Page 113 of The Sweetest Revenge

I'd decided at that moment that I never wanted to see her again.

It was bad enough that we'd all have to face her again in court.

"No," I said, slipping my hand into Ariella's as we slowly headed to the exit. "There's nothing she can say to me at this point that would change how I feel about her."

Even though I still had lots of unanswered questions, like how my mom was connected with Officer Tanner, how she was connected with the school shooter, and how she got Kacie's phone after the accident. I knew I would never get the real answers from her. In her mind, she was the victim. She was a narcissist. She'd lied about everything.

After everything happened, Claire and my father answered the majority of Ariella’s and my questions. Our first question was how Claire ended up with Kacie's phone.

She explained that she had no idea what was in the box. She'd found the black box wrapped in Kacie's sweater in what used to be Anne's closet. She shoved it to the top of the closet and forgot about it, and I realized that was what my mother had been looking for the whole time. By the end of the conversation, we had a clearer picture, and it turned out nothing was what it seemed. Not even my dad and Claire's relationship. Both of them swore there was never an affair. Anne made it all up to turn me against them, and I'd fallen for it.

I couldn't say exactly what the future held for any of us. The road ahead was uncertain, full of court dates and painful reminders. But for the first time in a long time, I felt something unfamiliar settle in my chest: peace.

Even though there'd always be a missing piece where my sister should be, an absence I would carry forever, I could breathe now. The weight of her death no longer pressed down on my shoulders, crushing me with every step. Some part of me would always wonder if I could have saved her, but that question no longer defined me.

We'd all finally gotten the closure we needed. Not an ending, but a way to carry our grief forward instead of being buried beneath it.

And Ariella. The way she looked at me now, like she could see past all my broken pieces to something worth salvaging, it humbled me. I wanted to spend the rest of my life making up for everything I'd done to her. Not because I owed her, though I did, but because loving her made me want to be better than I was.

I slid my arm around Ariella's shoulders, drawing her close. "Come on," I said softly, "I'll get you a coffee before class."

CHAPTER49

ARIELLA

6months later…

The numbers were beginning to blur together on page 394. Probability distributions had started to look like abstract art. I'd been staring at the same problem for what felt like hours.

I rubbed my eyes and checked my phone—9:42 PM. The library would close in less than one hour and twenty minutes, and I was no closer to understanding conditional probability than when I'd sat down four hours ago.

"Just one more problem," I whispered, the sound of my voice echoing through the university library's third floor. I'd claimed this secluded desk behind the dusty linguistics section specifically because nobody ever came back here. Perfect for focusing or for talking to yourself like a crazy person when statistics broke your brain.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and refocused on the textbook.

"How did I know I'd find you here?"

My heart stuttered in my chest as I spun around. "Zaiden?"

"What are you—I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow." Zaiden left four days ago for an away game that I couldn't attend because of finals.

I was suddenly aware of my unwashed hair pulled into a messy bun, my old black Westbrook Predators dance team tank top, and the dark circles under my eyes.

"Got an earlier flight," he smirked. "I guess I missed you."

This had been the first time since everything went down that we'd been apart for this long. It was funny how Kacie's death tore us apart, only to bring us back together, and I could only think she had something to do with that.

"You 'guess' you missed me?" I raised an eyebrow, fighting the smile that threatened to break through my feigned indignation.

He took another step closer. Then another. Each footfall echoed in the empty library, matching the rhythm of my pulse. The air between us seemed to thick, making each breath more difficult than the last.

"Let me think about it," he said, close enough now that I could smell his cologne. His eyes dropped to my lips for a moment before meeting mine again. "Yeah, I definitely missed you."

I rose from my chair, narrowing the remaining distance between us. "Well," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, "I guess I missed you t?—"

The rest of my words dissolved as his mouth found mine. Four days of absence concentrated into a single point of contact.

I threw my arms around his neck, and his circled my waist as he lifted me off the ground, spinning us as my legs wrapped around him. He dropped my ass on the corner of the square library table.

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