Chapter 46: The Hidden Agenda

Scarlet’s fingers tightened around her phone, the screen glowing like a beacon in the dark silence of the hallway. She stared at Tucker’s name, as though the mere sight of it could offer some kind of answer, some form of relief. But there was nothing no comforting words or easy resolutions. Just the overwhelming weight of everything she had just heard.

She knew she should pick up. Shouldn’t I? But a sharp, instinctive hesitation stopped her, the conversation she had just overheard playing like a loop in her mind. Her breath came in shallow, erratic bursts. They want to trap me. They’re using me as bait.

It felt like a cruel joke, one she wasn’t laughing at. She had thought, even if only briefly, that maybe just maybe Tucker might be willing to forgive her, that some part of him still cared for her after all these years. But no. This wasn’t forgiveness. This was manipulation. A game she didn’t even know she was playing until it was too late.

A sudden movement from the end of the hallway made her freeze. The familiar click of heels on the polished floor cut through her thoughts. She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.

Gabrielle Richards.

Scarlet’s heart dropped to her stomach. Gabrielle was the last person she wanted to see right now. She was the one who had always seemed to have it all figured out the beauty, the poise, the confidence. She was also the one who had once been her closest ally, a sister in all but blood. The betrayal that now lingered between them felt like a heavy cloak, suffocating her every time their paths crossed.

Gabrielle’s eyes locked onto hers with that calculating, sharp gaze. She didn’t seem surprised to see her standing there, though her expression was anything but friendly. In fact, there was something almost smug about it. As if she knew exactly what Scarlet had overheard.

“Well, well,” Gabrielle purred, her voice cool and dismissive. “Didn’t expect to find you lurking in the shadows, Scarlet. Thought you were better than that.”

Scarlet stood tall, ignoring the shame that threatened to rise. She squared her shoulders, refusing to let Gabrielle’s words have power over her. “I wasn’t lurking. I was listening.”

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow, a faint, almost mocking smile playing at the corner of her lips. “And what, pray tell, did you hear?” She stepped forward, closing the distance between them with measured steps.

Scarlet took a deep breath, her heart hammering against her ribcage. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to confront Gabrielle, but it didn’t matter anymore. The truth was already in the air.

“The whole damn plot.” Scarlet’s voice was low, steady despite the turbulence inside her. She wasn’t going to back down, not now.

Gabrielle’s smile faded slightly, but her gaze remained cold. “What plot?”

“You’re using me,” Scarlet hissed, her words cutting through the tension. “Wyatt. You. All of you. This is about more than just Tucker and me. This is about power, control… everything I’ve been running from.”

Gabrielle’s lips twitched, like she was about to laugh, but she didn’t. Instead, her eyes narrowed as she looked Scarlet up and down, sizing her up. “You really think this is all about you?” she asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “You’re not as important as you think, darling. You’ve always been a pawn in this game.”

Scarlet’s breath caught in her throat. The sting of the words hit harder than anything Gabrielle had ever said to her. A pawn. That’s all she was. She had always known that, in some way, but to hear it said so plainly was like a slap to the face.

“What is it you want, Gabrielle?” Scarlet’s voice was strained, the fight in her flaring, though she was terrified of what the answer might be. “What does Wyatt want from me?”

Gabrielle paused, her eyes scanning Scarlet’s face with a mixture of amusement and disdain. “He wants you out of the way. You and Tucker both. You’re his leverage, Scarlet. His ticket to getting everything he’s ever wanted. You’ve always been nothing more than a tool.”

The words were like a heavy weight, pushing down on Scarlet’s chest. Her head swam with the enormity of it all. She had been blind. She had let herself believe that there was some part of this that was about love, about her and Tucker, about healing what had been broken between them. But no. She was just another piece on Wyatt’s chessboard.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Scarlet’s voice broke, and for a moment, she hated how vulnerable it sounded. How weak. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

Gabrielle’s gaze softened for a split second just enough for Scarlet to catch it. But then it was gone, replaced by the cold, hard mask of someone who had no qualms about destroying everything for the sake of power.

“You wouldn’t have listened,” Gabrielle replied quietly, as if the words were rehearsed. “You never did.”

The silence between them was thick with unspoken truths, but it was also filled with a kind of finality. Scarlet felt a sharp pang of loss a loss of the friend she thought she’d once known, a loss of trust she could never get back.

“You’ve made your choice, then,” Scarlet said, a bitter smile curving her lips. “But so have I.”

Gabrielle tilted her head, her eyes narrowing as she stepped closer. “And what choice is that?”

Scarlet didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she turned away, the coldness of the hallway creeping into her bones. “I’m not your pawn. Not anymore.”

With one final glance, she walked away, her footsteps echoing in the stillness, leaving Gabrielle standing there, her face an unreadable mask.

But even as Scarlet made her way down the hallway, the heavy weight of what she had learned pressed down on her. She had to confront Wyatt. She had to figure out what game they were all playing before she lost more than just Tucker.