Twisted love

Confessions and Consequences 2

Oliver
Present
Chapter Twenty-three:

The world seemed to tilt, spinning on an axis I hadn’t even known existed. Miscarriage. That single word unraveled everything I thought I’d understood. Katherine had been pregnant—my child—and I’d never known. Instead, she’d gone through that heartbreak alone, while I was completely unaware. All this time, I’d thought I was the one wronged, abandoned. But I’d had no idea of the pain she was carrying, a pain she had kept hidden, shared only with Andrew.

The betrayal cut deep. It left me in a state of shock so profound that I struggled to breathe. Andrew’s words echoed in my mind—words I’d brushed off as cold indifference, assuming his protective act was just possessiveness. But it was more than that; he knew everything. He had been the one comforting her while I was kept in the dark, and Sophie... She'd been there all along, manipulating the cracks between Katherine and me, making sure we never got a chance to mend what was broken.

As the pieces began to fit together in a way that left me reeling, I felt my grip on reality slipping. And then, all at once, something clicked: Sophie’s subtle, consistent presence, her need to keep me close under the pretense of friendship, her quiet bitterness whenever Katherine was mentioned. I had been so blind to it, so oblivious to the poison she had been dripping into my life for years.

Without a second thought, I was in my car, gripping the steering wheel with white-knuckled intensity. My mind raced, each passing mile adding to the furious beat of my pulse. I was done being strung along. I needed answers, and I wouldn’t rest until I had them. Sophie had manipulated me, but the gravity of Andrew’s betrayal was something else entirely. He was my brother. He should have had my back, should have respected my life and my choices, but instead… he’d interfered in the most devastating way possible.

By the time I reached Sophie’s house, a storm had settled over the city, casting a bleak, foreboding sky over her quiet street. Andrew’s car was already parked out front, and the sight of it nearly pushed me over the edge. They were both here, together, just as they had been all those years ago, conspiring against me. This time, I wouldn’t let them get away with it.

The door was slightly ajar, and as I approached, I heard voices—a tense, hushed argument barely contained within the walls of her home. I paused, letting their words reach me, my breath held tight in my chest.

“We had a deal, Sophie!” Andrew’s voice was full of raw frustration, a fury I’d rarely heard from him. “I leaked the video, and you promised to keep Oliver out of her life for as long as fucking possible. So why the hell is he back, worming his way into her life after eight goddamn years?”

My mind froze, the realization crashing into me like a wave. Andrew. He had leaked the video. He had been the one to betray me, to betray Katherine. And Sophie… she’d been complicit, keeping me close all these years, knowing exactly what they had done.

My pulse thundered in my ears, a cold rage spreading through me like wildfire. I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to burst in and confront them both. Instead, I took a slow, deliberate step inside, my shadow falling across the room. The conversation came to a sudden halt, both their heads snapping toward me as I entered, their faces paling at the sight of me.

“What the hell is going on here?” My voice was low, controlled, every word laced with a barely contained fury. I locked my gaze on Sophie first, the woman who had wormed her way into my life, pretended to be my friend, all while plotting to keep me from Katherine.

Sophie’s mouth opened, her eyes darting between me and Andrew, as though searching for an escape. But there was no escape now, no more lies to cover what she’d done. She’d been exposed, and nothing she could say would change that.