Shattered Truths

Chapter 13: Luke's Revelation

The morning after pouring out his heart to Sarah, Matt woke feeling hollow. The air in his apartment was heavy, the blinds still drawn from the night before, keeping the room dim and gray. He sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, but the warmth did nothing to cut through the cold pit in his chest. Sarah's words from the night before lingered in his mind—warnings about Marcus Hale, reminders that Claire had chosen her path long before he realized it.

He turned the cup slowly in his hands, watching the thin line of steam curl and disappear. It had become his routine since everything fell apart—sitting in silence, reliving conversations, replaying moments until they blurred. He was still caught in that fog when his phone buzzed.

Luke: We need to talk. Urgent.

Matt frowned, the cryptic message gnawing at him. His first instinct was suspicion. After all, their friendship had already taken hits—Luke's late admissions about Claire, his so-called attempts at "protecting" Matt that had only left him feeling more betrayed. But ignoring the message wasn't an option. Whatever this was, Luke thought it mattered.

Matt typed back a short reply: Where?

Minutes later, they agreed on a meeting spot—a small park a few blocks from Matt's apartment. The kind of place they'd once gone to after late-night pub crawls, sprawling on the grass and laughing until sunrise. Now it felt like neutral ground, a public but quiet place where truths could surface without walls closing in.

The autumn air was sharp when Matt arrived. Leaves crunched beneath his boots, brittle and dry, and the playground on the far side of the park stood empty. He spotted Luke near a bench, shoulders hunched, hands buried in his jacket pockets. His friend looked older than Matt remembered, weighed down, as if the truth he carried had been grinding him down for weeks.

Matt approached slowly, the air tense between them.

"Thanks for coming," Luke said without looking up. His voice was strained, his gaze fixed on the ground.

"You said it was urgent," Matt replied, keeping his tone guarded. "What's going on?"

Luke gestured toward the bench. They sat side by side, the silence stretching until Matt finally broke it. "Well? You dragged me out here. Spit it out."

Luke inhaled deeply, his breath fogging in the cold air. "It's about Claire. And before you say anything—I know I've screwed up before. I should've told you things sooner, but I didn't want to blow things up without proof. This time... I can't keep it to myself."

Matt stiffened. His pulse quickened at the mention of her name. "Go on."

Luke hesitated, his jaw tightening. He rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture Matt recognized—Luke was bracing himself. "I saw her, Matt. Not with Aaron. With someone else."

Matt's gut twisted. "Another guy?"

Luke shook his head slowly. "Not like that. Not just some random fling. I recognized him. I didn't want to believe it at first, but... I've seen him more than once."

"Who?"

Luke's eyes finally met Matt's, shadowed with unease. "Marcus Hale."

The name landed like a brick in Matt's chest. He froze, every muscle tightening as the investigator's words from just days before resurfaced—Marcus Hale, fixer, blackmailer, the man Claire had been paying off.

"You're sure?" Matt asked, his voice sharp, disbelieving. "You're absolutely sure it was him?"

Luke nodded grimly. "Yeah. I saw them together at a bar on 4th Street a couple of weeks back. At first, I thought it was just business. Maybe she was meeting a client or something—I didn't want to assume the worst. But then I saw them again yesterday. Same place, different time. She wasn't just passing by. They were talking close, like it was private. He gave her something—an envelope—and she put it straight into her bag."

Matt's mind reeled. He pressed his palms against his knees, trying to steady himself. Images clashed in his head—Claire's calm, unapologetic face during their last confrontation, her dismissive words: You wouldn't understand. And now this: clandestine meetings with Marcus Hale, the man who made problems disappear.

His voice trembled as he asked, "Why the hell didn't you tell me before?"

Luke's expression darkened with guilt. "Because I wasn't sure. I thought maybe I was seeing things, or maybe it was just a coincidence. And after everything that already happened, I didn't want to add fuel to the fire if I was wrong."

Matt turned toward him sharply, anger rising. "Do you even hear yourself? I've been going out of my mind trying to piece this together, and you're telling me you sat on something this huge because you didn't want to 'add fuel to the fire'? That's not protecting me, Luke—that's leaving me in the dark."

"I know," Luke said quickly, his tone pleading. "I screwed up. But I'm telling you now because yesterday proved it. There's no way it was just coincidence. She's mixed up with him, Matt. And that scares me."

Matt leaned back, running a hand over his face. His thoughts churned, a storm of betrayal and dread. "So what does this mean? She wasn't just lying about Aaron, wasn't just draining our account. She's tied to Marcus Hale. What the hell is she into?"

Luke lowered his voice, glancing around the park as though the trees might be listening. "I don't know. But nothing good. Marcus doesn't deal with ordinary people, Matt. He deals with people who are desperate, people who owe, people who need secrets buried. If Claire's seeing him regularly, she's deeper into something than you ever imagined."

The silence that followed was suffocating. Matt's breath came shallow, his chest tightening. It wasn't just infidelity anymore. It wasn't just lies about late-night meetings or financial betrayal. Claire was tangled in something dangerous, and by extension, so was he.

Matt turned to Luke, his voice low but firm. "I need to know exactly what she's hiding. I can't keep walking blind into this."

Luke studied him carefully, his brow furrowed. "Matt, listen. You've already been burned. Digging deeper could put you at risk. People like Marcus don't like curious eyes. If you push too hard—"

"I don't care," Matt cut in, his tone sharp. "I can't just sit here while she plays me for a fool. Not anymore. I need the truth, all of it."

Luke hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Then I'll help you. Whatever it takes. But promise me you'll be careful. This isn't just about heartbreak anymore. This could get ugly."

Matt met his gaze, searching for sincerity. There it was—the same loyal friend he'd leaned on for years. And yet, beneath it, Matt felt a flicker of doubt. Luke had hidden things before. He claimed it was out of protection, but how much of it was really about fear, or worse, something unspoken?

He forced the thought aside. Right now, he needed allies, not enemies.

They sat in silence for a long while, the crunch of leaves and the distant bark of a dog filling the space between them. Matt stared out at the empty swings swaying in the wind, his mind racing.

Claire's lies had started with secrecy, morphed into betrayal, and now revealed ties to a man like Marcus Hale. How much more was still hidden? How much more would he have to unravel before he finally understood the truth?

When he finally rose from the bench, his decision felt carved into stone. He wasn't just going to confront Claire again—this time, he was going to uncover everything she'd buried.

Luke stood beside him, his expression unreadable. "So, what now?"

Matt's jaw tightened. "Now? I find out how deep this goes."