Fractured Secrets

3

I saw the way the truth shattered the silence inside of the room. I saw what it did to my family.

Jude slowly turned towards me, his face drained of all color. His eyes spoke too much, too fast. I couldn't process the emotions hurtling through his face quickly enough, but I could tell that he was stunned.

Soren's initial shock was quickly replaced by a fire in his eyes. I watched his entire demeanor shift, anger and disbelief at war as he glanced from me to Ezra. When he looked back at me, the fire had died down as he tried to collect himself.

Ezra's reaction didn't surprise me because it was no reaction at all. Nothing in his face flickered as he continued to stare me down, his features completely blank.

It was Veronica's reaction though that surprised me the most.

Fear.

I felt it like it was my very own. I saw it invade her body as her face drained of blood. Her eyes jumped to Ezra's back and remained there.

I wanted to say it again. The words were there, fighting to get free, but I pushed them down. They'd already done what they needed to.

Nobody came towards me. Nobody uttered a single word.

My heart thundered mercilessly against my ribcage as I waited for someone to break the suffocating silence. I pressed my spine harder into the wall, wishing it could swallow me whole.

"Veronica." Ezra's voice was soft as he was the first one to speak. He kept his eyes on me as he addressed the young doctor. "Go to my office and wait for me there."

My stomach dropped. Veronica's gaze jumped from Ezra to Soren, and it took me a second to realize why she was looking at the latter.

To see if he'd help her.

If Soren felt the weight of her gaze, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, his attention remained on Ezra as if he was trying to decipher what our eldest brother was thinking.

The sinking feeling in my stomach worsened as I started to realize just how grave of a mistake I'd just made. As I started to see the consequences unfold right in front of my very eyes.

As I started to remember what Aisha had told me about Veronica's little brother and the threat Ezra had placed on his future.

Oh, God.

"Whatever you're thinking, Ezra," Veronica's voice was hoarse as she broke the silence. "I can tell you right now that you're wrong. I had nothing to do with this."

Ezra finally ripped his eyes away from me. My blood ran cold as he slowly inclined his head in Veronica's direction. Whatever she saw on his face spurred her to speak again.

"I did my job," she said. She tried to sound firm, but I heard the subtle tremor in her words. "I have always done what you've asked me to."

I took a step forward, my heart racing as I struggled to come up with the right words to fix this.

This wasn't what I wanted.

"If you'd done it correctly, the nurse would not have been spreading these lies behind our back," Soren's bitter voice traveled through the room. "We gave you a warning and it was your choice to ignore it."

Aisha.

They knew about her too.

Bile rose in my throat.