Chapter 55 A Sign To Walk Away
Serena
"How about we tell my niece the truth?" My aunt crooned. "In fact, I'm gonna say it.”
“Then say it, goddamnit!” Sin ground out, slapping his palm on his forehead.
“Christabel paid me a huge amount to get rid of Serena the moment she found out Saint was coming to collect her. She knew everything… because Lara dug through your texts, Saint.”
A cold knot twisted in my stomach. I clenched my fists until my nails bit into my palms. I wanted to wake up from this dream, I dug my nails into my palms harder, but I didn't wake up. Because I was already awake.
“Of course you did,” I muttered bitterly.
“Christabel promised to set me up with a steady line of business if I succeeded. So I risked it. She made me sign a contract that binds us together. And I refused to deliver. My only mistake? I didn’t confirm if she used her real name.” She coughed and wheezed in the background. “It’s right here with me… but she might send more men for it since the others failed.”
There was a fearful tremble in her voice I’d never heard before. My aunt had always sounded mean, confident, and unshakable.
Right now, she sounded like she was afraid for her life.
“I think you forgot to explain the part that has anything to do with us in your touching story,” Saint said indifferently.
My aunt exhaled loudly, like someone giving directions to the White House to a dementia patient.
“She wants to frame me for human trafficking, for the media appeal. She’ll call my niece mentally unstable and starved of affection. She’ll tell the whole world I sold my niece to a pimp named Florence McCartney… and that you rescued Serena from Florence McCartney.”
“So you’re saying she signed the contract as Florence McCartney and will set you up if you don’t act?” Sin asked, shooting me a brief, loaded glance.
“Bingo!” My aunt exclaimed. “But point of correction, it’s not if I don’t act. It’s if we don’t act fast enough.”
I pushed forward, anger pulsing through my veins.
“We? There’s no we. We won’t help you.”She had no shame, crawling back without a shred of dignity to beg for cover.
“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.” My aunt clicked her tongue. “I wasn’t really talking to you, Serena. I was talking to your two lovers.”
“Naturally, you should be rotting in prison by now,” Saint told her coldly.
She chuckled with dark mirth. “Right behind you and your sadist twin, Saint. If you want to avoid the greatest family scandal yet, think about it and call me back. If not, enjoy your billionaire life while it lasts — because it’ll be over sooner than you think.”
Saint disconnected the call without waiting for her to hang up first. She had been the one who called, after all.
“I can’t believe it,” I burst out. “Christabel is playing a dirty game. She paid my aunt to get rid of me, my aunt double-crossed her, and here we fucking are!”
“Serena, we’ll take care of it,” Saint said.
“I just want to live life without all this drama,” I whispered, my voice trembling before I could even finish speaking.
“I wish I was back with my aunt, despite the depth of her wickedness,” I said quietly. “At least then I never had to panic about the media publishing mean articles about me.”
“On the bright side, we found you,” Saint pointed out, his eyes locking onto mine and holding them hostage.
“Or do you prefer a life without the media drama… and without us in it?” Sin asked, fixing his own intense gaze on me.
“I’m not… I didn’t—”
“You’re tired of us, aren’t you?” Saint’s question only made Sin’s words land heavier and louder.
“Have I said that yet?” I snapped. “Stop putting words in my mouth. I’m allowed to complain. I’m allowed to feel things outside of the bedroom.”
“Serena, we didn’t–” I didn’t let Saint finish.“I need some space to myself to process all of this.”
“We can help you–”
“Sin, I don’t need your help. Or anyone’s, for that matter.”
“This is when you need us the most, Serena. You need to admit it to yourself for once,” Sin muttered, watching me with that babysitter expression, like I was a fragile thing that would break at any moment.
“You both can stop pretending you’re not rethinking your choices as we speak. A relationship like ours looks great in books, but in real life? It’s impossible.” I flung my arms out to emphasize my point.
Saint’s eyes narrowed. “You’re overwhelmed, and that’s a totally normal reaction. But negating what we have? Do you know how hard we struggled with our identity? How long it took?” He sounded genuinely hurt.
“It’s nothing compared to the threat hanging over our heads,” I shot back. “The moment they find that file, Serena will be no more. I’ll forever be the girl who was sold to the Rivers twin heirs.”
“It was my idea to find a girl who was as ordinary as a white piece of paper,” Sin said, sighing heavily. He paused to dig a finger into his temple. “Everyone was going crazy about my bedroom lifestyle, and Saint feared the ladies we fucked might talk. Every night we shared one woman was a risk. Our family reputation was on the line, and I was losing Saint’s trust.”
“I raised the idea, and he liked it,” Saint added quietly. “We didn’t know it would unfold like this. You were more than we bargained for.”
I let out a sad laugh. “Nice choice of words there, Saint. Bargained. Like I was a cow at the farmer’s market.”
“You know what he meant. Don’t turn this into a federal case,” Sin groaned.
“Did you just…. You know what? I’m done with you two.” I turned on my heel and walked out on them, heading straight for the restroom where I could finally have some space to myself.
I loved them both, but society would never let us be together legally. If Christabel eventually succeeded in exposing the details of that file, it would only get harder to walk away.
It would be better to walk away now, unscathed, even though it would cost me everything on the inside. Perhaps this whole thing was my cue to walk away, and walk away, I would.