Page 97 of A Lie so Dangerous and Fragile

“Bye, Tristan.” I turned to walk away.

“Chloe,” he called, halting my movement.

I turned around halfway, the sunlight hitting my face.

“It’s okay if you want to see other people and have fun,” he said.

I felt something move in my chest—maybe disappointment, or was it relief?

“You too,” I mumbled and walked away.

Maybe he wanted to see other people too. Maybe he believed that this could never work. I brushed away the pain and went to ask Eduardo if he could give me a ride to the restaurant.

I texted Ciara when I arrived at our favorite restaurant our dad used to take us to during our birthdays when we were kids. It’d undergone a huge renovation, and the menu had changed. She arrived ten minutes late in denim jeans and a red halter top. I stood up and hugged her. I could feel my hatred for her resurfacing. I knew it was going to take a while to let go of the past, but I wanted to feel at peace and slowly let go of the pain and anger.

We each ordered a drink and tried to have a conversation. It used to be easy to talk to her about anything, even the most useless stuff. She looked nervous today. I didn’t know if it was because of guilt for what had happened or something else.

“You … you look great,” she said, almost stuttering.

“Thanks.”

“I love what you did with your hair.” She pointed at my shoulder-length hair, which I’d curled at the ends.

“Thanks,” I said.

She looked like someone out of a beauty magazine with long, wavy, dark hair that looked glossy and silky from where I sat. I didn’t know if it was because I hadn’t seen her in a long time, but she looked like Bella Hadid. I wanted to ask if she had done anything to her eyes and cheekbones, but I didn’t want to ruin this reconciliation lunch even if I was dying to get out of here.

“How are the twins?”

“Great,” I replied, going through the menu.

“I know it’s hard, but thanks for giving me a chance.”

“It’s fine.” I dismissed her apology with a fake smile.

There was a brief silence before she spoke again.

“You’re going to hate me for what I’m about to tell you, but Ican’t …I can’t keep it away from you any longer.”

I put the menu away and looked at her, waiting for an explanation. She looked pale and wouldn’t stop drinking the water in front of her.

“What is it?”

“That day everything went down in the church and you returned home, trying to convince us that it was all a lie, I followed you upstairs to try the pregnancy test, and I told you to give it to me while you cleaned up.” She paused and took another gulp of water.

“Uh-huh,” I said.

“I … I rushed to my room and altered the test.” She burst into tears.

“Altered? How?” I sat up, unmoved by the tears wetting her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Chloe,” she sobbed.

“What did you do?”

“I used my own urine on the test, and then I … I went to show Mom.”

“Wait, what? You … you were pregnant?”

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