I knew what had happened.

I knew what I’d seen.

I swiped to the next photo. And the next. Each time, my gaze went straight to Ryan’s forehead. A different pose, different clothes, different day. But each one was the same…

Ryan’s scar was missing.

I scrolled faster now, urgency creeping in as I checked every image she had posted of him. Each one Charlotte claimed to have been taken recently.

But they couldn’t be.

They had to have been taken before Malta. Before we reconnected. Before we made our vows to each other.

Before Ryan chose me again.

And yet⁠—

Charlotte was presenting each one as though they were now.

I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry. Because if this wasn’t real…

What else wasn’t?

10

THEN

Mid July

‘I’ve missed you.’

I shook my head. ‘You don’t get to say that any more.’

I should have stood up. Walked away. Left him sitting there on the sand alone. Left everything in the past where it belonged.

But I didn’t move.