Chapter 106 Chapter 106
Chapter 106 Chapter 106
Ace still stood in front of me, his face red where I had slapped him, his chest rising and falling like he’d just sprinted across the whole house. I wanted him gone. I wanted him erased. I wanted him anywhere but near me—because every second he stayed, my heart splintered just a little more.
“Leave, Ace!” I yelled, my voice cracking. “I just told you I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t ever—”
“Sabrina, stop—”
“Leave! Get away from me!”
I didn’t care how loud I was. I didn’t care if the whole world heard me. I wanted him to feel even a fraction of what I felt. The betrayal clawing up my chest so fiercely it hurt to breathe.
But then Ace’s eyes widened in panic.
“Sabrina—quiet, you’re going to—”
“What? Get in trouble? GOOD—”
Then he moved fast, way faster than I expected. His hand covered my mouth, and before I could push him off, he pulled me down the hallway and shoved us into the nearest room, shutting the door behind us.
My back hit the wall. His hand stayed over my mouth.
“Stop yelling,” he whispered urgently, his voice breaking. “They’ll hear. Please… Sabrina, please.”
My tears only fell faster. I grabbed his wrist and pushed his hand away, stumbling back from him like he was poison.
“Get out, Ace!” I cried. “I don’t want you here!”
He didn’t budge.
Instead, he took a small step closer to me, as if afraid I’d shatter into broken pieces.
“Sabrina… please. Just listen to me.”
“No! I said Leave!”
“You’re crying because of me. I’m not leaving you like this.”
“That’s exactly why you should leave!” My voice cracked into something small and humiliating. “You lied to me! You—You’ve been lying to me this whole time.”
He froze. His face fell, like he’d been punched.
“Sabrina… no,” he said softly. “I never lied to you.”
I laughed. It was an ugly, broken laugh.
“You told me you loved me,” I whispered, wiping my cheeks angrily. “You told me that every day before—before everything. And now I find out you have a girlfriend? A real fucking in the flesh girlfriend, Ace? One who goes to some… damn Barbie princess charm boarding school and comes running into the house for you?”
He shook his head so quickly his hair moved.
“I’m not with her.”
“Don’t lie again.”
“I’m not lying! Sabrina—Courtney and I… that was before you.”
That only made my stomach twist harder.
He stepped closer, but slowly, giving me time to stop him. I didn’t. I just stood there, gripping my own arms like they were the only thing keeping me upright.
“I swear to you,” he said, his voice barely holding together. “I don’t love her. I don’t even like her like that anymore. We barely talked while she was gone. I didn’t even know she was coming back.”
“You hugged her,” I choked out. “Just now. You hugged her like—like she mattered.”
His face twisted with guilt.
“She surprised me,” he whispered. “I froze. I didn’t know what to do—”
“You didn’t know what to do?” I snapped. “How about not lying? How about telling me you had someone else? How about not—”
I covered my mouth before the next words escaped, but it was too late. I saw in his eyes that he already knew what I was about to say.
How about not making me fall in love with you?
He swallowed hard.
“Sabrina,” he said, stepping forward again. “I love you.”
“No.”
“I do.”
“Stop.”
“I love you,” he said louder. “I’m not lying. I swear on everything—on my life—on anything you want—”
“Stop saying that!” I cried, pushing him in the chest, but he barely moved.
He just grabbed my wrists gently, not restraining, just holding them.
“Sabrina. Look at me.”
I tried not to. I really did. But my eyes betrayed me.
His eyes were glassy. Wet and terrified.
“I love you,” he whispered again. “Not her. You.”
I shook my head stubbornly, even as tears streamed down my chin.
“You’re just saying that because you feel guilty.”
“No,” he said. “I’m saying it because you ran out of the room crying, and it killed me.”
“Then leave me alone!”
He let go of my wrists.
“I’m not leaving,” he whispered. “Not until you believe what I’m telling you.”
Before I could answer, before I could even breathe—
The door swung open.
We both jerked around.
Scott walked in.
Courtney and Michael were right behind him.
My blood turned to ice.
Scott’s eyes immediately locked onto me. My red face, my puffy eyes, the way I quickly wiped my cheeks.
“Ace,” Scott said sharply. “What’s going on here?”
Courtney’s brows furrowed with confusion. Michael tried not to laugh. Ace shot him a deadly glare.
“If you start laughing,” Ace snapped, “I swear you’ll go straight home, and I’ll kick you out of my life for a week.”
Michael shut up instantly, but the amusement on his face only grew.
Scott stepped farther into the room.
“Ace,” he repeated, his tone firm. “I asked what happened.”
Silence.
I felt Ace tense beside me. His chest rose and fell once deeply.
He looked at me. Then at Scott. Then back at me.
My stomach dropped.
He was going to say it. He was going to expose everything. Right here. Right now.
No. No, no, no.
If Scott found out, if anyone found out, I don’t know how that would affect Ace, but I can’t imagine it being good. And the same goes for me.
So, before he could even open his mouth, I acted—
I smacked Ace in the chest.
“Ow!” he yelped. “What—?”
“You’re so annoying!” I snapped loudly.
Everyone froze, including Ace.
I forced a shaky laugh, even though my whole body still trembled.
“I stubbed my toe because of you,” I blurted out, pointing accusingly at him as if that explained my crying. “And he—he was forcing me not to cry because he knows you’d punish him if I got hurt.”
Scott blinked in confusion. Michael’s mouth fell open. Courtney tilted her head slowly. Ace stared at me like I had just set myself on fire in front of him.
But I kept going—I had to.
“Right, Ace?” I demanded, my voice louder, lighter, faker. “Isn’t that what happened?”
I prayed he understood. I begged him with my eyes.
Please. Please don’t expose us. Please don’t say anything. Please don’t make this worse.
Ace swallowed hard. His jaw clenched. And then, after a painful, long second—
He nodded.
“…Yeah,” he said quietly.
And I exhaled.
The lie slipped perfectly into place.