Neptune

Chapter 57 | The Lies

C A S S I E

I automatically retreat, watching as Jude strides toward me. Pushing my back against the sink, I glare at him.

"What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in the ladies room," I snap even though I'm dying to know the truth.

I want to know why he lied to me, why he left me in agony. His betrayal broke my heart and sent me into one of the lowest points of my life—not to mention all the false rumors attacking me after that, which made my misery even worse.

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" Jude asks, halting right in front of me.

I could just say that I don't know what he's talking about, but anger consumes me. "I did. What the hell was that about?"

Jude scrutinizes me. "You know now that I didn't cheat on you."

I grit my teeth. "I saw her in your hotel room, Jude. Naked. On your bed. You didn't even deny it."

Jude's jaw tightens. "It was a misunderstanding."

I frown, staring at him in disbelief.

"Now that you've figured it out, I don't have to hold back anymore," he hisses. "Sasha was drunk after we hung out with my team in my hotel room in Prague. She was the last person who stayed, but she was too wasted to leave. She puked all over her shirt, and after taking it off, she was too drunk to put my t-shirt on. Dammit, Cassie, I didn't even fucking dare put my clothes on her."

My heart is beating fast against my ribs, wondering why he's telling me all of this now. Haven't I given him enough chances to fix everything?

"I covered her body with a blanket and stayed away from her," Jude says. "I didn't expect that you would surprise me that night to spend time with me during my tour. Had you yanked off the cover, you would have found that Sasha wasn't even fully naked."

"But you didn't tell me all of this back then," I say, my voice shaking, my mind going crazy because what he said doesn't make sense. "If you indeed hadn't cheated on me, you would have denied it. You didn't even say that it was a misunderstanding."

"Because you broke up with me," he speaks through gritted teeth. "I didn't have any choice."

"Bullshit," I hiss. "You had so many chances to make everything right. You didn't have to hide the truth and make me feel like a dumb woman."

You didn't have to shatter my heart into pieces.

Jude takes a deep breath, and his voice is shaking with fury when he says, "Luke threatened me."

I feel like my heart stops beating. Never have I thought that I would hear something like this coming from Jude's mouth.

"What?" I stutter.

Jude's eyes are piercing when he tells me the unbelievable truth. "Luke told me to stay the hell away from you. He used my weakness to get to you."

My mouth drops open. I feel like something is wrong with my hearing. My head is spinning. "What are you talking about?"

"Cassie," Jude rasps, letting out a small cry, startling me. "I fucked up. And that cunning man used it to his advantage." He takes a deep breath, his eyes glinting with emotion I can't figure out. Something like guilt. "I took drugs."

My eyes widen in shock.

"You might not have any idea about it, but I did take drugs. Goddammit, I did," Jude cries. "I don't know whether I was close enough to be called an addict, but it's not like the people in our circle never use them."