Page 63 of Shattering

Regan's face drained of colour. "That's not—"

Cadi let out a sharp, humourless laugh. "And while we're at it, why were you always implying that something was going on between Gray and Vanessa?"

Regan stiffened, her fingers curling into fists. "I wasn't—"

Cadi scoffed. "Don't lie to me, Regan. Every time you mentioned her, it was with that little tone, that little suggestion that there was more to it. You planted the idea, fed it with just enough hints and pauses to make me doubt. And now here we are."

Regan swallowed hard, her shoulders hunching. "I didn't mean—"

"Oh, don't bother," Cadi snapped, her voice raw. "You know what you did. And now you want to act like you were just an innocent bystander?"

Regan recoiled, but her shock was laced with something else. A shadow of defensiveness.

"You think I was the only one keeping secrets?" Regan shot back, her anger rising to the surface. "You were the one sneaking around! Cheating on Gray with Callum—"

A sharp, scornful laugh ripped from Cadi's throat before she could stop it. "Oh, you idiot," she spat. "Callum isn't Tomos' father. He's his uncle. Callum is Gray's half-brother."

The room fell into stunned silence.

Regan's mouth opened, then closed. She stammered, unable to form a sentence. "I... I didn't know."

Cadi felt hollow. "No. You didn't. And yet, you still ran to Gray with your half-baked conclusions, didn't you? Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you askme?"

Eila turned sharply to Regan, her expression shifting from confusion to something more serious. "Regan," she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. "Is this true?"

Regan swallowed hard, unable to meet her mother's eyes.

Eila's face paled. "How could you do this?" she asked, her voice quiet but heavy with disappointment. "Cadi is your sister."

Regan looked like she'd been hit. She pressed her lips together, and when she finally spoke, her voice was small. "I wasn't thinking straight."

Eila sat down heavily in a chair, shaking her head. "Why?"

Regan swallowed. "I was... I was in a bad place," she admitted finally, her voice cracking. "I was off my meds. Jon had cheated on me, and Gray—he was kind to me. He was understanding. And I just... I couldn't keep the secret anymore."

Cadi stared at her. "So instead of talking to me, you just blurted it out to Gray?"

Regan swallowed. Her fingers trembled as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I told myself I was helping him," she admitted. "I—I didn't think I was betraying you. Not at first."

Cadi frowned, her fury momentarily cooled by confusion.

Regan let out a shaky breath. "He looked so... lost that day. I don't even remember what we were talking about before, but hesaid something about how he was afraid he'd never been enough for you." Her voice wavered. "And I—I wanted to make it better. I wanted tofixit. And I was angry with you at that moment for not being honest with him. Here he was ,the most wonderful man in the world and he was insecure. I thought telling him the truth was the right thing to do."

Cadi inhaled sharply, her chest tight.

Regan gave a weak, humourless laugh. "But the second I said it, I knew I'd made everything worse." She rubbed at her temples, as if trying to physically erase the memory. "I regretted it immediately. But then... I thought maybe it was for the best. Maybe the truth needed to come out. Tomos needed to know who his real father was."

Eila still looked stunned, her gaze flicking between them. Finally, she sighed and ran a hand over her face. "I should have known something was wrong when you called me and asked me to come," she said quietly to Cadi. "I thought... I don't know what I thought." She looked at Regan again, her expression no longer just disappointed but pained. "Regan, you should have spoken to Cadi first. You had no right."

Regan swallowed, nodding slightly, unable to look her mother in the eye.

Regan's lips trembled as she struggled for words, but Cadi suddenly felt too drained to keep fighting. The rage was still there, burning deep, but exhaustion was creeping in, weighing down her limbs, pressing against her chest.

Her voice was quieter now, stripped of fury, raw with heartbreak.

"What happened to you, Regan?" she whispered. "Why didn't you come to me first? What have I ever done to you to deserve this?"

Regan's breath hitched.

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