Chapter 5

“Oh, by the way, Emma is working for me too. How else do you think you suddenly found out the truth?”

I closed the door and stared at him coldly. “What are you actually trying to get at?”

Finn toyed with the hem of his shirt and said nonchalantly, “Nothing much. I just came over to have a little chat. Oh, right. I saw the message you sent Stella. She was taking a shower at the time, so I went ahead and deleted it for you.”

He looked up at me, his smile innocent yet malicious. “No need to thank me. After all, it’s not like she cares whether you’re sick or not anyway.”

My heart sank. I clenched my fists tightly as the dull ache in my stomach flared up again.

“What do you mean?”

Finn stood up and approached me. He was slightly shorter than me, yet he looked at me like I was nothing more than an ant under his boot.

“I came here to tell you to pack up and get lost. Right now, she only has eyes for me. If you fall ill, she’ll end up distracted having to take care of you, and I can’t risk that.”

I took a step back. “This is between her and me. It’s none of your business.”

Finn scoffed. “Connor, you really are pathetic.”

He leaned in closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. “There’s one thing I’ve never told you. Three years ago, on that night… I didn’t actually drug her. Instead, I gave myself a little something to set the mood.

“I told her that if she didn’t help me out, I’d go find someone else who would. Any random older woman, or even one of her rivals—it didn’t matter to me. She got so furious right then and there that she grabbed me by the neck and dared me to. Then, she ’sorted it out’ for me.”

He stepped back, taking in my pale face, and his smile grew even brighter.

My mind went blank. All the trust and kindness I had shown over the last three years crumbled to dust in that single moment. So all along, I was the joke!

I could hear my teeth chattering. The pain in my stomach had intensified so badly that cold sweat broke out all over my body.

“Get out! Get the hell out!”

Instead of leaving, Finn took another step closer, raising his hand and shoving me hard in the chest. “Getting aggressive with me, huh?”

Weak as I was, the shove put me off balance and sent me tumbling backward.

The moment my lower back hit the sharp corner of the coffee table, the dull, throbbing pain in my back made my vision go dark on top of the excruciating agony in my stomach.

A metallic taste welled up in my throat, and I covered my mouth, feeling warm blood seep out through the cracks of my fingers. Finn simply smirked, turned around, and strode toward the door before vanishing into the hallway.

Gathering every last bit of strength I had left, I reached for my phone, which had been thrown nearby, and dialed 911. Then, I dialed Stella’s number. The line rang for a long time, and just as I was about to lose consciousness, the call went through.

Her voice sounded light and happy. “Baby, I’m almost home. Did you miss me?”

I opened my mouth, but the blood in my throat made it hard for me to speak. “Stella… I’m sick, and it’s really bad.”

There was a second of silence on the other end before she said anxiously, “Sick, how? I’m coming right–”

“Don’t bother. Finn was just here.”

Silence fell on her end.

My own voice sounded eerily calm to my ears. “Let’s get a divorce.”