Chapter 28: The return

Bronte’s POV

I woke up alone in Rufus’s bed.

The sheets still smelled like him. My body ached in familiar places.

For a few seconds I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying to remember what day it was.

Then the quiet of the house came over me and I remembered Mom was supposed to come home.

I sat up fast. The necklace shifted against my skin.

Downstairs I could hear movement a door closing, the soft sound of keys being set on the counter. My stomach dropped.

She was already here.

I pulled on one of Rufus’s shirts and a pair of shorts, then forced myself downstairs.

Mom stood in the kitchen with her back to me, still wearing the same clothes from two days ago. Her suitcase was by the wall. When she turned around, her eyes found me immediately.

“Bronte.”

That single word carried too much weight.

“Hi, Mom.”

She looked tired, older somehow. Her gaze drifted over the oversized shirt I was wearing, then away again.

“Where’s Rufus?”

“In his office, I think.”

She nodded once. “I’d like to speak with both of you. Together.”

My pulse started racing. I went to get him. He was already standing when I opened the office door, as if he’d been waiting for this exact moment.

His expression was calm, almost neutral, but I knew him well enough now to see the calculation underneath.

We walked back into the living room side by side. Mom sat on the edge of the couch.

Rufus took the chair across from her. I stayed standing, too restless to sit.

Mom didn’t waste time.

“I’ve spent the last two days thinking,” she said.

“Talking to Jake. Looking at what he sent me. Trying to decide what I believe.”

She looked at me first. “Bronte, I need you to be honest with me. Has something been going on between you and Rufus?”

The question landed like a stone in the middle of the room.

I felt Rufus’s eyes on me. I felt the necklace against my throat. I felt every choice I had made leading to this exact second.

“Mom” My voice came out smaller than I wanted.

“It’s complicated.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Rufus spoke before I could. “Catherine. Jake is trying to destroy this family because he can’t accept that Bronte moved on. Whatever photos or stories he’s feeding you are designed to create doubt. Nothing more.”

Mom’s jaw tightened. “I’m not asking you right now. I’m asking my daughter.”

The silence stretched. I could hear my own

heartbeat.

Part of me wanted to confess everything the nights, the rules, the way I had let him own me. Another part of me was terrified of what that confession would do to her.

I opened my mouth.

Before any words came out, my phone buzzed loudly on the side table. All three of us looked at it. Jake’s name lit up the screen.

Mom’s eyes flicked from the phone to me, then to Rufus.

Something in her expression shifted quiet, cold, and final.

“I think,” she said slowly, “that I already have my answer.”

She stood up.

“I’m going to stay at the hotel a little longer. When I come back, we’re going to have a real conversation. No more half truths.”

She picked up her keys and walked out without another word.

The front door closed behind her with a soft, devastating click.

Rufus and I stood in the silence she left behind.

He turned to me slowly. His voice was low.

“You hesitated.”

I couldn’t look at him. “I didn’t know what to say.”

He stepped closer, one hand lifting my chin until I met his eyes.

There was no anger there only something darker and more focused.

“Next time,” he said quietly, “you will.”

His thumb brushed my bottom lip.

“Because the next time she asks the truth is going to come out whether you’re ready or not.”

I swallowed hard.

Outside, Mom’s car started and pulled away.

And I knew he was right.

The quiet was almost over.