Bound By Lies - Rafe Cameron

Chapter 41

Rafe's POV

I spot her through the trees, a small, broken figure slumped against a trunk, shaking with sobs. The sight of her, curled up and crying, twists something deep inside me—something sharp and agonizing that feels like it's tearing me apart from the inside out. Every step I take toward her feels like walking through quicksand, my heart pounding so hard it's like a drumbeat of guilt and despair.

"Teresa, baby..." I call out softly, my voice raw and choked with emotion.

She stiffens instantly, her head snapping up as she turns to look at me, her eyes wide with fear. The fear that I put there.

"Don't—" she whispers, and then she's moving—scrambling to her feet, trying to run.

"Wait!" I cry out, lunging forward and grabbing her arm, my grip firm but gentle. "No, no, baby, please—you have to listen to me!" My voice cracks, the desperation clawing at my throat.

She struggles against me, her eyes wild and brimming with tears. "Let me go! Get away from me!"

"Please," I beg, my own tears blurring my vision. "Please, Teresa, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..."

But she's shaking her head, her entire body trembling as if she's barely holding herself together. "Sorry?" she whispers, her voice breaking. "You're sorry?"

I swallow hard, trying to keep myself from falling apart. "I am, I swear. I never wanted to hurt you—I never wanted you to find out like this."

She lets out a bitter, heartbroken laugh, the sound echoing through the empty forest. "Find out like this? Rafe, I should have never found out because you shouldn't have done it in the first place!" Her voice rises, shaking with anger and pain. "You lied to me! Over and over and over again! You—"

"I know," I cut in, my voice a frantic whisper. "I know, and I'm sorry. But it was never supposed to be like this."

"Fuck you!" She yelled. "You listened to me talk about her. You fucking watched me cry about her, grieve for her, and you said you felt bad!" Her voice breaks on a sob, and she shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. "But you didn't. You didn't because you were the one who did it, weren't you? It was you this whole time."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I can't stop the sob that tears its way out of my throat. "No, baby, please... it's not like that. It's not—"

"Don't you dare lie to me again!" she screams, her voice cracking with the force of it. "You used me! You betrayed me! You played me like a fucking game!"

"No, no, it was never a game," I plead, my voice desperate and broken. "I love you, Teresa. I love you more than anything. I wanted to tell you—I wanted to, but I was scared. I didn't know how... I couldn't lose you, baby. I can't lose you."

She chokes out a sob, her body sagging as if she's collapsing under the weight of it all. "That's why you were always saying sorry, wasn't it? That's why you'd always apologize, and I never knew why. Because you knew... you knew you were lying to me every single day."

"Please," I beg, the tears streaming down my face. I try to reach for her, but she pulls back, shaking her head, her expression one of devastation. "Please, Teresa, don't... don't hate me. I was scared—scared of losing you, of what you'd think. I love you. It wasn't supposed to happen like this—"

"You keep saying that!" she cries out, her voice high and hysterical. "You keep saying it wasn't supposed to happen, like it just happened on its own! You made a choice, Rafe! You chose to pull that trigger, to kill her! My aunt! You took her from me, and then you had the audacity to stand there and comfort me. To act like you cared!"