“It was Liam,” Scarlett confessed right before the line went completely dead.
I stared at the hotel wall in disbelief.
Liam was Brendan’s cousin, but he had also been the first person to make me feel welcome when Brendan and I started dating.
He attended my birthdays, shared holidays with my family, and once sat beside my mother in a hospital waiting room when Brendan claimed he was too busy.
A moment later, Scarlett sent me dozens of screenshots.
“Liam managed the master log,” her message read. “Brendan came up with the ideas, and Liam executed the details while the others joined in for entertainment.”
My hands trembled as I opened them.
Revenge 14: Convince her that Brendan forgot her birthday.
Revenge 31: Hide her presentation slides right before her job interview.
Revenge 47: Make her wait two hours alone at the restaurant, then claim she got the date wrong.
Revenge 81: Laugh at her handmade gift in front of everyone.
There were hidden photos of me crying in my car, videos secretly recorded from across the street, and audio clips of my tearful apologies shared with laughing emojis.
Then I found Revenge 96.
Fake car crash + blood donation. If this works, it will be our greatest achievement yet.
Below it, Brendan had replied:
It’s guaranteed to work. Chloe would do anything if she thinks I’m dying.
I shut off my phone, ran to the bathroom, and threw up in the sink.
My mother found me sitting on the cold floor. Without asking questions, she gently held my hair back the way she had when I was a child.
“Three entire years of my life,” I sobbed quietly against her shoulder.
“I know, sweetheart,” she whispered soothingly.
“How could I have been so blind?” I cried out.
“Because you were looking for reasons to believe he loved you, not searching for proof that he hated you,” my mother answered softly.
We moved to Tucson the next week.
