Page 94 of American Beauty

My head spins.

Alex will lose it if he finds him at my apartment. I can predict how that would end, and I don’t need more destruction tonight.

I step back, pulling the door open enough to let him pass. “Make it fast.”

Ty slips inside, and I close the door behind him, dread curling in my stomach. “Say what you need to say.”

“Healthy relationships are built on a foundation of truth and trust. And I want you to know the truth.”

A sharp, humorless laugh escapes me as I cross my arms. “That would be a first for you.”

His usual cocky smirk is nowhere to be found. Instead, he looks wired—like a man realizing too late that he bet everything and is about to lose it all.

“I’m the one who reported you to Soul Sync.” His words are clipped, low and fast, like he’s ripping off a bandage.

The blood in my veins turns to ice.

“Please hear me out.” He takes a step closer, holding up his hands. “I needed your life to fall apart… so I could be the one waiting in the wings to help you pick up the pieces.”

I stare at him, the betrayal sinking deep, like cold steel sliding between my ribs. “You needed my life to fall apart? Jesus, Ty. Who does something like that?”

“I had a plan. I was going to win you over. Seduce you. Make you forget about Sebring. Because nothing—and I mean nothing—would hurt him more than seeing you with me.”

Disgust curls in my stomach. My skin feels too tight, like it might split open from the pressure of my rage.

His composure slips at the edges. His usual smugness flickers—just for a second—before something else takes its place. Something… raw.

“At least that was the plan. Destroy Alex by taking the one thing he couldn’t stand to lose. Make him suffer.” He lets out ahumorless laugh, shaking his head. “But something unexpected happened.”

His gaze lifts, locking onto mine, and his next words hit me like a wrecking ball.

“I fell in love with you.”

I stare at him, stunned into silence. My pulse pounds in my ears, drowning out the words that just came out of his mouth.

Love? That’s not what this was.

It was strategy. Control. A game he thought he could win.

He steps closer, searching my eyes. “I love you, Magnolia.”

His throat bobs as he swallows hard, shaking his head like even he can’t believe what’s coming out of his mouth. “I’ve never said those words to a woman before. Not once. But with you, I mean them.”

I stare at him, my heart hammering.

“I said it would be okay for you to think of him if we were together, that I didn’t mind. But I did mind. I was desperate for you to wantme.” His eyes burn into mine. “And you did, didn’t you? You wanted me.”

I’m not a liar, and I won’t become one today. “I admit that something was happening between us. But it never would’ve happened if I’d known the truth. All of it was built on lies.”

“I’ll do anything, Mags. Tell me how to fix this, how to fix us.”

“There is no fixing this because there is no us.”

His face twists, and for the first time, I see genuine pain in his expression. Yes, he is a manipulative liar, but I believe his anguish is real.

I take a step back, putting distance between us. “I love Alex. It’ll always be Alex.”

A sharp knock at the door jolts me out of my haze, and my stomach drops.

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