Page 76 of Never Enough

Hey! Soap operas happen to be one of my guilty pleasures. Daphne’s too.

“Was that you?” Vic asks.

“Yes.”

“Show me. The original.” There’s a command in her voice that brooks no argument.

I hesitate then unlock my phone, find the photo, and hand it over. She takes it, her focus total as she studies the image.

The silence stretches. I watch her eyes track over the picture, and I can’t help but fidget. Seconds tick by, morphing into minutes.

“You look happy,” she finally murmurs, not looking at me.

A single tear betrays me, slipping free. It’s a quiet testament to a past I can’t reclaim.

“So fucking happy,” I add. My voice is gravel when I speak again. “Keeping it all secret, that was my mistake.” The words stick in my throat, but I force them out. “I let Celeste… She just did whatever she wanted, and I didn’t stop her.” Yes, I realize I’m the one to blame here, wholeheartedly.Myactions lead to Daphne leaving me, but I also allowed Celeste to manipulate me.

Victoria’s watching me, her eyes sharp. Waiting for more.

“Every time Celeste touched me, it felt wrong. Not like Daphne.” I shake my head, disgusted with myself. How could I have let another woman touch me? Looking back, it’s so stupid. I should have found other ways to respect Celeste. By honoring my past with Celeste to the degree I did, I destroyed my future with Daphne. No, honoring isn’t the right word. You honor a fallen relationship by thinking fondly of your time together. I pretended I was still dating her. I made my past my present, therefore ensuring the future I wanted would never come.

My hands ball into fists while the leather of the couch creaks under my tense form.

“Instead of pushing Celeste away, I pulled her closer. For what? Status?” I spit the word out like it’s poison. “I’m so screwed up. I traded genuine love for a fakelife.”

“Alex,” Victoria says, but I cut her off.

“Can you hear how messed up that is? I knew what I had with Daphne was special. But I hid us away, like something shameful, when I fucking loved her. I still love her.”

The silence hangs heavy again. My chest feels tight like it’s caving in. Dying right now would be a fitting punishment.

“God, I was such an idiot.” My breath comes out in a hiss.

“Maybe you still have a chance—” Victoria starts, but I’m already shaking my head.

“Too late for chances. I made my choice. Now, Daphne’s gone. I get what I fucking deserve. Loneliness.” Another tear escapes, and I let it fall. This is who I am now.

Victoria sighs before grabbing my balled-up fists and clasping them. “Alex, look at me,” she demands.

Finally, I lift my gaze to meet my sister’s eyes. Satisfied, she says like it’s the most obvious answer in the world, “You self-sabotaged because you don’t think you deserve her.”

“I don’t deserve her,” I agree. “But I didn’t intentionally sabotage our relationship.”

“You kind of did, without consciously realizing.”

I scrub a hand through my hair, the strands catching on the rough calluses of my fingers. I find Victoria’s gaze, and I see anunnerving intensity in her brown eyes—a need to understand, to connect the dots she never knew were scattered.

By all means, I’ll lay them out for her.

“Vic-Vic-Victoria,” I start, my throat tight. “You rem-remember how Daphne a-asked you to look out for me?”

She nods slowly, her posture rigid with expectation.

The words claw their way up from the pit of my stomach. “When I was th-thirteen, I t-tried t-t-to end it all. I c-couldn’t take it anymore, t-the d-depression. I t-tried to hang m-myself, b-but she came. She sa-saved m-me.” The memory of that night gushes back—the cold bite of the rope, the desperation, the sudden warmth of Daphne’s arms pulling me from the darkness.

Victoria gasps, her hand flying to her mouth as her eyes widen in horror. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Her voice is a strangled whisper, laced with betrayal and hurt. Tears drop from her lash lines as her eyes redden.

My sister is always so posed, but right now, she’s struggling with emotion.

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