Page 104 of Tangled In Lies

Sweat forms at my nape, and I have to rub my hands on my pants several times to get rid of the clamminess.

Just tell him.

Soon, he’ll know my worst secret. The one I’m most ashamed of and would gladly die for if I could have a redo.

I push back my shoulders and say, “No, it wasn’t the first time.”

His head moves up and down like he’s nodding to himself, taking in the information and probably trying to connect the dots like I am.

Because apparently, Chris Wellinger, one of my dad’s long-time business partners, was the father of my sister’s unborn baby, and Phoenix kidnapped Chris and then went to prison for assault. My father hasn’t mentioned Chris since, and I’ve never seen him at any events again either.

But if Phoenix wasn’t the father, then . . . “Why were you marrying my sister when she was pregnant with someone else’s baby?”

His answer is immediate. “She found herself in a shitty situation, and I wanted to help her, so I did and told her I’d marry her.”

Time seems to slow down as I blink at him and try to process the news he just dropped on me.

Holy shit.

Can a heart and a brain explode at the same time?

“You.” I point at him while simultaneously doing another poor imitation of a gaping fish. “You . . . you were going to marry my sister to help her because she was pregnant with someone else’s baby?”

“Yes.” He averts his gaze for the first time, picking at his pants. “Does it seem like such an outlandish thing that I’d want to help a friend?”

It takes my brain a moment to digest his words. Then I hold up my hand. “No, that’s not what I meant. I’m just shocked. You guys looked so . . . so happy together. So in love. This is . . . wow.”

He huffs. “That was the whole point, to make people believe the relationship was real. She was a good friend, so it was easy.”

Easy. He said pretending to be in love with my sister was easy because she was his friend.

Hisfriend.

My sister made me believe she was in love with Phoenix, the guy she knew I had a crush on. She knew she was going to destroy me with that. I kept telling myself I was happy for her, that if she and Phoenix were in love, he and I were clearly never meant to be. But they weren’t. They fucking weren’t in love. They were only friends.

Why didn’t she tell me what was really going on? Why was she causing me so much pain on purpose?

Maybe things would have gone differently if she had told me the truth. Perhaps she would still be alive. The things I said to her that night. Oh my God.

I rub my forehead, a headache already brewing.

The past mixes with the present in such a twisted way that everything I thought I knew is turned upside down and tossed overboard.

“Eve.”

My head snaps up. “Huh?”

“I asked when Freddy contacted you for the first time.”

I avert my gaze because I can’t watch him when he finds out what I did. My hands shake, and I wrap my arms around my stomach, sinking deeper into the chair. I want to disappear, be anywhere but here.

My voice sounds far away when I say, “A few days before the nine-one-one call.”

“A few days before?”

I hear the confusion in his question, but I still don’t lift my gaze.

My vision blurs. My legs bounce. I stare at my lap.

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