Page 139 of Loving the Liar

She nods, a bright smile spreading on her face. “Make sure you tell him that too.”

The bitch is getting off on my misery, and something hits me like a slap in the face. Her and Chris…they’re exactly the same. And yet I hated her because she was the woman who wanted the man I love. And him…I let it go because…well, because he was the man I love. Loved.

He made my life hell, and she probably had the time of her life posting it all over Hermes’s account.

“You two deserve each other,” I spit out.

With more tears streaming down my face, and a newly broken heart, I leave knowing that she got exactly what she wanted out of me. And I got nothing but the devastating truth.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Ella

Pain - Nessa Barrett

Iburst through the door of my college house, tears still streaming down my face as I run to my bedroom. I still don’t have my phone, so I grab my tablet to call my brother. I don’t know what’s going through my head anymore. I don’t know how I feel.

All I know is I don’t want to feel anything at all.

“Hey, El— What’s wrong?” His serious face shows on my screen. I hadn’t even realized I clicked on a video call.

“Do you know what kind of man you associated with to kill Dad?” I yell, completely out of my mind.

His face falls, and he looks around him.

“Oh my god,” I croak, barely able to catch my breath. “It’s true. You did it.”

I see him walk, then open and close a door. He’s in some sort of office.

“Where are you?” he asks me. “I’ll come right now.”

“I don’t want you to come,” I spit out. “I don’t want to be near you. I want you to know who your best friend really is.”

“Ella, please, calm down. You know just as well as me that it had to be done.”

“Too bad you picked a lying bastard to do it with. He’s the one who convinced you, wasn’t he? Murder, Luke. Murder.”

“I trust Chris with my life,” he answers sternly.

“And with mine?” I snarl. “You know nothing about that man.”

“Ella, please calm down. Are you at your house?” I see him stand up. “I’m on my way. We can talk.”

“We used to date. In high school. Did he ever tell you that? I know he didn’t. He made me fall in love with him. He was controlling. He fucked me behind your back while you were telling all your friends to not approach me.”

For a few seconds, nothing shows on his face. Then his breathing starts accelerating, his nostrils flaring.

“Are you making this up to piss me off?”

“I fucking wish. I didn’t get into Juilliard because of him!”

“You and Chris dated behind my back?”

“I wanted to tell you. But he didn’t. Because he’s a coward and a liar. He’s still after me, did you know that? Did your best. Friend. Tell you that he cheats on Megan with me? Did he tell you that he never brought your name to the Circle because he wanted me to initiate so he could use me as an Aphrodite? That’s the man you trust with your life. The same one who filled my head with lies so he could keep controlling me, and my heart with hope so he could keep me close.”

He opens his mouth to say something, then clamps it shut in a click of teeth. I watch as his eyes darken, and his jaw tightens. And out of nowhere, his phone flies across the room. All I see is a blurry image and hear a crash before everything goes black.

I throw my own tablet on the bed, and a scream of despair leaves my lungs. It lasts until I’m out of breath and anguish has filled my body rather than air. My throat is sore, and I can taste blood in my mouth. I want to rip my skin off, escape from my body so my soul doesn’t have to suffer so much.

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