prologue

"Let go of what was, and hold on to what could be."

Lexie stared at the screen of her phone, chewing on her bottom lip as the call went to voicemail for the fifth time.

“Come on, Amanda… Pick up.”

Her voice was barely above a whisper, but laced with growing irritation. She tapped her thumb anxiously against the steering wheel. The line went dead again. She huffed and tossed the phone into the passenger seat.

"Seriously? Are you ghosting me now?"

She let out a sharp, frustrated breath and leaned her head back against the car seat. Her cousin hadn’t been answering her texts or calls all day. And that was unusual. Amanda practically lived with her phone glued to her hand—unless she was deliberately ignoring someone.

Lexie clenched her jaw. She needed Amanda’s help. She wasn’t calling for fun.

“I swear, if I didn’t need your flaky ass right now, I wouldn't be wasting my breath.”

The plan was simple: surprise Rafael with a birthday party. Nothing too fancy, just something intimate, sweet. She already had the venue and the guest list. Amanda was supposed to help her with the details—decor, food, inviting their tight-knit circle.

Lexie stared at the road ahead.

“Well, screw it. I’m going to her place.”

She started the engine and drove off, determined to get some answers—or at the very least, drag Amanda into helping whether she wanted to or not.

Amanda’s house was quiet. Too quiet.

Lexie stepped inside, the door slightly ajar, which already raised red flags in her mind.

“Cous? You home?”

She called out, her voice echoing through the high ceilings of the foyer.

Instead of Amanda, it was their longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Lora, who came hurrying from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel, her expression tight with tension.

Lexie immediately noticed the way her eyes darted toward the stairs.

“Oh—Miss Lexie,” she greeted, voice slightly shaky.

Lexie smiled politely, ignoring the tightening knot in her gut.

“Hey, Mrs. Lora. Is Amanda around?”

Mrs. Lora opened her mouth, paused, then plastered a clearly forced smile.

“She… stepped out. Said she had something important to do.”

Lexie raised an eyebrow.

“Something important like what? She’s not answering her phone.”

The housekeeper looked nervous. That same glance flicked upstairs again.

Lexie’s instincts kicked in. Something was off. Very off.

“I can make you something to eat. You look like you’ve had a long day,” the woman offered quickly.

Lexie’s gaze sharpened.

“Not hungry. Thanks. I’ll just wait for Amanda in her room.”

“Oh no, no—she really wouldn’t want anyone in there, she left it messy—”

“Mrs. Lora.”

Lexie’s tone changed—calm, but steely. “I’m not here to judge her laundry basket.”

She walked past the housekeeper without another word.

Mrs. Lora’s voice trembled behind her, “Please don’t go up there—Miss Lexie, please!”

But Lexie didn’t stop.

By the time she reached Amanda’s bedroom door, her heart was pounding for a reason she didn’t quite understand.

“Amanda?”

Her knuckles rapped gently against the door. No answer.

And then… she heard it.

Low, muffled voices.

Her breath hitched.

She leaned closer.

A man’s voice. A voice she knew too well.

Rafael.

Lexie’s stomach turned. Her heart began to pound in her chest, loud and painful.

At first, she wanted to believe she was wrong. That maybe Rafael had dropped by to surprise Amanda too. Maybe they were talking about the party. Maybe—

Then she heard it.

A breathy moan.

Lexie froze. Her body went cold. The sound was unmistakable.

It was Amanda.

Another moan. This time deeper. Longer. Louder.

Lexie’s fingers trembled as they hovered above the doorknob.

Her vision blurred, her brain screaming at her not to open that door.

But she did.

With all the force her shaking arms could muster, she shoved the door open.

It slammed into the wall with a loud crack.

And there they were.

Her cousin, completely naked, riding the man Lexie had spent the last six years of her life loving. Her Rafael. Her fiancé.

The world stopped spinning.

Amanda shrieked and scrambled for the blanket, falling sideways. Rafael sat up like he’d been hit by a truck, his eyes wide in horror.

Lexie just stood there, frozen.

Hand over her mouth. Chest heaving.

"You sick... disgusting motherfuckers."

Her voice was a hoarse whisper. But it was enough to make them both flinch.

“Lexie—Lex, babe—wait!” Rafael jumped out of bed, fumbling to grab his jeans.

Amanda, still tangled in the sheets, looked like a deer in headlights.

“Cous, please, let me explain!”

Lexie’s laugh was hollow. Broken.

“Explain? Explain what, Amanda? That you’re a backstabbing whore? Or that my fiancé is nothing but a lying piece of shit?”

Rafael stepped toward her, one hand reaching out.

“Don’t you dare touch me.”

Her voice cracked like a whip. She stepped back, eyes wild with betrayal and rage.

“Lexie, it’s not what it looks like—” he started.

“Oh, don’t insult my intelligence, Rafael.”

She pointed a trembling finger at Amanda. “I trusted you. You were family. You were my best friend.”

Amanda’s eyes were red. “I didn’t mean for it to happen—”

“Bullshit!”

Lexie screamed. “You chose this! Every time you let him touch you, you chose this!”

Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to let them fall in front of them.

Lexie turned on her heel and stormed down the stairs, ignoring their voices calling after her.

Later That Night

There was a knock at her condo door.

She knew who it was before she even looked.

“Lexie, I know you're in there,” Amanda’s voice rang out. “Please. Just let me explain.”

“Go to hell,” Lexie shouted back from the other side.

“I’m not leaving until we talk!”

“Then I hope you rot out there!”

Lexie grabbed the nearest object—a decorative vase—and hurled it at the door. It exploded in a crash of ceramic and glass.

“I can’t believe you have the balls to show up here after what you did,” she muttered, breathing heavily.

Then came Rafael’s voice.

“Lex, babe. Please. Talk to us.”

The fury boiled over.

She stormed to the door and yanked it open, just enough to glare at them through the crack.

“You’ve got five seconds before I call the cops.”

“Lexie, please, just hear us out—”

“No. I want one thing. The truth.” Her voice shook. “How long?”

Amanda swallowed. Her lips trembled. “Almost a year…”

The air was sucked out of the room.

Lexie backed up a step, gripping the edge of the door like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Why?”

Her voice cracked.

“What did I ever do to deserve this?”

“I’m… I’m pregnant, Lexie.”

Amanda’s whisper was so soft, so fragile—but it shattered Lexie.

She blinked, tears finally falling down her cheeks.

“You really are something else,” she muttered. “Both of you.”

Rafael stepped forward again. “We didn’t mean to hurt you—”

“You didn’t mean to hurt me? Then why are my heart and entire life in pieces?!”

Rage burst through her like wildfire.

“Was it because I wouldn’t sleep with you, Rafael? Is that it? You got tired of waiting, so you climbed into her bed?!”

Neither of them responded.

Lexie laughed bitterly.

“You know what? I hope that baby looks just like you. So every time you look at it, Amanda, you remember exactly who you destroyed to get it.”

Then she slammed the door in their faces—so hard it rattled the frame.

And then, finally, she collapsed to the floor and cried.