Page 118 of Fall With Me (Sugarland Creek)

“About what?”

I narrow my gaze, wondering how I never saw how narcissistic she was, or perhaps I didn't want to because I loved her so much.

“Everything. You…you told me he was the reason you went to prison and that everyone pointed their fingers at you but that you were innocent.”

“I am innocent!”

Shaking my head, I feel nothing but pity. “Landen wouldn't do that unless he was certain you were guilty. I didn’t think that way before because I never gave him the chance to show me who he was since I believed you without question. But once all of that bullshit got erased from my mind, I got to know him and the kind of wonderful, kind, sweet man he is, I have no doubt he'd never do what you've accused him of.”

“Oh my God…you're choosing a man over your own cousin?”

“Because I know him! And I know he'd never lie about what he saw that day.”

“You think you do, but you don't him like I do. He's a pathologicalliarand he ruined my life!”

“No…no, no, no.” Amused by her outburst, I shake my head with a humorless laugh. “You ruined your own life when you did what you did and then didn't take accountability for it.”

“Oh my God. It's gotta be the lack of oxygen not gettin' to your brain because we've discussed this at length!”

“You mean youbrainwashedme! I was young and vulnerable, and you took advantage! You knew I worshipped you and would've believed anything you told me.”

And I did.For years.

She whips my hand out of her grip and flinches like I've struck her. With her arms crossed, she scowls. “I did no such thing!”

“You claimed that girl jumped and had some suicide pact with her boyfriend, but that's a lie, isn't it? Landen and his friends testified against you because they witnessed you pushing her. Not because they were covering up her depression. You shoved her off the ledge and she drowned.”

“That's not true! They're all liars,” she repeats the same three words I've heard for years.

“Landen would never lie about something so serious. When I started trainin' with Noah, I looked up news articles about what happened and it stated that Landen and a couple of his friends jumped into the water to search for her. But it never mentioned that you went in…” I shake my head at how obvious it is now.

“Well, I didn't need to. They were already lookin'…”

“Talia was your best friend and you don't immediately jump in to look for her?”

“Landen was a lifeguard! What good was I compared to him?”

“That's right, he is…” I say mockingly. “Which is maybe why you felt so comfortable shoving her off because you figured he'd be there to save her. But you didn't calculate her smacking her head on a boulder and drownin' before he could find her, right?”

That's what they described happened at the trial and it's insane how much of it I'm now remembering.

“It all makes sense now. Landen told me about his best friend, Tucker, and how he jumped off a bridge after his girlfriend died. That was Talia. She drowned and he wanted to go the same way she did. If they'd made a pact, why would he have waited two years after? That doesn't add up…”

“I don't know! Tucker made that choice, not me.”

“You're even more heartless than I could’ve imagined if you truly believe that your actions don't have consequences beyond the law.”

“So I'm to blame for his decision?”

“You pushed his girlfriend off a cliff! You’re the reason she died and the reason he wanted to die.” I pierce her with a scowl I’ve only ever given Landen in the past. “You made me believe every word you said! I thought you were innocent and that they were placin’ blame on you for no reason. Do you have any idea howcruelI was to Landen? How much resentment I held for him? And now to realize he didn’t deserve it…” I sigh, giving my heart a moment to slow down. “You know what’s worse though? No matter how mean I was to him, he was never mean back. In four years, he never treated me the horrible way I treated him.”

And realizing that makes me sick to my stomach.

“Sounds like he's the one who's brainwashed you…” She shrugs carelessly. “He went up in front of a judge and jury and told them I shoved Talia off purposely because I was jealous. It's laughable, Ellie! I had nothing to be jealous of.”

“But youdidshove her…”

She narrows her eyes before rolling them and scoffing. “Fine. But she asked me to.”

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