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“W-what?” she stutters, her brows pinching tight.

“You knew about my mum and your dad, and instead of having the fucking balls to tell us, to tell me to my face, you used it against me. You made sure I found out in the worst possible way.”

I stare down at my hands as bitterness floods my body. Forcing myself to stay seated instead of getting up and storming away is physically painful. But I do it. It’s time we finally had this out.

It’s been festering inside me for too long, rotting every single piece of good, of light I once possessed, turning me into a dark, revenge-fuelled monster.

I hate the person I’ve become, but I haven’t been able to stop it.

The lies.

All the lies have built up, and if I don’t start talking, if I don’t let some of it out, I’m pretty sure I’m going to explode as nothing more than a fireball of hate and anger.

When she doesn’t respond, I have no choice but to look up. My breath catches at the sight of her pale face, and some of the fire inside me dies.

“That’s what’s been eating you up inside? Reese… I didn’t know,” she whispers, pain woven into every word. “It was after you’d gone that they sat Oak and me down and told us that they’d been seeing each other. Your dad, you, had left by then. She told us that their marriage had been over for a long time and that they were finally happy.”

“No, that’s bullshit,” I spit, even though deep down, I know she’s telling the truth. But letting go of this quest for vengeance is a terrifying thing. I need something to hold on to, to focus my anger at. And if it’s not her and what I truly believed she did, then what will happen?

“It’s not, Reese.” She sits forward and reaches for my hands.

I flinch away, but she refuses to accept that and moves closer, her hands cupping mine, her warmth seeping into me.

“Tell me. Tell me what you thought I did.”

I shake my head, the memories of that night playing out in my mind as clear as if it only happened yesterday. “Like you don’t know exactly what you did. You act so innocent but you wanted to hurt me. You wanted to—”

“Reese, you’re not making any sense.” Her brows furrow.

“You remember that night you were at Elliot’s, working on that group project Miss Allenby gave us?” I ask, staring into her eyes, hoping that I’ll find the truth within them.

“Uh… y-yeah. I went with Oak and Elliot and you got kept behind for being an arse in Mr. Marsh’s class,” Liv murmurs.

I nod. “After Mr. Marsh had finally stopped ripping me a new one for my attitude, the school was deserted, only my car was left in the car park. I dropped into the driver’s seat when my phone rang.”

“I called you to stop by our house to get the textbook I forgot. I’d left it in the summer room where I was writing notes for us the night before,” Liv remembers.

“I didn’t think anything of it other than it being weird talking to you on the phone. You never called me, you never asked me for anything.”

“Because you were always such a dick. But Oak’s phone died, so I—”

“I thought it was a set-up.” Shame burns through me as realisation begins to sink in. “I thought you’d planned it to hurt me. To finally get back at me for all the bullshit jealousy I’d harboured toward you over the years.”

“No, we just needed the book. I’d asked Oak to go for it but he was being a lazy sod and we knew you were going to be driving by. What the hell did—” She gasps as reality hits her. “You walked in on them?”

“Yeah, sweet cheeks. I did.”

“And you thought that I… that I sent you to find them.”

I shrug.

Fuck. It sounds so ridiculous now.

My entire body trembles as I picture them up against the hallway wall as if they couldn’t even wait long enough to get upstairs.

They were so wrapped up in each other they didn’t even hear me shut the front door, or sense that I stood there for long enough for the ground to rock beneath my feet.

She gawks at me, a mix of sadness and disbelief glittering in her eyes. But then something flashes there. “You came back with the book and asked me if I’d spoken to my dad, and I said he was at the house having a meeting with your mum.”

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