Page 102 of Second Sin

Mine included.

Kid's maybe fifteen. Pale, angry, standing at the front of the stage like he owns it. One fist clenched around the mic stand. The other shaking by his side.

Olivia stiffens next to me.

I go cold.

Because I recognize him.

The footage was grainy, sure—but it’s him. No question.

The kid from the surveillance video.

What the actual fuck.

“He doesn’t deserve to be up here acting like some fucking role model. He’s a liar. A piece of shit. He slept with my mom—ruinedeverything. And now he gets a mic and applause like he’s some hero?”

The room erupts.

Gasps. Movement. A buzz of voices. Flashbulbs ignite from the press table. Phones come out. People start recording.

Coach pushes through the crowd, storming toward the stage.

“Heknew. He knew she had kids and he kept seeing her anyway. Didn’t stop. Not even when my dad begged him to. Just kept going like none of it mattered. Then she overdosed—and he fucking disappeared.”

"Enough," Coach barks, trying to pull him back.

But the kid fights it. “He ruined my family. And now he’s up here acting like some saint? Fuck that shit.”

Security moves in—fast, rough. It takes two of them to drag him off, arms flailing, voice cracking around the edges of his rage.

And I just stand there.

Frozen.

Burning from the inside out.

Like every word he said scraped something raw open in me. Like I’m standing in the wreckage of a past I’ve never outrun—just tried to bury deep enough to breathe.

Olivia turns to me.

I can’t read her face. Her eyes are wide—shocked, searching.Then her brows pull together, slow and tight, like she’s trying to piece something together.

"Sebastian..."

Press swarms in—cameras flashing, voices shouting, mics shoved in my face.

“Is it true?”

“How long was the affair?”

“Did you know she had kids?”

Fucking hell.

Then Coach is there, cutting through the chaos, hand locking around my elbow like a vice. His grip is firm—no room for argument.

“We’re done,” he growls, dragging me toward the back hall.

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